How to Promote Liver Health and Detoxification

liver-healthIn my last blog, I wrote about the importance of optimizing digestive health for supporting detoxification. This blog is going to cover the liver’s role in detoxification and how to best support this complex organ. Your health and vitality is largely determined by how well you can detoxify the many toxic substances that you are exposed to on an ongoing basis. Not only does the liver process, neutralize, and excrete chemicals from our environment (food, water, products, etc.), it must also handle toxic by-products that the body makes every day. Effective liver detoxification is essential for optimal health. Continue reading “How to Promote Liver Health and Detoxification”

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Bile Salts After Gallbladder Surgery

stomach-painIf you are one of millions of Americans who have had their gallbladder removed, then you are probably experiencing some unpleasant side effects when you eat certain foods. Fats in particular become very difficult to digest. In the past, the solution has been to avoid fats altogether. The problem with that is that fats are important and without them, skin issues, vision and eye problems, fatty tumors, bruising, and many other problems occur.

The gallbladder plays a key role in digestion of fats. Here’s how: bile acids are produced from cholesterol in your liver and then flow into your gallbladder, Continue reading “Bile Salts After Gallbladder Surgery”

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Time to Spring Clean Your Body

lemon water

Opening windows, seeding your lawn, and cleaning your windows are some of the things most of us do in our homes when the first signs of spring start popping up. But our homes aren’t the only things we should be looking at – spring clean your body to get a fresh start and feel great!

A seasonal body cleanse can do wonders for our health. Cleansing or detoxifying can help the body rid itself of toxins that have built up in our systems over the months (or years).

A quality cleanse will enhance the body’s natural detoxification process, which includes the liver, kidneys, digestive system, lymphatics and blood. If you have never done a cleanse before, the variety of options available today can be confusing and daunting. Here are two that I like. Continue reading “Time to Spring Clean Your Body”

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Scary Foods to Make Yourself Eat: Dandelion Greens

For the second installment of our series Scary Foods to Make Yourself Eat, we’re venturing into vegetables – debatably an even tougher sell than sardines (read part one about sardines). If you don’t already eat a lot of green vegetables, then you may just want to start by adding dark leafy greens (spinach, romaine, kale, chard, etc.) to your everyday diet. If greens are a staple, then consider incorporating the less common leaf of the dandelion plant.

In the Northeast we primarily know dandelions as those pesky weeds that invade our lawns every spring. Some of us may remember the childhood challenge of blowing all the seed spores off a mature flower with a single breath. But we rarely considered the leaves as an edible green vegetable. Turns out, not only are they edible, they’re quite nutritious.  Continue reading “Scary Foods to Make Yourself Eat: Dandelion Greens”

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Love Your Liver

Your liver takes a lot of abuse. As a major organ of detoxification in the body, it must be able to process thousands of chemicals from food, your body, the environment, medications, and chemicals released from infectious organisms. Poor diet, overeating, excessive intake of fats, sugars, alcohol, and environmental agents can all negatively affect liver health. Your life depends on the liver’s role in protecting your body from toxin build-up. If the liver isn’t functioning optimally, then there is a greater chance of cellular damage throughout the body. Are you taking care of your liver?

Three important ways to optimize liver function:

1) Protect your liver cells with the herb milk thistle, phosphatidylcholine, and antioxidants such as vitamin A, E, C, beta-carotene and selenium.

2) Improve bile flow by eating bitter foods (endive, chicory, radicchio, mustard greens, dandelion leaf/root) and herbs (gentian, artichoke leaves, hops, barberry).

3) Improve detoxification by eating garlic and cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, etc.), eating protein (supplies important amino acids needed to bind toxic materials), and getting adequate amounts of minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and zinc, which are essential components of many enzymes needed for detoxification.

Three Pathway supplements designed to support liver health: Continue reading “Love Your Liver”

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Our Bloggers

  • Paula Gallagher
    Paula Gallagher
    Paula is a highly qualified and experienced nutrition counselor on the staff at Village Green.
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  • Margo Gladding
    Margo Gladding
    Margo's impressive knowledge base is the result of a unique blend of educational and professional experience.
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  • Dr. Neal Barnard
    Dr. Neal Barnard
    Dr. Barnard leads programs advocating for preventive medicine, good nutrition, and higher ethical standards in research.
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  • Joseph Pizzorno
    Dr. Joseph Pizzorno
    Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, ND is a pioneer of integrative medicine and a leading authority on science-based natural medicine.
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  • Debi Silber
    Debi Silber
    Debi is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutrition, a personal trainer, and whole health coach.
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  • Teri Cochrane
    Teri Cochrane
    Teri is a is a Certified Coach Practitioner with extensive certifications and experience in holistic medicinal practices.
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  • Dr. Rav Ivker
    Dr. Rav Ivker
    Dr. Rav Ivker is a holistic family physician, health educator, and best-selling author.
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  • Susan Levin
    Susan Levin
    Susan writes about the connection between plant-based diets and a reduced risk of chronic diseases.
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  • Rob Brown
    Dr. Rob Brown
    Dr. Brown's blended perspective of healthcare includes a deeply rooted passion for wellness and spiritual exploration.
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