Springtime Is Cleanse Time

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Spring — ain’t it grand? The warm weather, the flowers, the feeling that life is starting again after the long, sleepy winter? What a perfect time to turn over a new leaf, physically and spiritually.

Strengthen and Detoxify Your System

Many natural healing systems take account of the seasons and the effect that cold, light and weather have on the body. According to Ayurveda, naturopathy and Traditional Chinese Medicine, for instance, body energy mirrors the seasons. Winter is the time to nourish the body and let it rest, to conserve and build the qi (vital energy).

Come spring, we feel the need to get up and exercise, not to mention cleanse and detoxify our systems with the young greens that are beginning to grow. Increasing physical activity, as well as the amount of natural fiber we eat, helps rid the body of all that waste accumulated over the winter.

Spring also is the time of year in which the liver’s energy is resurging and is seen as an excellent time to cleanse this most important of organs.

The body possesses an amazing ability to cleanse itself, through the urinary system, the gastrointestinal system, the respiratory system, the lymphatic system and the skin. But the liver does the yeoman’s work in running interference for any excess eating or drinking or medicating we might do, as it converts toxins into easily excretable substances and helps remove them from the body.

The liver also helps filter pollution and other unhealthy environmental toxins we may come in contact with. For all the work it does, we owe it to our liver to make sure it’s as healthy as possible.

Liver Lovers

The following herbs all have a cleansing effect on the liver:

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is the best-known plant in the treatment of liver disease. In Roman times, Pliny the Elder (A.D. 77) reported that milk thistle was “excellent for carrying off bile.” Culpeper (1650) wrote of its effectiveness in removing obstructions of the liver and spleen.

The active agent in milk thistle is found in the seeds of the plant and is composed of three isomer flavonolignans, which are collectively known as silymarin. Silymarin acts as an antioxidant by reducing the production of harmful free radicals. It also may act as a toxin blocker.

Another plant that helps the liver is licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra). The extract of the root has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Licorice should be used cautiously in patients with hypertension or a history of renal disease.

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