Liver Cleansing Diet Journal

One week left...

2008-06-26T04:39:00.001-07:00

I apologize to whoever may be reading along with me here, I am not the best at updating blogs. I know it can be frustrating to some people to check a blog regularly only to find it has not been updated- I am actually one of those people- but I just can't seem to carve out the time it takes to do it on a regular basis.

Anyway, I have one week left on the Liver Cleansing Diet. So far I have lost about 8 pounds and over an inch of my waistline. Not knock-me-over impressive, but not too shabby either. I have to admit, though, I am very disappointed in this area. When a woman eats pretty much nothing but fruits, vegetables, and fish for two months, she expects a little more of a dramatic change. That never happened on this diet. I can't totally blame the diet, though, because I think that, given the fact that I am eating so well and running about 10-15 miles a week, something must be impeding my weight loss. I am suspecting hormonal issues as well as yeast, and I plan to address these things next.

Now for the good things. First of all, I have to say that I haven't felt this great for a long time, maybe not ever. I have more energy, I look better, I am not so easily irritated...ok, I have my moments, but it's not as bad as it has been. This is in part due to the exercise, I'm sure, but it also has got to have something to do with the way I've been eating.

So, advantage number one: I feel good!!

Another great thing about this diet is that it has trained me in how to eat. I no longer roam the house in search of....something.....to eat that will satisfy me. Food has become fuel to me during this time period. It's not something that I am using for pleasure or comfort. I am eating when I feel hungry and that's it. You don't go around craving sardines. But if you're hungry, they taste good and nourish you and make you feel satisfied. During the first two weeks, I was amazed at the amount of times I went to grab or pick at something for no reason whatsoever. When I began to listen to my body and eat only when I was hungry, food lost it's importance and it's hold on me.

Advantage number two: Bad eating habits broken.

Next, I have to mention the fact that my bowel function has improved 100%. For the first month or so, I was still having to take extra fiber (psyllium) from time to time to keep things moving. But after that first month, something changed. I now have at least 2, sometimes, 3 movements a day with no extra fiber added to my diet. This is a small miracle to me as I have always tended to be constipated. This is not a subject I really like to discuss all the much, though, so I will leave it at that.

Advantage number three: Improved bowel function.

The fourth, and probably most important, thing I am taking from this diet is that it has prepared me to move forward in improving my overall health. I have always been discouraged about making changes. I knew that I needed so much help, that I had let things go so long, that it was like I was in a prison with no tools for escape except a little dull knife that I could use to chip chip chip away at the stone. Cutting out certain foods and doing cleanses and things like that did not give me results, or if they did, they were short-lived. Now I feel as though I laid a foundation for myself. Here I have this one very important organ, my liver, in tip-top condition. Anything else I do will be even more successful because of this.

Advantage number four: Paving the way to future success!!

Well that's it for this update. Three of the six reasons I am unable to blog regularly have woken up and are demanding some attention. Thanks for reading!

One month later!!

2008-06-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have been on the Liver Cleansing Diet for one month today. Wow! Here are some of the good things about it:

1. I have lost weight. I don't know how much, but I've definitely lost weight.

2. I have lost over an inch on my waist. I measured myself this morning and I was under 35 inches. I started out at a little over 36 inches.

3. I have more energy. No more mid afternoon coffee to get me through the day!

4. My skin looks better. I still have some bumps on the sides of my face, but the fiery redness is gone. Or at least toned down to where it just looks normal.

I don't know how much of this has to do with the way my liver functions. I think this diet would make anyone feel better, liver problems or no liver problems. You can't eat fruit, veggies, fish and whole grains for 2 months and not feel a little bit better, right?

I am a little concerned that I have only lost a minimal amount of weight, however. It would seem to me that the weight loss should have been more dramatic. I mean, honestly, fruit, veggies, fish and whole grains- that's IT. I haven't been very hungry either. Sometimes I will just juice instead of eat a meal, so it's not like I am overeating. Plus I am running 3-4 times a week, 2 miles. So that's kind of on my mind. What could be inhibiting my weight loss? Yeast? Bowel issues? I am still asking lots of questions, but I am not giving up on the Liver Cleansing Diet. I think it's a fantastic jumping off point for whatever else I decide to do.

My abdominal area is still bloated but not nearly as bad as before. I am starting to see some curves again in my hip area, too- wow, thought those were gone for good.

I am getting a little burned out on the food choices right now. I have to get her book out again and try some new recipes. I tend to eat the same things over and over, so eventually I get bored with it. I can't believe I haven't eaten any cheese for a month! I love cheese, I could live on it. My father in law is in town, and we always order pizza on his first night here. I must say that was probably the hardest thing I've had to face so far- two big greasy cheesy pizzas just sitting there on the table calling me. I got very grouchy that night to say the least. But I got through it. I think I should get some bonus pounds off for being so strong!

