Supporting Your Liver

How often do you think about your liver? If it’s functioning properly, you probably never give it a thought. The liver is a powerhouse of an organ, weighing about three pounds and performing more than 500 vital functions to keep your body functioning properly. It produces cholesterol and proteins for blood plasma, carries fats through the body, converts excess glucose into glycogen, and regulates amino acids. It also works with your immune system and helps with your digestive processes. Your liver never takes a break, but sometimes it needs some support from us. If your liver isn’t functioning properly, you may need to make some adjustments to give it a boost, or even detoxify it.

10 Signs Your Liver Needs Detoxing

If your liver needs some help, how will you know? Look for the following signs.

Spider veins can occur because of a build up of estrogen, due to lagging liver function.
Cracked heels can indicate a vitamin deficiency, often because our liver is not doing a good job of helping us absorb nutrients.
Bloodshot eyes and/or dark circles or puffiness under the eyes are a sign that your liver is inflamed and needs support.
Angry outbursts can be a sign of poor liver function.
Waking in the night can mean your liver is blocked.
Frequent pain in the side, hips, inner thighs, or lower legs can indicate diminished liver function.
If you tend to eat a high-sugar diet, it’s a safe bet that your liver is overwhelmed by the tasks of processing, converting, and processing all that sugar.
Consuming more than two alcoholic drinks daily can also overtax or even damage your liver.
If your liver is functioning poorly, you may feel fatigued, drained, or sluggish.
Yellow or white bowel movements can indicate a malfunctioning liver.

How to Detox Your Liver

If you believe your liver is in need of some assistance, start by modifying your diet. Remove toxic, inflammatory foods from your diet, like gluten, dairy, trans fats, and sugar. Caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, unhealthy fats, additives, and preservatives all have a negative impact on your liver and should be eliminated. Replace these foods with liver cleansing foods like beets, almonds, fermented foods, salmon, broccoli sprouts, green tea, bone broth, citrus fruits, and dandelion greens and roots. Pack your diet full of organic fruits, vegetables, and meats, including potassium rich foods like sweet potatoes, bananas, and spinach. Drink filtered water, and consider supplements that can help with liver function, including milk thistle, selenium, and glutathione. If you’re wondering, “how long should I take milk thistle to detox liver,” the answer is to take it daily for at least two weeks to promote liver detoxification.

Signs Your Liver is Detoxing

How do you know if what you’re doing to support your liver is having the desired effect? There are certain signs that a liver detox is working, and you are likely to notice these within a few weeks. These signs include an increase in energy, healthier digestion, a healthier complexion with clearer ski, decreased inflammation, balanced hormones, and enhanced mental clarity and focus. You may also experience some negative side effects at first, like headaches, fatigue, and changes in bowel movements, but these symptoms are likely to pass quickly as your liver detoxifies.

Trust Advanced Functional Medicine to Treat the Whole Person

At Advanced Functional Medicine, an integrated medical clinic, we exclusively practice functional medicine. A full functional medicine approach to healing uses a comprehensive diagnostic screening to get to the root of a patient’s issues. Our whole body approach to medicine utilizes all-natural, researched-based nutritional approaches to optimize the body’s natural healing abilities, rather than just using medication to treat symptoms. Each individual receives unique and customized care, formulated based on the latest scientific resource, and we have a 96 percent success rate in patient outcomes. As a medically driven, patient-focused health clinic, we support our patients’ individual health goals, providing natural relief for symptoms of chronic factors and expert guidance about the decisions affecting a patient’s long-term health. It is our goal to help reverse chronic disease without resorting to dangerous or unnecessary drugs or surgical interventions, promoting healing from the inside out, in its truest, healthiest form. To schedule an appointment or learn more about how we can help restore your health and strengthen your body’s unique physiological functions, call 858-500-5572 or contact us through our website.