Love your liver

Your liver does a lot behind the scenes - filtering toxins, processing hormones, metabolizing nutrients, and keeping energy and digestion.

It filters everything you eat, drink, smell, touch, and wear, processing hormones, metabolizing nutrients, and keeping your energy and digestion in check. It’s one of the hardest working organs, but often times is overlooked. 

The good news is: you don’t need a gimmicky cleanse (an expensive juice fast or a pill that promises to “flush out all your toxins in 3 days!”) to support your liver. A few simple herbal allies, food shifts, good hydration, and gentle daily changes can dramatically improve the quality of your liver (which in turn can dramatically improve the quality of your life.) 

A happy liver can mean:

• Better sleep (especially between 1–3 AM when the liver is most active).

• More energy. Less sluggishness, fatigue, brain fog or depression.

• Clearer skin.

• Improved digestion and less bloating, as well as support for bad breathe and constipation.

• Hormone balance.

• Less irritability and emotional flow (yes, your liver can affect your mood!)

• Support for chronic pain, arthritis, and migraines.

• Support for high cholesterol and hypertension.

• Support for reproductive issues.

• Better wound healing.

• Support for gout, edema, and water retention.

  
  

Herbs your liver loves: 

Herbal remedies offer gentle, time-tested support for liver function. Some of our favorites are: 

• Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) – Supports bile production and detox.

• Burdock root (Arctium lappa) – Nourishing and purifying, great for skin and lymph.

• Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) – Classic liver protector, especially against toxins.

• Artichoke leaf (Cynara cardunculus) – Stimulates digestion and liver flow.

• Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)- Alterative (blood purifier), lymphatic, and phytoestrogen.

• Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) - Alterative (blood purifier), antiseptic, antimicrobial, cholagogue (promotes bile flow from gall bladder) and lymphatic cleansing. It is also a wonderful alternative to goldenseal which is an at-risk plant.

• Angelica (Angelica archangelica) - A versatile herb with digestive and liver-supporting properties.

• Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus)- Alterative (blood purifier), stimulates digestion and liver flow, and cholagogue (promotes bile flow from gall bladder).

PS: Dr. Barbara O’Neil says, “sweet to the lips is bitter to the liver and bitter to the lips is sweet to the liver.”

Supporting your body's natural detoxification processes doesn't have to be a chore and can taste great too! Our Herbal Coffee and Cleanse & Clear Tea offer a delicious and effective way to show your liver and lymphatic system some love. We've carefully selected herbs known for their supportive properties and paired them with aromatic and flavorful herbs, ensuring that each cup is both beneficial and a treat for your taste buds. Not a tea drinker? You’ll also find many of these herbs in our Hepatic Harmony Tincture—crafted to support liver function, digestion, and whole-body balance.

"Detoxing" and 'cleansing" is all the rage right now. This doesn't need to be harsh on the body or expensive. Three main goals of a cleanse or detox are:

1. To remove potentially "toxic" foods.

2. To eat a simple diet so that detox organs like the liver can focus less on digestion and more on detoxification.

3. To increase consumption of water and foods that encourage the detoxification organs to do their job more efficiently.

Detox-Friendly Foods

Although a plant-based diet rich in vegetables and fiber supports healthy detoxification in general, certain foods play detox superstars by encouraging bile production or acting as diuretics. Aim to eat lots of the following foods during a detox, and extend the benefits by enjoying them regularly in your diet.

• Bitter greens and veggies, like arugula or dandelion, artichoke, radicchio, or bitter melon. Lots of veggies.

• Diuretic veggies like dandelion, parsley, burdock, celery.

• Cruciferous veggies like broccoli, kale, watercress, cabbage, Bok choy, Brussel sprouts).

• Asparagus, avocado, berries, sour citrus, cranberries, pomegranate, garlic and onions.

• Low sugar fruits.

• Mushrooms (cooked or in broth).

• Flax and chia seeds.

• Walnuts.

• Beets – Help stimulate bile and support detox pathways.

• Lemons and limes – Add to water in the morning for a gentle daily flush.

• Soups and broths.

• Healthy fats – Avocado, olive oil, or flaxseed to nourish and support bile flow.

  
  

Avoid excess alcohol, processed sugar, processed foods, dairy, red meat (at least for a limited period of time) and fried foods—these create more work for your liver to do. Don't skimp on protein though as it is important for adequate liver function (get it from beans, nuts, seeds, wild-caught salmon/seafood, or free-range and/or organic chicken).

Simple Daily Shifts to Support Your Liver:

• Drink plenty of room temperature, filtered water.

• Move your body (even a short walk can help your lymph and liver do their job).

• Go to bed before 11 PM to give your liver time to recover from a long days work.

• Dry brush or use castor oil packs over your liver area (bonus points for applying a heating pad on the oil pack - your liver may start gurgling! Don’t worry, that’s a good sign!) 

• Take a liver-supportive tincture or tea like Hepatic Harmony, Herbal Coffee, or Cleanse & Clear daily.

Final Thoughts

Your liver isn’t just a detoxification organ—it’s a key player in your body’s overall harmony. By supporting it with herbs, nourishing foods, and intentional daily habits, you’re helping your liver help you - and it will reward you with increased energy, clearer skin, balanced moods, and better sleep. 

Talk with your doctor before embarking on a strict cleanse, especially if you have an eating disorder, heart disease, diabetes, liver or kidney disease, or are overly thin. Pregnant or nursing women should not cleanse.

Love, 

Your liver.