Tag Archive for Liver

Sluggish or Fatty Liver? Could Be Why You Can’t Lose Weight or Feel Energetic. Recipes For Detoxing and Renewing Your Liver.

June 28, 2015 / / Comments Off on Sluggish or Fatty Liver? Could Be Why You Can’t Lose Weight or Feel Energetic. Recipes For Detoxing and Renewing Your Liver.

20150627_172301If you struggle with weight loss, bad skin, lack of energy, pain, and everything from headaches to chronic disease, but can’t understand why, this Post is for you. Medications that you’re currently on, or have been on, could very well be the culprit.  Medications have consequences, always, despite being FDA approved and Doctor prescribed.    (Pictures of Healing Foods are sprinkled through-out. Recipes at the end. This pic to the left is Chipotle Sweet Potato-Zucchini pizza – DELICIOUS!!).

Did you know that the biggest portion of health care costs – 88% – are spent on Life Style Conditions.  That means that the majority of our symptoms are brought on from our foods, medications, actions, sleep, and thoughts.  All of which we have control over.

Food is Medicine or Food is Poison, that’s one of my favorite sayings.  Pharmaceutical drugs are Poison too, and I don’t say that enough.  Drugs are expensive (and getting more-so), loaded with side effects, and often prescribed unnecessarily or excessively.  ****

There’s a good chance that if you’re on any prescription or OTC drug, it could be interfering with your metabolism through either liver or gut disturbances, or nutrient depletion, or both.

Did you know that prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death in the US?  Unfortunately, before the death happens, there’s weeks, months, or years of adverse reactions chalked up to age, circumstance, or un-luckiness.

Everything we put in our mouth has profound effects on our health, our energy, our looks, and our weight.  Food affects our mood, our sleep, and our personality.  So do drugs.

Let’s focus on the Liver.

OUR LIVER BURNS MORE CALORIES THAN OUR MUSCLE TISSUE.  A LOT MORE.  Our liver performs hundreds of functions every day, and thru the night too. It’s important that we not over stress the liver with chemicals, toxins, alcohol, or sugar/flour. A toxic liver is a sluggish liver, and a sluggish liver is compromised in it’s ability to do all it’s jobs/do it’s jobs fully.

20150217_172852 (1)Fatty liver disease has become such a problem that it now affects 1 out of 3 people – 1 out of 3!!!

We need to keep our liver humming, so here’s some suggestions.

1) Access your meds, even innocent seeming meds like TYLENOL.  Tylenol, which we give to our children without a second thought, is the #1 cause of acute liver failure in the world!  Not alcohol, but TYLENOL.

Statins absolutely cause liver damage.  Anti-depressants, auto immune and cancer drugs, and pain killers/narcotics cause liver damage.

Alcohol causes fatty liver disease and sluggish liver function.

For a very large percentage of people on prescription drugs, a change in Life Style, could get you OFF your prescription drugs.  Get in touch with me.

2) Processed Sugars and Grains are tough on our liver.  Our liver is highly involved in blood sugar regulation.  Processed foods, like bread, pasta, cookies, cake, that kind of junk, send the blood sugar skyrocketing.  The liver has to go into overdrive dealing with all the extra glucose.

What does the liver do with the extra glucose?  IT CONVERTS IT TO FAT/TRIGLYCERIDES, and directs them to be stored in our fat cells. Look straight down and do a gut check to see if this is happening to you.

Another job hampered by a slow or fatty liver?  Estrogen detox, or removal.  Our liver is supposed to get rid of/eliminate, old, used estrogens.  Whether those estrogens came from our own glands, or foods like soy (huge ingredient in most processed foods) or chemicals ( personal care products, cleaning products, plastics, etc.), the liver is supposed to break them down from a fatty molecule to a water-based molecule, and then send them on their way out.  Toxic, slow livers don’t do this well, estrogens stay in the body – stored in fatty tissue, and we become “estrogen dominant”.

Men, this happens to you too.  No man should be estrogen dominant.  Look at your boobs and belly to see if you are.

3) Become a Liver-Loving-Fool!

I tell my clients what I tell myself:  think of ways to help and nurture your liver every. single. day.  Seriously.

Even if we try hard to eat clean, our world is full of toxins:  all municipal water is loaded with chemicals,  our air is polluted, there’s carcinogenic chemicals in dry cleaning solvents, make up, body care products, baby wipes, plastics, artificial sweeteners, pesticides and fungicides on fruits and vegetables, and I could go on and on.  The point is, our liver is responsible for dealing with and eliminating all this.  It needs our help.

4) Eat Liver-Loving-Foods every day:  beets, lemons, asparagus, olive oil, good whey protein, leafy and bitter greens, garlic, milk thistle, cilantro, parsley, cucumbers, ….  basically, Real Whole Foods. Vegetables, herbs and spices, healthy fats, and clean proteins, all contain thousands of nutrients that nourish, cleanse, rebuild, and help the liver do it’s many, many jobs.

Remember earlier when I said that our liver burns more calories in a day than our muscles?  If we’re debating about how to spend any extra time we have, shopping, chopping, and cooking is just as important, as exercising.  Don’t negate one for the other. Schedule in both.

