My Experience Doing the Medical Mediums Liver Cleanse -Days 1-3

We are Doing the Medical Medium’s Liver Cleanse!

Day 1, 2, 3 are done and here’s what happened…

The holiday season is always lots of fun but after going to the all the parties, consuming lots of alcohol, eating lots of festive rich delicious oversized plates of food and devouring too many yummy desserts, chocolates and sweets, we decided as a family to nose-dive into 2020 with a health and fitness lifestyle reset. 

Our first step has been to clean up our overburdened livers that were getting a bit sluggish and out of balance.  There are lots of cleanses out there that we’ve experimented with but after trying the Medical Medium’s Liver Cleanse last year we felt this was one of the least aggressive and most effective ones to embrace.  The only pitfall is you need to eat a lot of vegetables and fruit and winter is not the cheapest time of year. With that being said self-care is one of our main philosophies for living an extraordinary life so our health and well-being is worth it!

  The first 3 days of this cleanse is all about preparing the liver so it doesn’t freak out and aggressively offload a bunch of stored toxins that can make you feel sick.  Headaches, fatigue and crankiness are some of the signs your body is detoxing. During these pre-cleanse days you are allowed to eat how you normally do but you are supposed to start reducing your fat consumption by 50% and avoid eating dairy, gluten, eggs, lamb, pork and canola oil. We did this by not eating any meat for breakfast and lunch.  We bought some delicious “Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze” from the Gluten Free Expo that we dabbed small amounts on top of our salads for lunch. For dinner I had pre-planned some great one pan dishes that we ate that included jumbo shrimps baked over zucchini noodles, chicken drumettes baked with olives, kale and sweet potatoes and salmon with asparagus and quinoa. 

Reducing our fat and protein consumption was an eye-opening adjustment to get used to that had some of us quite hungry by dinner time on the first day.  The first epiphany for the new participants is they realized that fat we normally consume seems to sustain their hunger much longer than vegetables and fruit do.  I learned this the first time I did this cleanse so I kept encouraging everyone to fill up on the tray of cut up veggies I kept overflowing on the kitchen counter. By the end of the 1st day my husband was begging me for more chive and onion vegan “Spread Em” dip, which he was saddened to learn he wasn’t going to be able to have any more of it after day 3. I asked him to start weaning himself off of it and to eat more apple slices and medjool dates instead.  It has been all about getting used to not using fats to satiate ourselves anymore. It’s amazing how many vegetables and fruits you have to go through to do this! It also has inspired us to create fat free delicious dressings and dips. 

Sesame Free Hummus dip 

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup water

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp coarse kosher salt

Dash paprika, for garnish

In a food processor combine all ingredients except paprika.  Process for 2 full minutes, until mixture is smooth and creamy.  

Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with a dash of paprika.

For those who are not fond of garbanzo beans the same dip can be made with roasted carrots.  It was a very tasty substitution!

Another great tip we found is to buy apple chips in bulk from Costco.  They are 100% dehydrated apples and delicious. Eating them with the dip just appeases the hunger pains that come from learning to eat enough vegetables. According to the Medical medium it’s because your liver is starving for the 3 C’s – critical, clean carbohydrates.  He believes it’s starving for glucose not fat. When the liver’s glucose needs are satisfied, it shuts down your hunger signal.  When our livers are congested it’s hard for it to do its job the way it’s supposed to.

My husband is a Grain Trader and always argues with me about canola oil.  His first question to me was, “why does Anthony William’s, author of the Liver Rescue book, say no canola oil?”  To be fair my husband has made a good living on trading Canola Meal, so he is very loyal to using this product. He argues that it’s the best oil to cook with because it can withstand the heat that can cause problems with lower smoke point oils.  It’s also cheap and it markets good heart health on some of its packaging.

The Medical Medium argues that canola oil creates a great deal of inflammation, can be damaging to your digestive system, feeds viruses, bacteria, fungus and mould and has the same effect as battery acid on the inside of your arteries.  It has a poor omega 3/6 ratio and the extraction process increases the level of trans fats, which can lead to high cholesterol levels.

From what I learned becoming a nutritionist at the Canadian College of Natural Nutrition is that most Canola oil is GMO.  My husband loves to debate this topic as well, but I believe nature is smart and messing with it is a cause for concern. In a lot of cases the chemical extraction uses a solvent called hexane that turns it rancid and destroys the omega-3’s in it. You can find cold pressed canola but it is very expensive.  It’s often partially hydrogenated to increase its shelf stability, which has been linked to increased inflammation, which is at the root of most diseases.  

As for his list of the other foods he wants you to eliminate - it’s all about removing possible allergens, foods that are inflammatory and high in fat to allow the liver to have a break to do its job properly. It has over 2000 functions to do including metabolizing our nutrients and getting rid of the toxins we accumulate from our modernized world.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the liver is where we store strong emotions, especially anger.  Cleansing this organ can bring up irritability, short tempers and crankiness. Just feeling hungry can make me “hangry” which is no fun for the rest of the people in my orbit.  I like to recommend to my clients who are experiencing anger a great Energy Medicine Exercise, created by Donna Eden. If you are feeling a bit ill-tempered try doing the exercise called the

“Blow Out”. 

Stand with your feet in parallel 1 foot apart. Inhale, lifting both arms in front of you holding your hands gathered in fists.  Swing your arms down and then backwards up high over your head and on the exhale shoot them back down in front of you towards the ground while making the sound of “Shhhhhhh,”.  This is like you are trying to tell someone to be quiet. As you force your arms down to the ground spread open up your hands like you’re purposely throwing the energy off your hands into the ground.  Bring the source of your annoyance to your mind and make your movements quick and forceful, “blowing out” the anger. Repeat 3 times, then on the 4th time release the tension slowly and controlled from above your head down to the ground.  When you reach back down to the side of your thighs, bring your hands together and run your palms up against the front centre of your body, like you are zipping up a jacket, up to you chin.  Finish by laying your hands over the centre of your chest for 1 inhale and exhale. Then place your hand on your thighs and feel yourself draining into the ground why you continue to inhale and exhale slowly for a few more breaths.

Now we are onto the next phase - days 4,5,6.  I will let you know how it went when we are done.  

Love Becca