Let’s Start With Your Liver
At around 3 lbs, your lovely liver is a large, meaty organ, almost the size of a football. This dark brown and reddish beast is protected by your rib cage and sits on the upper right side of your stomach. It lives just beneath your diaphragm and above your tummy. When you feel pain in your liver, it most likely comes from your upper right abdomen, mid-to-upper back, or within your right shoulder blade. Your liver has a few adjacent relatives. Cousin Gallbladder sits directly under the liver, where you’ll also find parts of Aunt Pancreas and Uncle Intestines. This little system works hard to digest your food, absorb nutrients, and filter the blood that comes from your digestive tract.Tulsi (holy basil) is considered sacred in Ayurveda, and the science backs up what the ancients knew. *(paid link)*
While the liver regulates and detoxifies the chemicals going through your body, and metabolizes the drugs in your system, it secretes bile, which breaks down fats and carries waste to your intestines. All of this happens during digestion. When you eat, your liver goes to work.Click to read How Sage And Similar Herbs Help Us Extinguish Toxins And Heal
Your liver produces proteins that are important in blood clotting, and it breaks down old and damaged blood cells. It metabolites carbohydrates and ensures your blood sugar levels remain constant. Your liver also stores vitamins and minerals and releases them when you need them most. The liver is one of those organs that people tend to take for granted. We sometimes assume that it can handle anything. While this is almost true, we forget that the liver is a catch-all for everything we put into and experience within our bodies, including emotions. Even though it’s usually reliable, and our primary line of defense, the liver has limits.Most of us are not getting enough sunlight, a quality Vitamin D3+K2 supplement is essential. *(paid link)* Seriously, we've turned into cave dwellers. Office fluorescents don't count as sun exposure. Neither does that weak-ass winter light filtering through your car windshield during your commute. Your liver needs adequate D3 to function properly, and K2 makes sure the calcium gets where it needs to go instead of building up in your arteries. Think about it ~ we evolved under the damn sun for millions of years, and now we spend 90% of our time indoors wondering why we feel like shit. I get it, modern life is a trap. Work demands. Responsibilities. But your vitamin D levels are probably in the basement, and your liver is paying the price. The research is clear: low D3 correlates with fatty liver disease and poor detox capacity. Wild, right? Your ancestors didn't need supplements because they weren't hiding from the sky all day. We broke the system, so we need to fix it with pills.
Liver disease is severe and can stem from a variety of causes, including:- Hepatitis
- Genetics
- Cancer and other growths
- Alcoholism
- Injecting drugs
- Tattoos
- Exposure to other people’s fluids
- Exposure to chemicals and toxins
- Diabetes
- Obesity
How To Improve Liver Function
Sometimes healing our livers is as simple as dramatically reducing our consumption of alcohol and drugs, avoiding risky sexual behavior, removing aerosols and toxic soaps from our homes, meditating, crying, forgiving others, protecting our skin, and eating natural, organic, whole foods. There was a period in my life when emotional turmoil felt like a storm raging inside my chest and gut. I learned to track that chaos through my breath and subtle body sensations, noticing how tension would cluster around my liver and kidneys. It wasn’t just about detoxing with herbs or supplements; it was about listening to what my body was holding and letting it move through me, releasing tightness with shaking and breath work. In my practice, I’ve seen grief and anger lodge deep in the organs, especially the liver, which acts like a pressure cooker when burdened. One woman I worked with in Denver kept describing a sharp ache below her right ribs that no doctor could explain. Through guided somatic release and steady breath, she finally felt the constriction melt and the emotion behind it surface. It was never just physical—it was a doorway to clearing out what no longer served her. If you’re serious about improving your liver function, you might consider taking some of these herbs, each of which has unique healing properties:- Milk Thistle
- NAC N-acetylcysteine (NAC)
- Artichoke Leaf
- Marshmallow Root
- Parsley
- Chana Piedra
