Spring is finally here! The sun is shining. Flowers are blooming and the air is warming.

As we open our windows to get fresh air and clean our houses, we also need to help cleanse our liver. The liver is responsible for detoxifying all the chemicals that we are exposed to through our diet, water, personal care products and the environment. A sluggisn liver contributes to spring allergy issues. When the liver is able to detox properly, allergy symptoms do not occur.

While human beings have not changed in the past 40, 000 years, our environment is constantly changing. We now live in a toxic world. Four billion tons of chemicals are used all over the world each year. Our amazing liver performs 500 functions. One of its main jobs is to detoxify all toxins in the body. Spring is the best time to help the liver work more efficiently.

What causes Toxicity?

The liver will store toxins in body fat if it cannot neutralize and eliminate them. This creates unwanted body fat that is difficult to get rid of. The liver is an efficient fat burning organ, but when it is overloaded with toxins, it cannot burn fat, resulting in weight gain, fatigue, headaches, upper back pain, and seasonal allergy symptoms.

There are 60 thousand chemicals today in the USA. Besides living in a toxic environment, we also ingest toxins as well. All of these chemicals are toxic to the human body and produce stress on the liver and the entire system.

*  The average American consumes 14 pounds of chemical additives, 180 pounds of table sugar and 8 pounds of commercial table salt each year.

*   There are more than 320,000 processed foods on the market with 160,000 of them developed in the last 10 years.

*   We have over 250,000 fast food restaurants and 25% of all vegetables eaten in America are French fries.

*   Since 1997, we have increased our consumption of soft drinks by 134% from 23.3 gallons to 54 gallons per person each year.

*   In a typical day, you might be exposed to over 200 different chemicals from personal care cosmetics, many of which are suspected of causing cancer or altering hormones.

*   There are many toxins found in packaged foods. One of the most toxic is Trans Fat or partially hydrogenated fat. This fat raises LDL cholesterol and causes additional liver stress. When Trans Fat is eaten the body is unable to use this fat or to metabolize it, so it is stored.

*    More than 700 chemicals are added to drinking water supplies.  During processing, and storage, another 10,000 compounds are added to processed foods.

The digestive system becomes damaged from an overload of toxins. The toxins leak from the damaged gut into the body, where the liver has to remove them. The liver becomes overloaded attempting to detoxify all the toxins. Then the toxins are returned to the gut, further altering the pH and causing more damage. Leaky gut can be responsible for poor absorption, fatigue, allergies, autoimmune reactions, and much more.

The key to reducing your toxic load is to help the liver cleanse itself. The liver is located under the rib cage on the front right side of the body. Every spring your liver attempts to detoxify. There are several ways to help your liver cleanse itself.

Detoxify Your Liver

When detoxifying the liver you want to avoid the detox symptoms of nausea, feeling sick, headaches etc. It is essential whenever detox is done to make sure that you have specific foods and herbs to bind the toxins and to remove them from the body. Making sure the toxins are removed safely eliminates discomfort during detoxification.

Fasting is one way to detoxify the liver. It can mobilize toxins, but it can also release them too quickly. Using protein powders can help facilitate detox by reducing caloric load, which mobilizes toxins from the fatty tissues. Supplementing with herbs to bind and remove the toxins is essential to preventing a detox reaction. 

The nutrients and fiber from fruits, vegetables, and particularly organic sprouts of cruciferous vegetables aid in the liver detox process. Beets, onions, garlic, asparagus and radishes are just a few of the foods that assist in liver detoxification.

If eating these foods causes digestive distress, there are gentler ways to help the liver detoxify using herbs and homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic detoxification is a gentle, effective way to ease the burden on your liver and to help improve digestion and elimination. Detox herbs that can help improve liver function include yellow dock, dandelion and milk thistle.

There are several physician supervised detoxification programs combining diet and lifestyle modifications that can result in weight loss, and improved liver enzymes as measured in the blood. Lifestyle change is always critical. Eat organic, drink "living" water (1/2 your body weight in ounces), and try to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins. Take advantage of the natural cycle of nature and use springtime to give your liver some help. When your liver is working properly you can enjoy spring time without suffering from allergies. 

During the month of May TLC Holistic Wellness is offering a no charge spring time liver evaluation to determine the potential for seasonal allergic reactions. Call TLC Holistic Wellness at (734) 664 - 0339 to schedule your no charge visit, and receive a free toxicity evaluation.