I am looking forward to the final 2 weeks when I can add eggs and chicken back in. I miss having eggs in the morning.

Well that's it for this update!!

A Sample Day

2008-05-23T04:13:00.001-07:00

I thought it might be interesting to some to read about a typical day on the liver cleansing diet. Right now I am in "phase 2" of the diet, so I am a little more restricted than I was the first two weeks. For the first two weeks, I was able to have chicken and eggs whenever I wanted to. Phase 2 has no chicken and no egg yolks. When I first read the book, I thought "No way, I can't do it." But now that I am to this point, I know I can do it, and it's not a problem at all.

Here is a typical day:

Around 4:30 am

-One 6 oz glass vegetable juice (romaine lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, dandelion greens, parsley, cucumber, celery)

Around 9 am

Two slices whole wheat bread with sardines and tomatoes grilled lightly on the George Foreman grill for 5 minutes.

Around Noon

Some sort of snack, usually a handful of raw almonds or some sunflower seed kernels and an apple or some berries.

Around 3 pm

8 oz glass of fresh juice over ice (tangerine, apple, carrot, celery, ginger, beet, red cabbage).

Around 6 pm- dinnertime

Veggie stir fry (onions, green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and garlic) with brown rice and a big salad with raw apple cider vinegar/extra virgin olive oil dressing.

So there is a typical day! After I get through the next 4 weeks, I will be able to add chicken back in which will be nice. And eggs.

I am learning a lot about the preparation of food. For example, I find that I often stir fry vegetables in oil when it is not necessary. If I just put a little water in the bottom of the pan, they fry up just fine and even seem to have more flavor than when I do it in oil. Also, instead of frying my eggs in oil or butter, I have begun to poach them. They are really good!

By not bringing my oils and foods up to high temperatures, I am preserving the benefits that these foods will provide me. Oils at high temperatures actually change structure and are no longer as good for you as they are at lower temperatures. I am not spending $20 on a gallon of olive oil and then burning it up to where it's not even helping me anymore!! Boy, if you want my attention, bring up money. I hate wasting money :)

And today I am very very happy and encouraged because my stomach is for sure getting flatter. How do I know? Well, last Friday I measured my waistline and it was a 36. This week...35!!!!! Wow!!! Now that is rewarding. I know that what I am doing is good for me on the inside, but it sure is nice to see it pay off on the outside.

This week I added Bragg's raw organic apple cider vinegar to my diet. I am taking 2 teaspoons of it in water twice a day before my morning and evening meals. It is said that ACV helps to kill yeast, and that may be true, I don't know. I do know that after taking it for 3 days, I felt terrible yesterday with a bad headache, achy joints, and fatigue. Perhaps these are some yeast die-off symptoms? I don't know. I drank a whole lot of water whenever I started to feel really bad, and by nighttime I felt much better except for the headache. This morning I feel great. I wonder if the ACV has anything to do with the fact that my stomach is melting away before my very eyes? Hmmmm.. I also ordered some Pau d'Arco bark for tea from The Bulk Herb store, which is said to kill candida yeast as well.

So that's all for today's update. I wonder if this is even remotely interesting to anyone but me? Oh well, I like to write about it, so I guess it's not important :) :) :)

Livatone Plus

2008-05-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Livatone Plus is a liver tonic formulated by Dr. Cabot. I bought the capsules, but it is also available in powder form. I take 2 capsules in the morning and 2 at night. Here are the ingredients:

Per 2 capsules

Milk Thistle (Silybum Marianum)(seed)Silymarin 210mg 262.5mg

Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) 105mg

d-alpha tocopheryl succinate (vitamin E) 200iu

Thiamine hydrochloride (B1) 11mg

Riboflavin (B2) 11mg

Nicotinamide (B3) 11mg

Pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6) 11mg

Folic Acid 240mcg

Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) 60mcg

Biotin 60mcg

Calcium pantothenate (equiv pantothenic acid 22mg)(B5) 27.5mg

Zinc (as zinc oxide) 7mg

Selenium (as selenomethionine) 50mcg

Livatone® Plus Nutritive base 379mg Taurine, phosphatidyl choline from soya lecithin, broccoli powder, L - Cysteine, HCI, L-Glutamine , Glycine, Inositol, natural caretenoids, (Camelia sinensis (green tea) extract, L - glutathione)

Veggie Cap, Cellulose fiber, Magnesium stearate and silica

"LIVATONE PLUS" PROVIDES 420mg DAILY OF PURE SILYMARIN, WHICH IS THE PROVEN DOSE, AS TESTED IN NUMEROUS CLINICAL TRIALS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information on what each of these ingredients supposedly do, you can read this:

http://www.liverdoctor.com/index.php?page=liver-tonics

Scroll down to about the middle of the page under the green box where you see the heading "Amino Acids." Each ingredient is fully described on this page.