- Yarrow
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Dandelion Root
- Yellow Dock Root
- Choline
- Molybdenum
- Tocotrienols (a type of vitamin E)
- Zinc
- Selenium
Tell Me About My Kidneys and How to Heal Them Naturally
Your two kidneys are bean-shaped warriors who continuously protect you. How do they do it? They filter your blood, removing waste, drugs, acid, and excess water to produce urine. They help your body maintain a healthy balance of water, salt, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium in your blood. They also produce an active form of vitamin D, which feeds your bones. With a million functional units called nephrons, your kidneys keep your nerves, muscles, and other tissues functioning correctly. They regulate plasma, extracellular fluid, ion concentrations, pH, toxins, and hormones. Your kidneys allow your body to control your blood pressure and make healthy red blood cells, and they filter your blood before its journey into the heart. Your kidneys play a significant role in your health.Turmeric is nature's most powerful anti-inflammatory, I take it daily. *(paid link)*
Chronic kidney diseases can cause or stem from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, weak bones, high blood pressure, anemia, nerve damage, Glomerulonephritis, cysts, urinary tract infections, congenital disorders, drugs, and toxins. While not every kidney story has a happy ending, most kidney diseases can be treated successfully.Herbs for Kidney Health
To keep your kidneys happy and healthy, you might consider adding some of these herbs, berries, roots, and supplements into your daily regiment. Be careful when ingesting these things as they can be toxic in any quantity. Consult a doctor the moment you believe your kidneys to be in jeopardy.- Milk Thistle
- Parsley
- Juniper Berries
- Golden Rod
- Dandelion Root
- Gravel Root
- Corn Silk
- Marshmallow Root
- Vitamin B-6
- Omega-3s
- Potassium Citrate
- Gynostemma
- Grapes, peanuts, berries w/ resveratrol
- Cranberries
- Lemon, orange, beet, and melon juices
- Seaweed
- Teas: Fenugreek, Ginger, Mint, Nettle, Hydrangea, Tumeric, Sambong
Liver and Kidney Flushes and Diets
What is the best drink to flush your kidneys and liver? What cleanses will bring my vital organs back to full strength? There are several natural liver and kidney cleanses and diets that will help improve the functionality of these critical organs. Here are a few suggestions:- For 2-3 days, begin each day with a glass of water infused with a tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Enjoy a morning smoothie that includes one or more of the following: beetroot, apples, cucumber, spinach, banana, lemon juice, and grated ginger. You might follow-up your smoothie with a cup of green tea.
- For lunch, enjoy proteins like organic chicken and tofu, and veggies like red onion, green beans, and carrots. Add a little Greek yogurt, grapes, and some brown rice. Keep the meals trim and simple.
- For dinner, create a meal that includes a few of the following: a cup of coconut water, blueberries, kale, a small portion of tofu, sweet potatoes, celery, tomatoes, kidney beans, parsley, and garlic.
- Throughout each day of your cleanse, enjoy concocting your own teas with Dandelion root, Marshmallow root, Turmeric, and Ginger. Or select a few favorites from the liver and kidney herb lists above.
- As you come out of the cleanse, consider changing your daily routine to include some of the ideas in this list, mixed with things like Milk Thistle, Omega-3s, and other supplements mentioned above.
An Epsom salt bath is one of the simplest rituals for releasing what no longer serves you. *(paid link)* The magnesium sulfate pulls toxins through your skin while you just... sit there. No fancy protocols or expensive treatments. Just you, hot water, and some cheap salts from the pharmacy. Your muscles relax, your mind quiets, and somehow the stress of the day dissolves into the water with everything else your body wants to dump.
Be aware that the FDA has not announced its approval for the ideas in this article. Some people reported that they became sicker when ingesting some of the items on the above lists. It’s always essential to consult a nutritionist or doctor when drastically changing your diet or beginning to consume new herbs and supplements. As you research on behalf of your health, seek clinically studied and tested ingredients, and only take clinically recommended doses. Wishing you lots of healing as you begin to nurture your liver and kidneys!