In this episode, you will learn how to speed up a sluggish liver with a multi-pronged approach:
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- Body Wisdom Waitlist
- 7 Day Spark
- Wellness Tribe
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- Download the Liver Medicine PDF
- Toxic Stones List
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How to Speed Up A Sluggish Liver
What is the liver? What does it do?
The liver is one of the largest organs in your body! Since football season just started, I will compare it to that - your liver, hanging out on the right side of your body opposite your spleen, is roughly the size of a football. It’s a big organ for good reason too, it might be the hardest working organ in the body.
The liver works around the clock to detoxify our blood, produce the bile needed to digest fat, break down hormones, and store vitamins and minerals. It’s the liver’s job to process all of the nutrients absorbed by the intestines so your body can use them efficiently. The liver also has the responsibility of regulating our body’s blood composition to balance protein, fat, and sugar.
Additionally, it removes toxins from the blood and breaks down both alcohol and medications.
Energetically, your liver is responsible for the smooth flow of energy through your body. It’s also your powerhouse, governed by your solar plexus chakra. The solar plexus is the seat of personal power, its also one that I frequently find is under active clinically which affects your liver’s ability to process all the things your body brings to it.
What are some signs that your liver is sluggish?
You can imagine, if you aren’t taking care of your liver, some of these jobs begin to slip. Things aren’t processed as efficiently, and you begin to notice outward symptoms. Interestingly, many of my clients don’t even realize that the root of their cluster of symptoms is the liver because sometimes they are quite subtle. Often signs and symptoms are so subtle you don’t realize the liver is behind it until the liver progressed on from sluggish to something more serious.
Signs your liver is sluggish vary quite widely. It can range from skin issues, like eczema, acne, psoriasis and everything in between, to hormone issues, to even cholesterol and triglyceride issues. Almost everyone with thyroid trouble has a sluggish liver. Some people manifest liver issues as trouble losing weight. Another sign is that your body isn’t handling medications or even alcohol like it used to.
Energetically, liver troubles show up when the liver energy has a weak flow or is obstructed, there can be anger, frustration, depression and a feeling of being “wound up.” Sometimes this manifests as additional physical symptoms like hypochondriac style pain, a sensation of oppression in the chest, a feeling of a lump in the throat, and distension in the abdomen.
Here is a pretty good list of signs:
- Fatigue, weakness, confusion, and/or trouble concentrating
- Jaundice (this is a sign of advanced trouble)
- Weight changes
- Loss of appetite, digestive troubles, bloating/gas
- Pain in the center or right upper part of the belly
- Bruising easily
- Excessive sweat, hot flashes
- Constipation
- Dry and dark patches on the neck and underarms
- Swelling in the legs and ankles
- Skin issues (acne, psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis)
What causes sluggish liver?
The causes can be as vast as the symptoms. Sometimes it is a toxin, such as a heavy metal like copper or aluminum that can cause the troubles, sometimes it is mold or other toxin exposure. Luckily this is a simple test to complete to find out. If you think this is you, we can test for those things whether you are local to DFW or not. You can find that link here.
Sometimes a sluggish liver is a result of a virus like Epstein Bar or Mono or even Lime Disease. I mean, let’s be honest, there are so many environmental toxins occurring in our homes, places of work and in our food supply, it’s impossible not to have some taxing of the liver. This also means it is essential for our general health and well-being to keep our livers functioning properly.
Sometimes liver troubles can be caused by the what you put in your body willingly, like the types of food, supplements, and medications you consume. Or what you put your body through, like diet-culture habits and losing too much weight too fast. Which is not sustainable and often done by severely restricting and depriving yourself, leading to malnutrition, and further slowing the liver (and metabolism) down.
Interestingly, often people go see their doctor for liver issues and they are either put on medication or told to lose weight, both which further tax the liver.
Energetically, liver troubles can be caused by anger, over competitiveness, and refusal to forgive. You can test these with energy testing - in the office or virtually.
