Know This Before a Liver Cleanse!

 

Interviewer: You also help people with liver cleansing and detoxing. What do people need to know before they start a liver cleanse? There's a lot of products you can buy out there . . .

 

Erin Lommen, ND: Yes, that's a . . .

 

Interviewer: . . . over the counter and just jump in.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . very good question and smart way to even approach the discussion because, of course, people are reading online all these different things they can do.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: The liver has varying degrees of fitness for doing cleansing and detoxing.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: Depending on someone's status; their ability to handle, that is what has to be looked at. If someone's really ill, chronically ill, with whatever it might be, we would not want them to be doing a major liver detox and cleansing because it's a demand on the body that they may not withstand well.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: You can actually set someone back. They can't clear the toxins you're stirring up for that kind of thing.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: I used to use the words "tonifying" for some nutrients I use that are "liver tonifying," meaning that it's not going to stir things up. It's not going to release a bunch of toxins into the blood stream but rather help the liver do its job better. 

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: That's kind of one area that I feel comfortable we can help everybody with, even if we're not ready to do cleansing and detox.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: Cleansing and detox. Then sometimes people are fit and ready to do it, and sometimes we get them ready.

 

Interviewer: Okay.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: Then it would be likened to the one day a year that we can set out toxic substances on the curb . . . 

 

Interviewer: Yeah.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . you know . . .

 

Interviewer: Yeah.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . they'll pick it up . . . 

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . they'll take it to a separate place. Well, cleansing and detox is like saying, "Okay. Pull it all out of those hiding places and get it into the blood stream so we can clear it." That doesn't feel very good . . . 

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . during that time to get it back into the blood stream. But it takes a certain kind of effort to get it into the blood stream. The body tucked it away in fat, or wherever it might be for a reason.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: It's [?]. We can't get rid of it all. It's too much, so we're going to store it away from areas that it could cause as much harm.

 

Interviewer: If someone doesn't know what they're doing, what are some of the effects that could happen if they just . . . 

 

Erin Lommen, ND: If they don't . . . 

 

Interviewer: . . . jump in.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: know what they're doing, it's like an overdoing, or they can make themselves ill.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: Those very toxins that they're pulling up out of the tissue, and especially fat likes to store it, can make them very sick. So depending on their capacity to handle that phase, some people get sick and half to go get help.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: The chronically ill, I've seen people report at least that they had to go to the hospital.

 

Interviewer: Right.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: Not something that we knew about ahead of time, but they came in later and said, "Oh . . . 

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . I tried to do this. I read about it online." I don't think that happens often, but that would be the worst case scenario . . .

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . where the body, phase one and phase two liver detox, just wasn't prepared to handle what they were stirring up.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. On the other side of that coin, if someone does it properly, what are some of the benefits that they could get if they do a detox or a liver cleanse?

 

Erin Lommen, ND: You can imagine if you got a clean slate in any arena health-wise . . .

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . it feels good to kind of unload something that you were lugging around that you didn't need. But it has to do with functionality of the cells. When you translate that into many organ systems, you see an optimization in overall health.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: So depending on what each person's symptom picture, what their health is, it helps in each area and certainly optimizes hormones. Our efficiency with detoxifying our own hormones is an integral part of hormone balance, and if you're not doing that well, it doesn't help to add more hormones . . .

 

Interviewer: Sure.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . because you can get toxic from those.

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. Speaking of detoxification, what are some of the methods that you use that you find successful or had success with?

 

Erin Lommen, ND: I don't know how familiar you are with the training and naturopathic medicine, but we have lots of old school things that we are taught . . . 

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . and then coming into current-era ways to think about liver detox and cleansing. My practice evolved over the years to the point where I have been utilizing a program--a 21-day program, I would say, if the most common thing I do. I always individualize based on the person. It might be a 7- or a 14-day, but there's a 21-day program that utilizes meal-replacement . . . 

 

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

 

Erin Lommen, ND: . . . and nutrients to really do the job.