How often do we think about our livers? When we think of health we think of reaching a certain weight, having clear skin, being free from aches and pains and having an overall robust energy level. If we get a pimple, we’re quick to alter our beauty routine to get rid of it. If we put on a bit of weight, we quickly alter our diets to shed the unwanted pounds. There are so many outward manifestations of internal imbalances that we are quick to notice, but what about the liver?

I got to thinking about my liver recently. No, I’m not undergoing any obvious signs of liver dysfunction. Actually, except for looking jaundiced, I wouldn’t know what to look for if my liver was overtaxed. Who knows, maybe my bouts with menopausal hot flashes might be a sign that my liver is overtaxed. Let’s face it, just breathing the air and using chlorinated water puts the liver to work so I’m guessing at this age my liver has not only worked hard, but did more than its fair share of work keeping my body going.

Showing My Liver Love

To show this precious organ love I created an herbal tea blend. Some people go on strict liver cleanses to clean and detox their livers, but I’m not that advanced. I tend to do things in a slow, steady, evolutionary pace. I’ve proven to myself that quick and drastic changes don’t last. My current dietary style of clean eating took decades to come about. So in true Felicia style, I’m loving my liver slowly.

A few years ago I did things like remove all harsh cleaning products from my home in favor of natural cleaning products. I make my own or buy organic beauty products and I also increased the number of plants in my home to improve air quality. I use Himalayan salt lamps and essential oil diffusers to help clean the air.  All these things help to ease the burden on my liver, but I know it’s not enough. After all, I don’t live in a bubble. One rev of the car engine will pretty much undo much of my clean air attempts.

Herbs and Spices to the Liver Rescue

I went online to read up on the herbs, teas and oils that are good for the liver. After I looked up the good liver herbs/spices I checked my pantry to see how many of them I had. I didn’t have them all, but I had enough to put together a tea blend to love my liver. So I grabbed the ingredients, put them in my NutriBullet and blended them all together. Below is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

3/4 Tbs Black Pepper
3Tbs Cilantro
1Tbs Clove
1 Tbs Dandelion Root
1 Tbs Essiac Tea
2 Tbs Holy Basil
2 Tbs Licorice Root
4 Tbs Milk Thistle
2 Tbs Nettle
2 Tbs Parsley
2 Tbs Rose Hips
2 Tbs Rosemary
3 Tbs Turmeric
20 drops of Frankincense essential oil
20 drops of ginger essential oil

How I Consume this Liver Love Mixture

I place one tablespoon of the blended mixture into my teapot and allow it to steep for a minimum of 20 minutes. I usually set up the tea and go out for a walk. When I come back I can start drinking my tea. One tablespoon of the herbal blend makes 3 cups of tea in my teapot. I leisurely sip on the tea throughout the morning. I’m usually finished with the pot of tea by early afternoon. At that time I boil more water and pour it over the very same tablespoon of tea from the morning. One tablespoon goes a long way. I let it steep for a minimum of 40 minutes and drink the rest of it for the remainder of the day. Sometimes I let the second batch cool and drink it as iced tea.

What do I add to the tea? My first cup gets a dash of apple cider vinegar and a spoonful of local honey. The rest of the cups are taken straight. I don’t want to consume too much honey. If I drink it as an iced tea, I pour the tea into a quart-sized Ball jar and add the splash of ACV and 1 tablespoon of honey. It adds a hint of sweetness which makes it easier to drink it cold.

Liver Cleanse Tea: What I’ve Noticed

Towards the end of the first day, I started getting a headache. That’s odd for me because I rarely get headaches. I assumed that some sort of detoxing was going on. Mind you, I didn’t change my eating, I just incorporated the tea. Oh, and I had intense night sweats that night. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to get up and change my nightwear due to sweating. I wasn’t a happy camper about that!

By the second day, I truly had a headache. I woke up in a pretty funky mood. With my funky mood, I knew I couldn’t skip my morning walk because being out in nature does much to set my mood right. I didn’t know if the headache was because of the tea or because I didn’t drink coffee so I made a cup of coffee (organic, fair trade beans). It helped with the headache somewhat, but I still had a minor headache. The good thing is the night sweats had diminished. Actually, I slept very well and woke up well rested.

By the third day, I was back to my usual self. No headache and my mood was upbeat and steady.

3 Weeks Later -Dropped a Few Pounds

It’s been 3 weeks and I feel good. My energy level is up and much to my surprise I lost a few pounds. Six pounds to be exact. Was it the tea? Does cleaning out my liver help with weight loss? I don’t know. All I know is the only thing I really changed over the past 3 weeks was adding 6 cups of the liver tea blend to my daily routine.

Since tea is a very slow and steady way of getting herbs/nutrients into the body, I’ll continue drinking the liver love tea, but fewer cups.  I’ve gotten quite used to the tea and will probably still have my 3 cups during the morning/early afternoon, but the remainder of the day I’ll drink some of the other teas I have hanging around the house.  Although…if the tea is really what contributed to weight loss, I should continue drinking 6 cups until I lose a few more pounds.  🙂

6/1/17 Update: I’ve actually lost 10 pounds since I started drinking the tea (I cut back on the number of cups). The weight is not coming off quickly, but it is coming off.  One day while wearing my favorite pair of jeans, my daughter asked me to change my pants because the jeans I was wearing looked too baggy.  Imagine that?

Interesting Reading

After writing the last two paragraphs I decided to do a quick search on liver and weight loss. Here are a few interesting articles on the topic:

6 Clear Warning Signs Your Liver Is Full Of Toxins And Making You Fat

Liver Toxicity Could Be the Major Cause of Your Weight Gain

The hidden cause of unexplained weight gain may be poor liver function

Why Liver Toxicity Could be the Major Cause of Your Weight Gain

These articles put things in a whole new light for me.  Since the world continues to be polluted and food continues to be contaminated, I might as well continue to show my liver love to help it do what it needs to do.