How can you speed up a sluggish liver?
Now for the good stuffs, how to fix it. When you fix your liver flow problems physically and energetically, you can expect:
- Increased energy levels
- Clearer skin
- More regular menstrual cycle reduction in PMS
- Freedom from sinus pain
- Fewer infections and stronger immunity
- Less digestive complaints and more regularity
- Fresher breath and oral health
- A positive mood and sharper mind
Okay, so I’m not a fan of telling you what to restrict, I find that it’s easier to focus on the adding, on the positive, than taking away the negative or restricting. Restricting just isn’t a fun or healthy place to be. So I will approach helping your liver with a different approach, what can you add?
Fruits and Veggies! Bring on the leafy greens and the cruciferous veggies and grasses! Green grasses, like chlorella, barley or wheat grass, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower,and kale help to drive toxins out of the liver, like heavy metals and carcinogens and heavy metals, and increase antioxidants. Fruits to add include berries, bananas, and melons and provide an array of balanced electrolyte minerals your liver needs, including magnesium, calcium and potassium.
Bring on the herbs! (No not that kind, although I’m not against that either.) Herbs to add include turmeric, coriander, parsley, cilantro, raw garlic, and oregano. You can simply use these liberally in your food, use the essential oil version topically or aromatically, or if you juice, add them to your juice. We can add them supplementally, but up next I will give you recommendations that have more bang for your buck there.
These herbs are fantastic at helping your body boost glutathione production and also lower inflammation. Highly potent flavors and aromatic smells of herbs are a sign of beneficial essential oils in certain herbs. These herbs improve circulation, fight toxin buildup, balance the body’s pH level, and increases digestive enzymes.
Celery Juice. Doesn’t taste great but works wonders for assisting the liver with the mineral salts it needs to function properly. All you need is a good quality juicer and all the organic celery from your local grocer.
Raw Honey. This means its the kind that’s not heated or refined. Raw honey is naturally antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal. It helps lower liver inflammation and eliminate bacteria, parasites and viral infections, that we talked about can be the cause. Raw honey is especially beneficial to you when you source it locally. It also nourishes the digestive tract and improves liver and gut health.
Supplements. I usually ask my clients to take a couple different supplements for liver sluggishness. One is milk thistle, as this is great for massaging the liver into good function. Others include, and don't take all of these at once, supplements such as carbon 60 olive oil; antioxidants such as vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene; minerals such as zinc and selenium; B-vitamins; and herbs like dandelion root and holy basil, to name a few.
What kind of energy medicine can I use to help a sluggish liver?
A few things to add energetically, you can strengthen your liver meridian, flush your neurolymphatic points, and practice forgiveness in your meditations...or start a meditation practice if you don’t have one already.
To strengthen your liver energy, you can massage the acupressure points on the feet for clearing your liver are found at the "V" where the big toe meets the second toe on the top of the foot at the base of the metatarsal bridge. Simply massage that area with good pressure on BOTH feet, several times a day. If its tender, you need it, so keep going.
You can also hold firm pressure on the Liver strengthening points, on the inside of the knees and outside of the wrists. For a detailed diagram, you can download the images here.
Additionally, any crystals that work with the solar plexus are beneficial for the liver, such as pyrite, natural citrine, red aventurine, petrified wood, and bloodstone. You can intuitively choose the way to work with the stone. It may be in meditation, just by contact, or even an elixir (be careful about toxic stones in water). You can also schedule a visit for a Crystal Therapy Session locally or virtually.
Closing:
Hopefully, I have instilled in you the importance of the liver, the good news is, not matter how damaged your liver may be, no matter how slow, it CAN heal given the proper tools and fuel. As always, prevention is the best option. We all come into contact daily with various forms of toxins through the air we breathe, foods we eat, the environment we are in, and the products we use. Do your best to avoid breathing in or touching toxins, and limit the amount of chemical household, cleaning and beauty products you use, and only take medications when it’s absolutely necessary.
Be Well,