Almost 2 weeks later...

2008-05-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been on The Liver Cleansing Diet for almost two weeks now. I'd have to say it's going well, although I had some doubts during the first week.

The first week was not hard as far as eating. I enjoy the food on this diet, and I don't even mind not having cheese and other dairy products like sour cream and butter. But for that first week I was extremely irritable and short tempered. The slightest things were making me crazy! After a week or so, that subsided and I began to feel really good.

After I eat my meals on this diet, I feel satisfied and calm. It's weird. I just have this calm feeling, a feeling of well-being. I feel cheerful. I don't ever feel tired after meals anymore either.

The juicing is fantastic. I juice leafy greens in the morning with other green vegetables, and then in the afternoon I have been making my awesome tangerine/carrot juice that I mentioned before. Now my husband is starting to love this juice, too, and always wants it whenever I make it. I am going through a TON of fruit and vegetables! But that's ok, because I feel really GREAT!

The abdominal bloating that got me searching for answers in the first place has not gone away yet. Sometimes I think it is getting smaller, but I don't think it is really. I am very much suspecting a yeast issue, so that will be the next thing I do. This diet is a great way to lead up to a yeast cleanse because I have already given up so many of the "forbidden" foods.

Speaking of forbidden foods, the one thing I have not given up is the cream in the coffee. I just can't do, Dr. Cabot, I'm sorry. I have cut WAY back on coffee though, I drink one big mug in the morning and that's it for the day. I used to drink at least 2 sometimes 3 big cups every morning and then sometimes in the afternoon when I'd get so tired. I have been measuring the cream, and I use a little less each day. I don't think I'll ever be able to drink it black though.

One other thing I am noticing is that my skin looks better. I have also lost some weight although I'm not sure how much. It's definitely noticeable though. The other day I put on my jeans right out of the dryer and they actually buttoned and zipped without any problem and felt comfortable! Wow!! So all this to say that I am quite encouraged and will for sure be continuing with this diet for the full 8 weeks.

The General Idea of The Liver Cleansing Diet

2008-05-07T04:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, from what I gather, here is the gist of this diet:

~Eat lots of raw fruits and vegetables and drink lots of fresh juices.

~Stay away from dairy products. I LOVE DAIRY PRODUCTS.

~Limit meats, especially red meats and cured meats.

~No sugar or white flour products. Whole wheat bread is ok.

~Did I mention no dairy?

~Limit coffee to one or two cups a day. Yuck, black coffee.

******

So yesterday was day 1. I should mention that my husband and I already juice vegetables every morning, so that is good. One less thing to get used to. Plus I have a really good juicer so I didn't have to go out and buy anything to get started.

The first 2 weeks of this diet are fairly easy. There aren't that many restrictions other than what I mentioned above. There are eggs and chicken and fish on the diet. There's bread. It's not just salads and raw juice, which was what I was thinking at first. Actually, when I read through her menu ideas, I was very surprised at how much I could eat. I mean, there are some really great meals!

I make my own bread from freshly ground wheat flour. Right now my grain mill is being repaired, so I will not have any bread until I get it back. I just can't spend $4 for a loaf of "good" bread from the health food store!! I am on a very very very limited grocery budget, too, so it's going to be a challenge to fit in some new foods.

I wish I could afford organic produce, but it's too expensive. I wash all my produce in a vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution. That is going to have to be good enough I suppose. We do have a huge garden, but it's just now starting to come up...we should have lots of lettuce and spinach in a few weeks. I am very thankful that we have chickens, so I have my own "free range" eggs. I don't think I could afford the ones in the store!

When I woke up yesterday, I had a big glass of water with a lemon squeezed into it. Then I had my vegetable juice which is romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, spinach, cabbage, dandelion and kale. Yummy, green juice. No, I don't really like it much but I can get it down. We started juicing years ago, you get used to it. I like having juice for breakfast because I get up at 4am with my husband for work and who wants to eat at 4am? Not me.

Anyway, other than water I was fine until 9 am or so. I did have coffee and I did put some cream in it. When this bottle of cream is gone, I will go cold turkey. That is going to be VERY HARD for me. I am a total coffee addict. I stopped putting sugar in it a few months ago, which was a big improvement, but I still think I drink way too much.

At 9am I had a big giant salad with spinach and romaine lettuce, red onion, ground flaxseed and sunflower seeds. I used my own homemade caesar dressing which has sour cream in it. Ooops, no dairy...this is going to really be hard for me, the whole dairy thing. After the salad I was very full and didn't get hungry again until the afternoon. I love salads, so this diet will be kind of easy for me if I can figure out a good dressing.

