You have a major organ that controls your body’s overall energy levels.
I’m not talking about your heart, brain, or lungs. I’m talking about your body’s largest internal organ — your liver.
Your liver is your main metabolic engine. And your liver converts glucose or blood sugar into energy components.
Your liver also clears away toxic waste. Toxic blood is heavy and weakens circulation, while a healthy liver improves oxygen and nutrient delivery to your cells.
If you lack energy, have brain fog, get headaches, or feel overly angry and frustrated, it could be a sign that your liver is sluggish. Restoring power to this “energy storehouse” is one of the secrets of my three-decade medical career.
But it’s something most doctors completely overlook or ignore.
And that’s a shame.
Because 90% of the “hard-to-diagnose” patients that come to my clinic — the ones who go from doctor to doctor with no results and no answers — make a dramatic comeback when this energy source is switched back on.
You see, your liver is responsible for up to 500 different functions you need to stay alive.
Its primary job is to detoxify and process the toxins that get into your body from your food, drink, and environment and to filter any drugs or medications you may take.
But your liver is also:
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- A storehouse for vitamins and nutrients, and can release them into your bloodstream when needed
- A kind of “pharmacy” that makes more than 13,000 key chemicals, hormones, and “base materials,” like cholesterol and glycogen (one of the keys to maintaining high energy)
- Responsible for managing some 50,000 enzymes and compounds you need for good health and long life
When your liver is overwhelmed by toxins it can’t get rid of; you end up with a “traffic jam.” And
everything gets backed up.For example, if your liver doesn’t have the energy to produce cholesterol, your body can’t make the sex hormones estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA.
If your liver has trouble storing glycogen, it can’t regulate blood sugar. Soon your energy levels will plummet.
And if your liver can’t process all the toxins it’s exposed to from our modern world; they end up in your bloodstream and fat cells.
This can lead to feelings of lethargy, weight gain, and a lack of energy.
The first thing I tell my patients is to sweep the toxins out of their livers with milk thistle.
I began using milk thistle to treat liver disease after discovering it’s been used this way by natural healers for more than 2,000 years.
Today, it’s approved in the German Commission E Monographs for liver concerns. This book is among the world’s most respected medical references regarding the safety and efficacy of herbs.1,2
In the U.S., the Mayo Clinic tested silymarin (the active ingredient in milk thistle) on people with livers that could barely function because of poor diet, alcohol, and other toxins. But after taking silymarin, all experienced “significant improvement” in liver function.3
And researchers at the University of North Carolina reported that milk thistle significantly reduced liver damage in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis caused by the hepatitis C virus, and inflammation.4
My own research has found that silymarin strengthens cell walls against invaders and stimulates enzymes that combat toxins. It also defends against “free radicals,” – the biochemical byproducts that can damage cells.
I recommend taking one 200 mg capsule of dried milk thistle extract twice a day. And make sure the capsules contain at least 80% silymarin.
3 More Ways You Can Clean Your Liver For More Energy
Here are three additional herbs and extracts you can combine with milk thistle for added liver-cleansing power:
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- First, take dandelion root. This herbal superstar of traditional medicine has been used for centuries as a natural liver cleanser. Thanks to its powerful antioxidants, dandelion root can reduce stress on the liver while flushing toxins out of the body.5
- Then, add in artichoke leaf extract. This ancient herb boosts your liver’s bile production by 127%, which helps prevent the buildup of fat and toxins in your liver.6 In a 2018 study, 90 people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease found that taking 600 mg of artichoke extract every day for two months improved liver function.7
- Finally, take the “father of all foods.” Alfalfa cleanses the blood and liver by acting as a mild diuretic. It flushes excess water from your body, which helps your liver do its job. You can make a cup of tea with dried alfalfa leaves or seeds. Or you can supplement with 5 grams of alfalfa leaf powder daily. But my favorite way of using alfalfa is to grow sprouts. I add them to a stir-fry or salad for a tasty crunch.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. Burgess CA. “Silybum marianum.” J Pharmacol Soc Wisc. 2003 Mar-Apr:38-40.
2. Domenico P, Monserrate C. “Protect Your Body Against Today’s Toxic Deluge.” Life Extension Magazine. Accessed May 31, 2022.
3. Angulo P, et al. “Silymarin in the treatment of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis: an open-label pilot study.” Mayo Clinic and Foundation. Dig Dis Sci. 2008 Jun;53(6):1716-20.
4. Schrieber S, et al. “Pharmacokinetics of silymarin is altered in patients with hepatitis C virus and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and correlates with plasma caspase-3/7 activity.” Drug Metab Dispos. 2008 Sep;36(9):1909-16.
5. Hu C, et al. “Antioxidant, prooxidant, and cytotoxic activities of solventfractionated dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flower extracts in vitro.” J Agric Food Chem. 1-1- 2003;51(1):301-310.
6. Hiremath GS, et al. “Vitamin D status and effect of low-dose cholecalciferol and high-dose ergocalciferol supplementation in multiple sclerosis.” Mult Scler. 2009;15(6):735-40.
7. Kirchhoff R, et al. “Increase in choleresis by means of artichoke extract.” Phytomedicine 1994;1:107-115.
8. Panahi Y, et al. “Efficacy of artichoke leaf extract in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A pilot double-blind randomized controlled trial.” Phytother Res. 2018 Jul;32(7):1382-1387.