Blog

THE IRREPLACEABLE LIVER

By: Clifford M. Sonnie, M.D., M.P.H.

Ask anyone who has been to my clinic and they will tell you that I consider the GI tract and the Liver as the two most important organs in your body. If they don’t work, nothing works. Everyone at one time or another will be asked to do a liver cleanse. Now there are a bunch of them out there and I am sure “practitioners” will be more than happy to have you spend $30, $40 or $50 on some of them. Mine is simple and cheap. 4 bucks. More later.

The liver is that organ found under the lower right ribs. It weighs about 4 pounds and performs over 500 functions a day. It cleans about 100 gallons of blood a day, manufactures about a quart of bile a day to break down fat, produces over 13,000 chemicals and hormones including estrogen and testosterone and cholesterol, regulates blood sugar, stores all kinds of vitamins and minerals, and will protect us from environmental toxins by breaking them down and eliminating them in the stool. Pretty important!! So over time and with more and more toxins being introduced, the liver takes a beating. By the time we’re 40 the tubes and gall bladder are getting pretty clogged. By 50, the liver is making about 25% of the bile we need to break down fats. Needless to say, the efficiency of the liver is dropping as well.

First what is hurting our liver (and for that matter our entire body)? In no particular order, all prescription drugs, alcohol overuse, pollution, chemical food additives, chlorine, fluoride, household chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and every other chemical we use to make our life easier. Shorter too but easier none the less.

How do we know if we should clean it? You live on Earth, you need it. I can’t tell you the number of problems associated with an inefficient liver. A few are: acne, allergies, memory problems, joint pain, autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue, digestion issues, depression, gall stones, headaches, high blood pressure, muscle aches, kidneys problems, hormonal issues including libido, mood swings and hot flashes and a number of other issues. So, the liver is the oil filter, gas filter and catalytic converter all rolled into one.

Now we can get a new liver. Not very likely. We can take a lot of nutrients to make the liver work better. Good idea but there is a better way. Just like painting a house, you’ve got to take the old paint off first. Likewise, let’s clean up the liver, and then let’s see where we are. That is the idea and goal of my clinic in a nutshell.

The recipe is easy and cheap. You’ll need a pink grapefruit, some Epson salts and some olive oil. It doesn’t taste good. It’s not pleasant. Deal with it!!

On the day of the cleanse, eat a light breakfast and lunch. I personally don’t even eat that day. Drink all the water and only water you want. If you do eat, you stop at 2PM. At 6 PM you take a tablespoon of Epson salts and mix it in a glass of water (8 ounces at least to help it dissolve) and drink it. Repeat this at 8PM. Tonight you go to bed at 10PM. At 9:45PM you squeeze out all the juice from the pink grapefruit and you mix it with ½ cup of the olive oil. You take it to bed and drink it there. You leave the glass on the nightstand and you immediately go horizontal. I don’t care if you lie on your side, back or front. You don’t watch TV, you don’t read a book, you don’t fool around. You lie there and sleep. If you have to go the bathroom, you go and get back into bed. When you wake up, it’s back to the Epson salts. Two hours later you repeat the Epson salts for the last time. That’s it. Now the first day, the Epson salts will cause you to have several bowel movements to clear your colon. The morning after, the Epson salts will also cause you to have some bowel movements but instead of stool you will see many green pieces of sludge and stones. This is the junk in the gall bladder and the ducts and you just flushed them clean.

I do this twice a year when I change the clocks. Now here is the unknown. Half of you will feel great the day after and there is no problem. The other half will be like me and feel like a slug. I feel tired and want to be left alone to sit on the couch and watch Bowling for Furniture. I am not hungry and in fact may be a bit nauseated. This will pass and by the next day I feel great. This reaction is called a Herxheimer reaction and is normal. I just hate people who don’t have to go through it.

See how you feel after. If you still think there is an issue or the problems you had before the flush are still there (I will promise you at least not to the same extent) then call us and set up an appointment so we can talk. As always, first check with your family MD or DO. Remember the smart health care consumer is informed and aware.

Clifford Sonnie, M.D. is the physician at the Balance of Life Clinic.