5) Try these No Recipe Paleo Meals to load your body with nutrients that make your liver20150603_072541 function well and your metabolism hummm:)

Eggs and Leftovers

This is left-over vegetables ( zucs, yellow squash, onions, and purple cauliflower) mixed with kerry gold butter and 3 eggs.  EASY no brainer.

CHIPOTLE SWEET POTATO-ZUCCHINI PIZZA

(from the picture at the top)

1 lg sweet potato
1 large green zuc, ring out water by twisting in a towel
1 heaping tbsp chipotle powder
3 eggs, beaten
5 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and pat onto a pizza pan.  Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.  Top with tomato sauce and cheese.

I’m making this again tonight and adding sausage, corn sliced off the cob, and cilantro, with shredded swiss.  THIS IS DELICIOUS!!

GREENS WITH HOMEMADE SAUSAGE, AND SAUTEED PLANTAINS

(from middle picture)

Ground sausage
Swiss Chard
1/2 an Onion and 3 Garlic cloves
coconut oil

Mix and saute in one pan, add the swiss chard last since it doesn’t need to cook as long.

Plantains:  slice, and saute in a pan with Kerrygold Butter, salt, and then put in a 250 oven for 20-30 minutes.

**** I’m not totally anti-drug; but I think it’s irrefutable that most drugs are prescribed or taken for conditions that could be fixed or managed with LIFE STYLE changes.  No one has high cholesterol from lack of a statin.  No one has a headache from a lack of Advil.  No one has high blood pressure from a lack of Lasix.  No one has diabetes from a lack of Metformin.  No one has depression from a lack of Prozac.  These are symptoms that happen from the actions we choose every day.

Category: Cooking, No Recipe Paleo Meals, Paleo Recipe, RWF, Weight Loss / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Do You Need To “Cleanse”? and Brownie Truffle Recipe

April 8, 2014 / / 2 comments

liver detoxI get asked about “cleanses” and “detoxes” all the time.  Are they necessary?  I think so.  Our liver, which burns more calories and fat than our muscles, our brain, or any other part of our body, ( it’s about 60% of our total metabolism), is responsible for constantly cleaning our blood.  It’s supposed to clean 2 Quarts of blood EVERY MINUTE.  Imagine that.  Now imagine these numbers:

Liver disease in the form of Non-Alcoholic Fatty liver disease, liver cancer, hepatitis, and pediatric liver disease is affecting 1 out of 10 Americans.  That’s manifested conditions; the liver is struggling for YEARS before an actual diagnosis.  Liver disease completely compromises the livers ability to do it’s jobs.  What happens then?  A lot, because the liver is involved in just about every function in the body.  Here’s a list of symptoms:

indigestion
acid reflux
hemorrhoids
gall stones
alcohol intolerance
nausea or vomiting attacks
bloating
constipation
depression
mood disorders
anger
irritability
poor concentration
overheating of the body
recurrent headaches (migraines)
sugar cravings
hypoglycemia
onset of type 2 diabetes
heart disease
clogged arteries
high blood cholesterol levels
high blood pressure
strokes
fatty organs, including fatty liver
fatty tumors
weight gain
inability to lose weight
slow metabolism
pot belly
cellulite
weakened bones
allergies
sensitivity to chemicals and food additives

Thanks to a Standard American Diet, and tens of thousands of chemicals in our food, water, and air, a good liver cleanse is a good idea.  How to do it?

Quit eating and drinking toxins!!  This is the number one, most important step you can take.  There’s no pill, no program, no magic anything that will replace that step.  Honest.  Let step 2 be eating and drinking Liver Loving Foods:  lemons, parsley, cilantro, garlic, sulfur/cruciferous vegetables(brussels, cabbage, onions, kale..), TONS OF WATER, fermented vegetables, keifer, and kombucha.  Want to get really special?  Eat liver, real or freeze dried, take milk thistle, get Vitamin D from the detox 21sun( that’s easier on your liver than supplement form),  and use turmeric and curcumin when you cook.  Want to really get in there and make things happen?  Get in touch with me.  Detoxing is an old and complex art, a good one can make a big difference in how well your body works.

Will you lose massive weight if you do a Cleanse?  No! That’s just savvy marketing, appealing to dreams of fast, easy, effortless weight loss.  There are Cleanse/Detox products that will make you poop; No Amount Of Pooping Pulls Fat Out Of Your Fat Cells.  Ever.  Will you be healthier? YES, absolutely!

trufflesLet me leave you with a dessert my daughter Meg made the other night, Paleo Brownie Truffles – DELICIOUS, and liver friendly! (Thank goodness, because I ate them all in 2 days!)

1) In a bowl, mix w spoon:  3 tbs melted coconut butter, 2 tbs melted coconut oil, 1 tbs Swerve, 1/2tsp vanilla, 1 tbs protein powder, 1/4 – 1/2 cup carob powder, add gradually and stop when mixture becomes cookie dough like.

