The Best Herbs and Foods for a Liver Cleanse (Detox)

Your morning lemon water isn't going to do diddly-squat for your liver. Don't be fooled. Now in reality, your body doesn't inherently need to detox. It has about half a dozen organs that are actively trying to detox it all the time. Some of the biggest ones being the liver and the kidneys as traditional detox organs in addition to your skin, your lymphatic system, your intestines obviously getting rid of waste. But there are certain herbs that can be used to detox a liver and on top of that, there are actually a few signs and symptoms from a traditional point of view that indicate that there are issues in those organs. And that's what I want to focus on and share today. Hey guys, it's Dr. Alex Haim, doctor of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine and author of the health book Master of the Day. Let's get in it. Now before we jump into the signs and symptoms of actually needing a quote detox, I want to talk about the shaoyang organs in general. Because from a traditional Chinese medicine point of view, these are the organs that typically are the ones that need detoxing. So from our point of view, these involve the gallbladder, the liver and what's called the triple warmer. And I would throw in the lymphatic system. Those being the main buckets of where people have issues that we need to use herbs that are traditionally used as detoxes to move the gallbladder or to work on healing the liver or improve the functioning of the lymphatic system. And then from my point of view, if we're going to talk about herbal medicine and the ways they can detox certain organs, why don't we approach it from the medicine as the longest history of continuous use as well as modern scientific evidence that shows that it actually does these things that ancient doctors said it could and said it would. So let's jump in and talk about some of the key signs and symptoms from my point of view. So the three main signs from my point of view that a detox quote is needed is number one, issues with the gallbladder. Like for example, people having gallstones, gallbladder pain, gallbladder distention, gallbladder pressure. Typically, people will eat, my patients will say they eat a large meal and afterwards they notice a lot of distention or pain in the upper right quadrant, right? On the right side on the ribs there. The second one would be acid reflux. So from our point of view in traditional Chinese medicine, the liver and the gallbladder in the stomach are what typically govern acid reflux in addition to the pancreas. But if people are consistently having reflux, they're having pain, nausea, burning, they're feeling warmth coming up in the throat at night. All of these are indicators that the functional relationship between the stomach, pancreas, spleen as well as the liver and the gallbladder has been disrupted. So in traditional medicine, we call this wood overacting on earth. The wood organs being the liver, gallbladder, triple warmer. The earth organs being, for example, the stomach and the spleen, pancreas, that kind of thing in the intestines. So wood is beating up on earth. And as a result, people are experiencing not just liver, gallbladder symptoms like reflux but often issues with bowel movements, loose stools, food allergies, they can't digest anything. I've heard all these words dozens of times in my practice. The third sign and symptom is the three highs as one of my mentors calls it. High blood pressure, high blood sugar and the third being high blood lipids. So these three are signs and symptoms. You know, when you see these kooky ads on the internet, signs your liver is toxic. From my point of view, these are the signs and symptoms of, I'm not going to say your liver being toxic but your body is moving more in the state of pathology than it is in terms of health. And while chronic acid reflux, for example, can potentially lead to Barrett's esophagus which has a small percentage chance of becoming cancer, most of the time that isn't true. But what it does indicate is that the balance has been tilted towards pathology, disease and it is no longer in the middle where wellness is happening. Now, these kinds of signs and symptoms are things that I talk about in a free guide I've put together for DV rituals that could potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. So it's a link right below this video on how to actually use TCM for your own healing. And in addition, it has info if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, you can check out right below this video by contact info. But those are the three main signs that I end up seeing most often as we need to immediately treat the liver and the gallbladder and sometimes also the stomach. Now, let's talk about five of the most commonly used herbs for these patterns. I want to preface this by saying, do not order these herbs online and take them. They are not safe to take single herbs. We don't ever take them as single herbs. They're only prescribed by licensed practitioners of this medicine. Do not order them long term because they can cause harm to the liver and kidneys just like taking medications without training, right? Acetaminophen, Tylenol, Aspirin, lots of these medications can harm the liver as well. And they're one of the most common causes for calls into poison control every single year. Herbs can do the same thing. Don't be fooled. Let's jump into this first research paper here for perhaps the most famous herb for this called Huang Qin or Scutellaria. Now, this one particular paper is called The Pharmacological Properties of the Compound on Liver Diseases, a Narrative Review. So, this compound here is the main active component of Scutellaria, which is something that has anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties as