The Health Rewards of Liver Cleansing Most of us have learned some time ago that true health does not come from prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs, surgical removal of body parts, or even antioxidants. True health results from eliminating foreign substances from the body that hamper vital organs from performing their natural function and providing health-building nutrition. During the past century we have introduced massive amounts of processed/refined foods, chemicals and other unnatural substances into our food and body products. The immune system is simply unprepared for this onslaught, which jeopardizes our health.  To undo this, the first vital step is to cleanse the colon, the second to cleanse kidneys (if they are in a weakened condition), and then cleanse the liver. OVERWEIGHT BLUES The biggest ally one can turn to in the battle of the bulge is one's liver. The condition of becoming and staying overweight results when there is too much toxicity for the liver to handle over too long a period of time. We've all heard these reasons which never lead to a solution, such as "Everything I eat makes me gain weight no matter what it is" or "I'm just genetically locked in to being fat". But here is the way larger clothes sizes factually come about - Per Claude Matar, M.D., in an article, "Your Liver: The Unsung Hero" 'Most toxins tend to be fat-soluble and easily enter the fat cells. Toxins get routed to the liver where they are changed from fat-soluble to water-soluble so they can be eliminated through water-based elimination channels. But when the body is overwhelmed by an overload of toxins, they bypass the liver and are put directly into the fat tissues where they are stored away indefinitely.These toxin-loaded fat cells become very stubborn. They are trying to protect the body from the toxins. Weight gain becomes inevitable, and weight loss becomes an effort, if not outright impossible. "A small amount of these stored toxins are constantly cycled out of storage, through the body, and sent to the liver in hopes that it will handle them. If it cannot, they are sent back to storage. And so these poisons are continually present and circulating in the body. "You have a very sophisticated immune system that attempts to fight infections and disease. These toxins trigger the immune system, which tries to fight them. When this is constantly happening it overloads and stresses your immune system. "Acne, Allergic response, Anxiety, Dandruff, Depression, Diarrhea, Eczema, General feeling of being ill, Headaches, Muscle and bone pains, Sleepiness and Sleeplessness are indicators that the liver is not doing its detoxification job. "Many people resort to drugs to handle these conditions. But all they do is interfere with your liver's ability to function and detox your body correctly and you are on a vicious cycle. "How do you tell if your liver is not functioning correctly? Here are some signs to look for: 1. intolerance to any fatty food (in any way feeling worse after eating it) 2. achy joints or muscles 3. wounds take long to heal 4. bitter or metallic taste in the mouth upon arising in the morning 5. stool have a distinctly foul smell 6. right-sided pain in the abdomen that may be associated with a right-sided shoulder pain, several hours after a meal containing fat 7. stools alternate from formed to watery 8. skin on the soles of your feet peel 9. dry skin and / or skin rashes Take good care of your liver and it will take good care of you! " Dr. Claude Matar is the director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing in South Pasadena, CA. The liver tries to serve as the body's filter and major detoxifier, yet if clogged and contaminated the result will sooner or later be major and minor health afflictions. A clogged liver is simply unable to detoxify chemicals properly - some of the most obvious examples of health disorders caused by an overloaded liver are allergies and respiratory congestion! With a clogged liver, unnatural substances are no longer detoxified and remain stored in various tissues of the body. The amounts may be minute, but over time pollutants accumulate and handicap the functioning of vital organs. The key to a vigorous, pain-free, healthy life is a clean, unobstructed, properly functioning system of organs. A Colon Cleanse and Liver Cleanse are as dramatic, effective and rewarding for your health as a major tune-up is for a rough running car. One of your liver's other many jobs is to make bile and deliver the bile to the numerous bile ducts (tubes) in the liver. This bile is used to metabolize fat in the diet. For so many people (on a high fat/cooked food diet for many years), the ducts are choked with stones, and as stones become more plentiful, the liver makes less bile. It's like a garden hose filled with marbles. The bile ducts may also be full of cholesterol because the stones prevent cholesterol from leaving the body, causing cholesterol levels to rise. A Liver/Gallblader Flush should also be done on a regular basis to rid the body directly of these stones. Changing one's diet, doing a Colon Cleanse and then a Liver Cleanse will also stimulate the body to dissolve these stones and other obstructions more gradually in favor of elimination from the body. In this wise, the liver is once again able to operate with complete, strong, healthy function. The liver is a vital organ whose ability to detoxify food, chemicals and foreign substances is the foundation of your health. The liver is a filter - a living filter to keep blood clean and free of toxins and excess waste. Clean blood means a disease-free body. Just as millions have dysfunctional colons in this cooked/processed food society, they also have a congested, compromised liver and don't ever know it. With the accumulations of waste thoroughly removed and not re-introduced, it is likely those over 45 would look ten years younger than people at the same chronological age and rarely, if ever, would they get sick. A single Liver Cleanse may not rid you of all obstructions and may be required 4 to 5 times in the first  year. The initial cleanse will rid you of a large amount of debris, but there may still be much left from decades of accumulation. The more you adhere to a "Live Food Diet", the sooner your liver will respond to cleansing programs and become more and more capable to do its many wonderful jobs for your health and vitality. Reprinted from HFR Newsletter