How Often Should You Cleanse your Liver?

The liver is mainly a pitta organ. When overtaxed, it is the site of many pitta imbalances such as excessive sweating, ulcers, hyperacidity, and rosacea.

Highlights

• The liver is the root of rakta vaha srotas, the oxygen-carrying channels of rakta dhatu.

• The health of your liver increases the body’s ability to detoxify itself.

• Exercising every day, doing abhyanga massage, and practising meditation are some ways to keep your liver healthy.

Our liver is a strong and complex organ. It transforms everything we eat, breathe, and absorb through the skin into life-sustaining nutrients. According to Ayurveda, the liver is the root of rakta vaha srotas, the oxygen-carrying channels of rakta dhatu (blood). Also, ranjaka pitta in the liver produces bile which is stored in the gallbladder to be released as needed to break down fats and to absorb fat-soluble vitamins.

The liver is mainly a pitta organ. When overtaxed, it is the site of many pitta imbalances such as excessive sweating, ulcers, hyperacidity, and rosacea. It also may manifest as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, liver spots on the skin, changes in elimination, fatigue, lack of motivation, depression, anxiety, and memory problems.

One of the easiest ways to protect, nourish, and cleanse the liver is to be conscious of what you take into it. Here are few tips to support the health of your liver and increase the body’s ability to detoxify itself.

• Avoid foods that introduce toxins (ama) such as leftovers, canned and frozen foods, caffeine, alcohol, sugar, fried foods, and smoking.

• Eat smaller meals and eat dinner before at dusk.

• Have a cup of amla juice and honey once a day.

• Drinking a glass of warm water with a lemon squeezed into it first thing in the morning helps to nourish the liver.

• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of warm water and eating fresh fruits throughout the day.

• Exercise daily to flush ama (toxins) out of the body.

• Give yourself a gentle abhyanga (self-massage) daily.

• Meditation is the key to release stress and stored emotions. So-Hum meditation is particularly effective for this.

For deeper cleansing, Ayurveda turns to panchakarma, it’s a gentle process of detoxification, done under the guidance of an experienced practitioner.

For more lifestyle tips and recipes visit the Jiva Ayurveda website, or to consult a Jiva doctor, you can dial 0129-4040404 from your mobile phone or click on ‘Speak to a Doctor’ under the CONNECT tab in the Jiva Health App.