Day 7, Liver 411

visipix.com

Faced with a constant foggy headache, I went searching the Web for more information about the mechanics of this liver detoxification process.  Here are highlights from what I found at: Alternative Medicine Angel, including some fascinating cultural perspective.

"In some foreign countries the liver is deemed so important to health that the groom promises his liver to his bride as opposed to his heart. In fact, in most places outside the US, the liver is considered critically important to good health, and natural liver therapy abounds to maintain this critical organ."

 I always took it for granted that we focused on the heart in the U.S., but the liver certainly has some vitally overlooked roles:

"The liver is literally the body's filter. It makes sure that everything we need is absorbed, and everything that we don't need gets dumped. Just a few of its major jobs are:

Accesses the energy we need from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Stores vitamins, minerals, and sugars.

Filters the blood, removing all kinds of harmful substances.

Metabolizes, helps utilize, and eliminates excess hormones.

Creates substances that enhance our immune system (like gamma globulin).

Stores extra blood for emergencies.

Helps maintain our electrolyte and water balance.

Helps us utilize fat-soluble vitamins (like A, D, E, F, and K).

Creates bile, which breaks down fats."

The site goes on to explain the concept of "retracing" which I find completely intriguing though I'm still not satisfied as to understanding the mechanics of it:

"The old-time healers knew that the path to recovery is often in stages...The symptoms and stages of a disease peel off like an onion with the most recent symptoms disappearing first until you get to the core of the problem. Often you must revisit symptoms you have not experienced in years. After returning to fight one last battle with your immune system, these symptoms disappear for good."

Additionally, there was some disturbing information about something called the "Herxheimer reaction":

"It occurs when our body is killing and throwing off microbes (bacteria, viruses, yeasts, etc.) in larger amounts than our organs of elimination (kidneys, bowels, etc.) can handle. This phenomenon is a good sign that something is being accomplished in the body. However, the symptoms of this reaction can be quite severe depending on the toxicity. These flu-like symptoms can include rash, aches, pains, fever, diarrhea, constipation, exhaustion, and headache, usually occurring on the last few days of a three week detoxification. So it's important to plan a liver cleansing to end on a day or days when you can take off work if necessary. Do not take the liver system and its detoxification lightly."

Um...  I'm starting a new job toward the end of my cleanse and was thinking I would have cleared all the hurdles by then. (Gulp.)  I guess it's time to give my doctor a call.

I'm also wondering about shifting to the supplement described below rather than the one my doctor prescribed--the one inducing the headaches.  Interestingly, it's the one my chiropractor suggested when I first encountered the gall bladder attack (before I began the cleanse), and it worked miracles--without headaches:

"Dr. Bruce West from Health Alert recommends 2-3 AF Betafood tablets per meal for three to nine months. This product is a concentration of the liver detoxifiers and bile thinners from beets. For any of the symptoms associated with sluggish bile, this product can be a miracle. A surgeon friend of his from New Orleans testified that he performs less than 10% of the gallbladder surgeries he once did now that he prescribes AF Betafood."

 Note: all of the text quoted above comes from the site:  Alternative Medicine Angel; which brings to mind an interesting book I recently read written by an ER doctor around his experience of angels.  (I bought it for my brother in law who's an ER doc, but read it myself first :)