Unlike most people, I spent a lot of my holiday season trying to cleanse my liver rather than destroy it. I didn't do it to be high and mighty, I did it because I have minor liver problems and my symptoms were getting noticeably worse as my baking increased at the beginning of the month. I was feeling tired, bloated and my stomach was really not happy with even the most basic food. I don't like doing extreme things like fasting and colonics so I opted to create my own liver detox plan. Basically I ate grains sparingly (wholegrains only), lots of fresh and lightly steamed organic vegetables, drank a daily cup of a nice and mild organic detox tea and incorporated some liver cleansing foods into my diet including artichoke juice and grapefruit (fruit and fresh juice of) cruciferous vegetables and dark green vegetables.

Grapefruit is a very interesting fruit for cleansing. It increases bile production and helps expel toxins from your liver. I tried to drink the juice of at least half of a large grapefruit every day. Spinach and other dark green vegetables also support liver function so I decided to combine them in a daily smoothie and drink it often. To make the smoothie thicker, and to enhance the cleansing properties of the smoothie, I added frozen raspberries. I chose raspberries because raspberry keytones supposedly enhance your body and your liver's ability to burn fat. I have what's known as Non Alcoholic Fattiness of the Liver. Basically my liver has stored excess fat in it's tissue. Many people go years without knowing they have this syndrome and often go undiagnosed. They may feel not quite right for sometime but may be unable to determine why. If untreated this condition can worsen and lead to more serious liver issues. Keeping you liver healthy is so important. I really want to clean up my liver. As a child I was heavily dependent on strong medications for asthma. Long term use of these steroids can result in fattiness of the liver -- in fact long term use of most prescription medications can. Though I have no evidence to support the idea that this is what caused my fatty liver, it seems more than likely considering I have rarely consumed more than a glass of wine in one sitting in my entire life and I am otherwise very healthy, active and eat a very clean diet. My doctor was very surprised to find my fatty liver when I went for a check up after having a lot of unexplained stomach pain. It was the only thing she found in that visit.

When I started drinking my Holiday Liver Cleanser smoothies last week I noticed that the digestive issues I had been experiencing for the past few years were quickly subsiding and today they are virtually gone. I don't pretend to be a doctor or naturopath so I won't recommend this type of cleansing drink without encouraging you to talk to your doctor first. You may be on medications I am unaware of that interact poorly with grapefruit (grapefruit can be dangerous when you take certain medications).





If you are not on any medications (prescriptions or over the counter) and just want to mildly support your liver this holiday after the onslaught of rich foods and heavy drinking, I recommend making a few of these smoothies for a week highly. The drink also tastes delicious!