well as cardiovascular, hepatic and renal protective effects, right? So, we're talking about the liver and the kidneys here. Now, I want you to jump down to this other little segment here talking about how several studies show that the compound here that's in Huang Qin, Scutellaria, protects against several different types of liver diseases, including viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, xenobiotic-induced liver injury. This is anything coming from the outside. This includes medications. It also includes environmental toxins you may be exposed to as well as liver injury and hepatocellular carcinoma. So, this herb Huang Qin is protective for these kinds of issues that affect the liver, which is pretty interesting. The second herb here is called Huang Lian, which is Coptis. Now, Coptis is an herb that typically in TCM we use for a condition called damp heat. We use it for often acid reflux as well, sometimes for a small intestine bacterial overgrowth or candida, yeast issues, fungal issues like jock itch and athlete's foot and that sort of thing. It can be used for discharge as well. So, Huang Lian, very, very antibiotic, very, very anti-fungal, something that is also high in berberine, a compound that benefits these organs that we've just talked about above. The third herb is Ban Xia, which is Penelia. Penelia is an herb that we typically use a lot for upper GI issues involving mucus, phlegm, and the lymphatic system. So, while Ban Xia can be used for chronic headaches that are just generalized dull pressure, issues with chronic lymphatic issues, it's great for the mucus and that thick phlegm people get from acid reflux when the mucus membranes are very, very irritated and producing all of this mucus. Now, the final two herbs Zhi Shi, which is Fructus aurantii, bitter orange, and also Cai Hu, blue plurum. These herbs we use in combination for a lot of these issues as well for basically moving a sluggish gallbladder, whether it's gallbladder sludge or for helping the liver when there are issues with, let's say, fatty liver, for example. The bitters in, for example, bitter orange are often what are very, very, very well-suited to deal with high blood sugar, high cholesterol, that sort of thing. Now, let's talk about some of the dietary advice that traditional medicine talks about for these liver and gallbladder stomach issues. So, again, from my point of view, I don't think that a person should necessarily be doing a cleanse just because. Just being constipated doesn't mean you need to cleanse. It just means you need to eat more vegetables and eat healthier and maybe just eat a little bit lighter. Go on a light fast for a week or two. Just eat when you're hungry. Eat a lot of good veggies, healthy fats. But from a traditional medicine point of view, these conditions are caused by a diet that is excessively heat-generating. Now, you could say that heat is inflammation, but it isn't necessarily one-to-one. But compare the modern American diet. Lots of coffee, alcohol, fried food, heavy foods, lots of heavy meats, not enough vegetables, inflammatory oils, canola oils that have olive oil, right? These generate a lot of heat and stagnation in the body from a TCM point of view. And these are a kind of inflammation, toxic inflammation. Now, secondary byproduct of this is that they generate heat. So, people who consume these kinds of foods generate heat in terms of stomach heat is another term in TCM for acid reflux. But the heat can be facial heat like acne. It can be heat like actual redness in the face, lots of flushing, excessive body warmth. Compare that to, let's say, the Mediterranean diet. If you're going to have alcohol, it's just a glass of wine. And instead of having three cups of coffee, you're going to have just one. Instead of having 12-ounce steak with potatoes, let's say you're going to have three to four ounces with whole grains and lots of cooked sautéed veggies that are sautéed in olive oil. That diet, especially high vegetable diet, is what we call cooling in traditional medicine. And cooling diets, more green tea and tea instead of coffee, staying away from too much excess alcohol, especially hard alcohol, wine and liquor that generate heat. These kinds of things will help temper the stomach fire and will help calm down these symptoms of acid reflux. And in particular, bitter vegetables are some of the best for the gallbladder and the liver because we use very, very bitter herbs that are high, for example, in Burberry. So, bitter vegetables are some of the best for improving the functioning of the liver and the gallbladder and the stomach. For those who have signs of stomach heat, reflux, indigestion, GERD, that sort of thing. If you're experiencing these symptoms from a dietary lifestyle point of view, focusing on a more temperature-neutral diet or cooling diet, more greens, more tea instead of coffee, less or minimizing wine and hard alcohol, and in general, having a lot more sautéed leafy greens, like cooked with olive oil, for example. Sort of like the traditional acid versus alkaline diet, right? Some of that is like a traditional medicine point of view here. But those will be something that will benefit these organs very, very well. Now, I'm actually in the process of putting together something very exciting, which is my first online program, Healing with Traditional Chinese Medicine. Now, if you guys want, it is on my email list, my newsletter. The first link below is the only place I'm going to notify people for this beta launch. So, if you'd like to join it, it's going to be online. You can join anywhere in the world. You can join there and I'll let you know as soon as that program comes out in the next few weeks. Now, before you go, I have a related video on this exact topic right over there, and I will see you guys soon.