DETOX AND WHY WE NEED IT...

How to support your liver and kidneys?


So how do you know that your liver and kidneys functions need help?
Our liver and kidneys warn us when things go wrong…

Typical liver warning signs include:

• Waking up between 2 and 3 a.m. for no reason
• Moodiness
• Tiredness
• Lightheadedness
• High cholesterol
• Weak resistance to illness
• Dry, itchy skin
• Red, itchy eyes
• Bitter taste in the mouth
• Excessive thirst
• Indigestion
• Constipation, piles
• Nausea
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Inexplicable pain in the right side of the body

         - pain in the head
         - pain in the shoulder
         - pain in the elbow
         - pain in the hip
         - pain in the knee
         - pain in the big toe


The kidneys do give us warning signs of distress so we can take corrective action and they include:

• High blood pressure
• Sore joints and muscles
• Pain on the top of the head, behind the neck and along the spine
• Swollen eyes after sleep
• Swollen face, hands, legs and ankles
• Too little or slow urine flow
• Smelly, dark discolored urine, continuous urination
• Pain inside of the left leg
• Pain behind the knees
• Eczema, fungus on soles of the feet
• Burning, sweating, aching soles of feet
• Sore heels
• Athlete’s foot

Swiss Naturopath Alfred Vogel called liver the regulator of the body. Each and every chemical process in the blood starts with enzymes that emanate mostly from the liver. The liver not only cleans the blood, it also produces cholesterol, gall, hormones, enzymes and red blood cells. It also stores iron and glucose for future needs. Vitamins A, B ,D, E and K are stored in the liver; the liver transforms saturated fats into unsaturated fats as and when the body requires energy. It also breaks down hemoglobin and re-uses it in the body. Excess amino-acids are broken down and discarded as urea which is then excreted by the kidneys. You can see why your liver deserves attention and support!

The Kidneys work continuously with the liver to purify the blood of waste products and material that can be toxic. The kidneys also have to ensure that there is not too much water in the blood otherwise the volume of blood becomes too high for the small arteries and high blood pressure may result. In order to control the amount of water, the kidneys use a wonderful method of substituting salt, potassium and magnesium with each other inside the cells of the kidneys and in the blood. They have to calculate this very accurately to ensure that the perfect amount of these minerals is in the body and won’t be detrimental to the circulation.

The trained eye can look at the colour of urine and tell how well the kidneys are working - and how healthy the liver and the gallbladder are. Just think: urine consist of what was in your blood! The kidneys regulate the water and PH-balance (acid-alkaline levels) in the blood and this has a direct influence on the chemical landscape of the whole body. Few people know that the kidneys are responsible for new red blood cells produced in the bone marrow. The kidneys can also help to protect protein in the urine, thereby ensuring that we do no lose muscle mass.

Another important job for kidneys is to expel acid from the blood, which helps to regulate its acid/alkaline balance. Most people know these days that a constant acid state is not a friend to your body and can be detrimental to your general health. You have to drink water therefore to help the kidneys - enough to produce clean urine at least once a day. Most people do well with two to three litres of water per day. If one considers everything that the kidneys do for the body, you can understand how our health could be in dander if things started getting out of balance and the kidneys weaken or become sick.