July 2025

The Liver

• Meet The Liver – What Does It Do For You? And Why Is It Important??
• Liver Imbalance – What Can Go Wrong?
• “Detox is a Lifestyle: How to Support Your Natural Liver Detox
• Herbal Support For The Liver

Before diving right into detox, you may want to read the first two posts in the series, as they provide foundational concepts and processes about the liver.

Meet The Liver – What it does for you and why is it important??

Liver Imbalances – What Could Go Wrong – Simple liver imbalances and tips for liver support.

Detox is a lifestyle – How to support your natural liver detox.

The liver innate capacity to detox

The liver has developed over millions of years as the primary organ of detox, supported by the lymphatic system, skin, lungs, kidneys, and colon.

The idea that we need to actively encourage or even push the liver to cleanse is a very Western approach to nature, the body, and health. In Western culture, nature is often viewed as something we must control. The body is a machine that needs repair; organs can be replaced, much like the battery in your car. Health is achieved through a short, aggressive intervention with supplements and other hacks.

I suggest a different model, one that arises from a deep understanding and trust in the body, specifically, in this case, the liver’s innate capacity to detoxify.

The first step – reduce toxic exposure.

A couple of years ago, I heard about the concept of “dry January.” During the holidays, people would drink a lot of alcohol and then detox in January by avoiding alcohol, but go back to drinking in February.

Here is a free advice from an herbalist. Instead of investing hundreds (or more) of dollars in a detox program, consider reducing your toxic overload not just for one month but as a lifestyle.

Here are some things you want to reduce or avoid altogether:

• Alcohol
• Caffeine – reduce caffeine, or if you get a woozy feeling after drinking coffee or drinks containing caffeine, avoid it altogether.
• Food additives and coloring
• Food sprayed with glyphosate – thrive by eating organic and local. If you can’t afford organic food, research the “Clean Fifteen” and “Dirty Dozen.”
• Pharmaceuticals – You can’t always avoid them, but be more discerning when you reach for the medicine cabinet.

Dietary support for liver detox

In a short recap from last week’s post, The Liver – What could go wrong, I described how detox is a two phase chemical process that transforms fat soluble substances, such as Pharmaceuticals and hormones, into water soluble toxins that the kidneys can eliminate.

You might want to consider phase 1 as collecting all the trash in a trash bag, and phase 2 as taking the trash bag to the recycling center. If you collected all your trash in a trash bag and then left for work in the morning, forgetting to take the garbage out with you, you come back in the evening to a foul smell, a swarm of mosquitoes circling the bag, and a “river” of toxic juices leaking on your kitchen floor.

Detox programs can be dangerous if they encourage the first phase of detox when the body doesn’t have the capacity to complete the second phase at the same rate. What will happen is similar to a bag filled with fermenting trash leaking on your kitchen floor. Reactive toxins will leak into your bloodstream, wreaking havoc throughout your body.

As always, the saying “It’s NOT what you take, it’s what you DO” applies here, too. A healthy, nutrient dense diet will support an efficient liver detox without magic smoothies or supplements.

The liver relies on a couple of important nutrients to do what it knows better than any detox program at its own rate. However, you can support your liver by eating a nutrient dense diet.

Nutrients for phase 1 detox:

Multiple vitamins are needed for the first phase. Detox is one of the most energy consuming functions of the body. Liver cells need to produce a lot of energy to work at full capacity. Energy production involves vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B5. At the same time, vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, and folate are necessary for completing phase 1 detox.

Good nutritional sources of vitamin B:

Thiamine (B1) – Whole grains (particularly the bran), legumes, sunflower seeds, and pork. Nutritional yeast is exceptionally rich in B1.

Riboflavin (B2) – Organ meats (especially liver), almonds, mushrooms, spinach, and dairy products.

Niacin (B3) – Tuna, chicken, turkey, salmon, and peanuts.

Pantothenic Acid (B5) – Shiitake mushrooms, avocados, sweet potatoes, and lentils.

Pyridoxine (B6) – Chickpeas, tuna, salmon, chicken breast, and potatoes with skin.

Biotin (B7) – Egg yolks, nuts, seeds, and sweet potatoes.

Folate (B9) – Dark leafy greens, legumes (especially lentils and pinto beans), asparagus, and beets.

Cobalamin (B12) – Only found in animal products: clams, liver, nutritional yeast (if fortified), salmon, and beef.

Other nutrients that support the first phase of detox are:

Magnesium – Dark leafy greens, dark chocolate, nuts and seeds, and whole grains.

Iron – Animal protein, legumes, blackstrap molasses

Nutrition for the intermediate phase:

The result of phase 1 detox is the production of free radicals, highly reactive toxins. You want to try neutralizing them. Some foods that can help neutralize free radicals are:

Antioxidants – Including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and flavonoids found in berries and olives.

Sulfur-rich foods – Cruciferous vegetables, garlic, and onions.

Selenium  – and sulfur rich food supports glutathione, a natural antioxidant found in the body.

The second detox phase and the nutrients that can support it.

There are six pathways to the second phase of detox. I think of them as the six different cycles in my laundry machine. All cycles occur simultaneously, so even though each requires different nutrients, a nutrient dense diet will provide all the necessary nutrients for the six pathways.

If your diet includes all the nutrients needed for phases 1 and the intermediate phase, you are well-prepared for phase 2. Two additional nutrients that come to mind are glycine, found in bone broth, and choline, found in eggs.

What about timing?

Like every cell and organ in the body, the liver has an inner clock aligned with the circadian cycle. In the morning, the liver anticipates that you will be more active, need more energy, and eat more; therefore, it produces more enzymes, and its detoxification capacity is higher.

Additionally, in the morning, blood flow to the liver reaches its peak, providing more oxygen and nutrients and increasing energy production and efficiency in all liver cells.

Factors Slowing Liver Detoxification

• Nutritional deficiencies
• Certain drugs: benzodiazepines, antihistamines, and PPl’s
• Low thyroid function
• Insulin resistance
• Dysbiosis

One more thing to consider is the overall health of your liver. Complex liver conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver, jaundice hepatitis, and cirrhosis slow down liver function. These conditions require the care of a professional health practitioner.

Bitter herbs have a profound effect on the liver. In “The Bitter Truth,” I write about bitters and their role in bile production and detoxification.

Lifestyle and herbs can support the natural capacity of the liver to detox. Next week, I will post about 3 categories of herbs that can support liver health.