Love your Liver

Detoxification Program

Why detox might be important for you

Your liver is constantly working to clear your body of waste and unwanted substances, but…
Since the industrial revolution, we have introduced many substances to the environment at higher than normal levels, which can have adverse health effects despite being otherwise useful. Many of these substances do not break down, and so will remain in your body long term if they aren’t dealt with.
Accumulation of certain substances in your body can lead to unpleasant short-term symptoms that affect your ability to enjoy life, and more importantly, may contribute to chronic disease if left un-treated over time.
- Note: there will always be some accumulation in our bodies as a result of the environment we live in now. This is not necessarily an issue until the accumulation reaches a level that begins to affect your tissue function, and therefore your overall health and happiness.
Ensuring your liver and other detoxification mechanisms are functioning properly can help you
- feel more energetic and focused
- improve your memory and your mood
- clear up your skin
- improve your ability to tolerate exercise
- get sick less
- and more.

How your liver works

Your liver is the main processing center for anything that needs to be eliminated from your body. These things are often referred to as “xenobiotics” which simply means they are foreign to the body. Xenobiotics may include anything from food additives, synthetic chemicals, persistent organic pollutants such as those found in plastics, cosmetic or cleaning products, to pharmaceuticals, air pollution, heavy metals or other industrial waste products.

Your liver also processes things familiar to your body, like dead cells and bacteria, or byproducts of inflammation.

Once processed, these substances are sent either to the kidneys or the bowels for excretion. Your skin and lungs can serve as a point of exit to a lesser extent, and this differs from person to person.

What you might notice if your liver detoxification mechanisms are impaired, or cannot keep up with current demand

What is happening in the body

Substances meant for waste processing are sent to the liver through your blood. The rate of processing depends on multiple factors, such as the number of enzymes present to perform the reactions, your hydration and nutrient levels as both are needed for the reactions as well, genetic factors that may affect the way your enzymes function, and the number of substances that need to be processed. If waste processing is slowed down for any of the above reasons, substances will remain in the blood waiting to be processed, which can cause a range of symptoms or side effects depending on what is hanging around. In some cases, as a survival mechanism, your body will store the backlog of substances in your tissues in order to keep then out of the blood where they are perceived to do the most damage. This can create a whole different symptom picture however, as many of these substances can affect cellular function. In these cases, you may notice some of your symptoms get worse when you begin to lose weight or detox because you are re-releasing them into the blood.

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How toxic are you?

Possible symptoms

Symptoms are extremely variable depending on what kinds of substances your liver is struggling to process. A common example is the consumption of grapefruit juice increasing side effects of various medications that are normally excreted through the liver. Some less obvious symptoms you may experience in response to general xenobiotics like caffeine, food additives or air pollution may include:

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headache
fatigue
brain fog
unexplained rashes
eczema
new onset allergic reactions
skin conditions
more frequent infections
weight gain

Some substances, such as heavy metals have slightly more specific symptom pictures when they accumulate slowly over time to levels capable of affecting cellular function. What sets them apart is the combinations of symptoms which appear. These may include

neurological symptoms
Parkinson’s – like symptoms
thyroid conditions
autoimmune disease
hypertension and cardiovascular disease
abnormal liver function results on blood testing
memory loss

What is involved in a detoxification support program?

This is largely dependent on your current level of health, and what kinds of substances we are trying to reduce. Below are some examples of the types of programs that might be recommended.

Gentle detoxification support

This is more of a lifestyle adjustment to encourage continual liver metabolic reactions to meet your body’s demands. We will also take you through a short term, focused liver support protocol that consists of the following 4 pillars:

Lifestyle recommendations to support metabolic detoxification reactions – some examples include regular exercise and sauna use on a specified schedule.
Temporary diet alterations to give your liver a break so it can focus more strongly on dealing with those built-up substances that have been ignored. Every time you eat something, your digestive system needs to sort through what is good and what is garbage, and the garbage gets sent to your liver for removal. So, if you eat less “garbage” there is less to process, freeing up more space for processing other things!
- A typical timeline for this adapted diet can range from 3-6 weeks, with a timed re-introduction to a healthy diet following your detoxification support.
Supplement combinations to support liver metabolism. These may include vitamins and nutrients used in the metabolic reactions, or herbs that encourage these reactions. These will be taken alongside your detoxification diet protocol, and some may be continued, or re-visited in phases to provide continued support.
The Little Liver Lover IV: Moderate detoxification support involves IV nutrient therapy to provide the necessary supplies for your liver to do its job.
- 2-4 rounds of IV liver boosting nutrients will be included as part of your comprehensive detoxification program.
- Once you are finished your program, occasional IVs can be administered if you feel you need an extra boost after living life a little too hard!

More targeted and aggressive detox support

When more support is needed for a specific detox concern, we will guide you through a more comprehensive detoxification protocol. This level of liver support typically requires multiple rounds (usually a minimum of 3) of treatment alternating with rest to keep your liver from being overwhelmed all at once. The aggressive detox program includes:

All of the diet and lifestyle recommendations included in the gentle detoxification support program
Supplementation will vary throughout the program as we complete each round. Dosing will rotate with each round of detoxification to support the different aspects of liver metabolism and cellular integrity.
The Large Liver Lover IV: IV therapy with a formulation specifically targeted for liver health and function. These IVs will be performed weekly or bi-weekly for 4-6 rounds to support your body in clearing waste materials from your cells and supporting healthy elimination and cell maintenance.
Chelation testing and therapy may be necessary if you believe heavy metals are a concern. This more aggressive detoxification program will include a brief assessment of any symptoms indicating a possible benefit to heavy metal detoxification. The assessment may be followed by testing to determine if the levels of heavy metals in your body are affecting your health.

Is your liver over worked?

Get started on showing your liver some love today!

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