Around 2pm I had an apple and some sunflower seeds, but I was hungrier than that so I had half an avocado with a little salt and then I made myself a sweet juice with 1 tangerine, 1 apple, a chunk of red cabbage, and a stick of celery. I put it over ice and wow! It was AWESOME! My kids all wanted some!

Not to be gross, but after this lunch I went to the bathroom and was very...um...productive, you could say. The only reason I say this is that I tend to be constipated, so this was noteworthy to me. I'd been drinking senna tea and taking psyllium to stay regular but stopped both about 4 days ago...so to me, this was a good sign.

For dinner I made a stir fry with all kinds of veggies, chicken and brown rice. This is something we eat regularly, so it didn't seem like a big deal. After dinner I was NOTICEABLY bloated. I felt overly full, really tired and kind of yucky. Weird. It was a healthy dinner, don't know why I would feel like that. About an hour later I felt better.

So that was it, day 1. It was pretty easy. Except the dairy thing. I sent Dr. Cabot an email asking her about goat milk. We raise dairy goats, so I have access to fresh, raw goat milk any time I want it. I hope she emails back soon...I am going to have trouble with the no dairy, as I have mentioned!!

I am looking forward to getting my Livatone Plus so I can get started with that. I'll post about the ingredients to that on my next entry.

The Liver Cleansing Diet by Sandra Cabot

2008-05-07T03:36:00.000-07:00

I am a 37 year old mom of six, and I feel rotten. I went to the doctor a couple of months ago and found that I weighed 176 lbs, more than I have ever weighed in my life. I had twin baby girls a little over a year ago, and within a month after giving birth, I was back down to an average weight of 150 lbs, give or take. Somehow over the past year, I have put on 26 lbs and I am just sick of it!!

I recently read a book by a doctor named Sandra Cabot called The Liver Cleansing Diet, and I decided to try it. I am really not one for diets, but I need to do something. I got a check for $50 from my mother in law for my birthday, and I wanted to do something for my health. I have looked into yeast cleanses, bowel cleanses, supplements of every kind...I finally settled on a product called Livatone Plus, which is a liver support supplement from Dr. Cabot.

Why the liver? Why not the bowel cleansing diet? Or the blood cleansing diet? Or whatever? Well, the liver is a pretty darned important organ. Here are the main functions of the liver which I am copying and pasting from Dr. Cabot's website:

~It is responsible for the production of bile which is stored in the gallbladder and released when required for the digestion of fats.

~The liver stores glucose in the form of glycogen which is converted back to glucose again when needed for energy.

~It also plays an important role in the metabolism of protein and fats. It stores the vitamins A, D, K, B12 and folate and synthesizes blood clotting factors.

~Another important role is as a detoxifier, breaking down or transforming substances like ammonia, metabolic waste, drugs, alcohol and chemicals, so that they can be excreted. These may also be referred to as "xenobiotic" chemicals. If we examine the liver under a microscope, we will see rows of liver cells separated by spaces which act like a filter or sieve, through which the bloodstream flows. The liver filter is designed to remove toxic matter such as dead cells, microorganisms, chemicals, drugs and particulate debris from the bloodstream. The liver filter is called the sinusoidal system, and contains specialized cells known as Kupffer cells which ingest and break down toxic matter.

It seems to me that if your liver is not working properly, then your whole body pretty much goes out of whack!!

I used to drink. A lot. Thankfully, I have left that habit behind me, but I am concerned about the damage I may have done to my liver because of it.

My symptoms are as follows:

I am always always always tired. No matter what I do I am tired. I get a lift from my morning coffee, but after that goes away I am exhausted most of the time, especially in the early afternoon.

My stomach has all of a sudden bloated out. I bought 2 pairs of jeans in November, one that fit loosely and one that fit fine. Now I can barely button the "loose" jeans, and the other ones!! Forget it!! My eating habits have not changed at all since November, so I don't know what is causing the bloating. It's VERY annoying to look pregnant when you're not. This is the symptom that lead me to Dr. Cabot's book. When I did a google search for abdominal bloating, her website came up. Abdominal distention is a symptom of liver dysfunction or (shudder) fatty liver.

I have bad dandruff and cannot get rid of it. I also have very red cheeks, which may be the start of rosacea... I have ALWAYS had very nice, clear skin, so this is really BUGGING ME. I kind of think this may be a yeast issue and plan on doing a yeast cleanse when I am done with this liver diet.

I have major mood swings and am very easily irritated. I keep it in check but it's not normal.

Sometimes I feel like my brain is just not working properly...I forget what I am doing or can't concentrate on anything.

These symptoms are not ruining my life, I'm not depressed or this walking monster of a person, but I somehow feel like I am missing out on something. Perhaps giving my insides a thorough cleaning will change the way I feel. I certainly hope so. This blog will be a journal of how things are going for the next 8 weeks, which is how long this "diet" lasts.