2) roll mixture into small little balls

3) heat slowly: 1/4 c coconut butter, 2 tbs coconut oil, 1 tbs Swerve

4) dip balls in chocolate and refrigerate until shell hardens

 

Category: Paleo Recipe, Question of the Week, RWF / Tags: , , , , , ,

Diet Products, Cleanses and Poop, and A Recipe

January 18, 2014 / / Comments Off on Diet Products, Cleanses and Poop, and A Recipe

debbie (22)This past week I’ve had emails on Diet Soda, Weight Watchers points and meals, oatmeal, and a question about an Acai Berry Cleanse.

Here’s some facts to ponder:

(1) Most of the calories we burn in a 24 hour day have NOTHING to do with exercise.  Our liver uses the most energy (calories), with our heart and brain following up.  Our muscles use far less calories than these organs.  If your blood stream is loaded with sugar (blood sugar readings above 100 on a glucometer), your muscle cells MUST use that excess sugar BEFORE any fat cells get tapped for energy. That’s our Biology.  Oatmeal has about 27 grams of carbs/sugar per cup, that’s almost 7 teaspoons of glucose in your blood.  “Normal/Optimal” blood sugar is about 2 teaspoons in the blood. Start your day with a big bowl of carbs, and even during a workout, your muscle cells use up that glucose before they burn fat for fuel.

(2)  If your liver is clogged by years of chemicals, like the ones found in diet sodas and diet frozen meals or any processed food on a shelf, it’s not running well; your shot at your liver using a whole bunch of calories and functioning like it’s supposed to is impeded. Want a clean, high functioning liver?  Quit flooding it with toxins and chemicals that weaken it and slow it down.  Did you know there are over 10,000 chemicals in our food supply and most of them AREN’T tested?  And several that are have only been given a GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, this means that even though there were several Red Flags in the testing, the FDA approved it anyway.

(3) Diet foods, diet drinks, and processed foods are created in labs; the Food Scientists make them delicious and stimulating.  Ever notice how hard it is to quit eating processed foods?  They’ve been designed to stimulate areas of your brain that make you want more.  Honestly.  That’s diet and non-diet processed foods.  When your pleasure centers in your brain are constantly being triggered by sugars and chemicals, those neural nets get used to that pleasure, they demand it.  That’s why so often powerful, overwhelming desires for food practically assault you:  certain times, certain places, certain people, print ads, television ads, they can all flip a switch that makes you have to have it now.

Here’s a link to one of my favorite sites, Fooducate.  They’ve done an excellent piece on Weight Watchers and the ingredients in their Chicken Ranchero Mini Wraps.  After reading it, you’ll see why I call this kind of crap “Poison”.

Remember, the Diet Industry is a BUSINESS out to MAKE MONEY.

(4) If you really can stick to your low calorie regimen, your Thyroid, which is in charge of the Cell Turnover of EVERY SINGLE CELL IN YOUR BODY, will determine that there’s some type of food shortage or famine, and will SLOW DOWN TURNOVER/METABOLISM IMMEDIATELY.   Here’s the really bad part:  for some people, it’ll only take doing “low-cal” once, for others, it’ll take more, but eventually, that Thyroid stays “down-regulated”.  This is why the same diet that worked before doesn’t work anymore, and it’s why the majority of dieters gain MORE WEIGHT THAN THEY LOST.

(5) I love the Cleanse questions, I’ve had them for years.  Here’s the fact:  there is no Cleanse on earth that will pull fatty acids out of your fat cells. Period.  The subtle message in Cleanse advertising, showing a beautiful flat stomach, is trying to convince you that if you buy this product, you’ll poop out pounds of fat and then you’ll look like the picture.  Don’t be tricked by this!  Your poop is mostly water, bacteria from your large intestine, discarded cells and waste products, and indigestible fibers.  If your gut is working correctly, the fats/ proteins/sugars/calories and nutrients were extracted in the small intestine, BEFORE they get to the large intestine.  Cleanses that promise diarrhea in exchange for weight loss are stupid, so don’t be fooled.  Want to “Cleanse”?  Quit putting toxins in your liver, kidney, brain, and bowels, honestly.

Let me leave you with a recipe I’ve found that’s fast, easy, and delicious; it’s for  Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Meringue Cookies.  (click on for link)

Ingredients

For the meringue:
    • 4 large pastured egg whites
    • 1/4 tsp cream of tarter
    • 1/2 cup powdered sweetener (or 5 Tbsp honey for Paleo)
    • 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate coating:

Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
    2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tarter on medium speed.
    3. Add the sweetener and cocoa powder. Increase the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Add the vanilla and mix to incorporate.
    4. With a large star shaped pastry tip, pipe a 2″ disc on to the parchment paper and pipe another layer on top to form a small peak. Repeat with the remaining meringue batter. (Makes about 26 cookies)
    5. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes and turn off the oven and let sit for 3 hours or until the meringues have dried out.
                      For the chocolate coating:
  1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
  2. Dip the meringue cookie into the chocolate (either just the bottom or half of the cookie) and set on parchment paper. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set.
Category: Carbs, Food Additives, Psychology of Eating, Sugar / Tags: , , , ,
 
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