Cleanse to Lose Weight

I've told many of you privately in consultation that the liver is a key element in weight loss. The main idea underlying successful weight loss is detoxification of the body. Since the liver filters the blood of toxins, it's important to make sure it's clean. Our increasingly polluted environment means that our livers have to do more and more work, causing them to store toxins, becoming toxic themselves. When the liver becomes so overburdened that it can't do its work properly, the entire body suffers. Many common health complaints are the result of a toxic liver. Headaches, skin rashes, mood swings, depression, memory problems, high cholesterol and yes, even weight gain, can be linked to a toxic liver.

If you're reading this, you are fortunate. Please don't get caught up in the fad diets. You may lose weight for awhile...and it might only be water weight in the end, but you'll gain it back because the underlying problem will not have been addressed. Permanent, safe weight loss is only possible through detoxifying the body.

So, where do we start? The colon is actually first. That's a subject for another post. After cleansing the colon, then detoxifying the liver is in order. I highly recommend Ann Louise Gittleman's book, "The Fat Flush Plan" and "Fast Track Detox Diet". She, too, believes that the liver is key in losing weight. Her method has been used successfully with many people so it has a good history. Read her book to understand "body burden"--the effect that environmental chemicals have on our liver. She presents the information very well. I'm not going to duplicate her fine efforts here.

What I will do, however, is send you to another post of mine, which is "Liver-Nourishing Foods" so that you can begin to nourish your liver prior to detoxifying it. See you over there!