Liver Cleanse FAQ

These thoughtful questions come from one of my clients who read my blog Friday about the Medical Medium cleanse, bought the Liver Rescue book, made her plan (including a grocery list organized by day and grocery aisle!) and sent questions for clarity!  I love her enthusiasm and organization! 

I am posting her questions here along with answers found in the Medical Medium books.  If you have questions on the cleanse, let me know and I will find answers for us and post them here also.  As of the writing of this blog there will be twelve of us following the cleanse at some point between May 10 and May 30!  I am so excited to see all the wonderful health benefits we reap!

Questions About the Liver Rescue 369 Cleanse

The recipe for the lemon/lime water is on page 362, right?  So, we aren’t adding apple cider vinegar, honey, or cinnamon/cayenne?

– Medical Medium is adamantly AGAINST apple cider vinegar (Liver Rescue p. 238) for the liver cleanse.  He has this to say about lemon water: you can add one teaspoon each raw honey and freshly grated ginger to the lemon water. I am not sure what he says about adding cinnamon or cayenne, but I believe that recipe is from a different cleanse?  It’s important not to mix other protocols with Medical Medium protocols for the sake of clarity as well as proper nutrient balance.

For the first three days, do the breakfast, lunch, and dinner options only have to adhere to the Liver Rescue Morning?  So as long as they don’t contain gluten, dairy, eggs, lamb, pork, or canola oil, I reduce my “radical” fats by 50%, and eat fats/animal products only at dinner, I am adhering to the recommended guidelines?

– Correct! Guidelines for the first three days are as follows:

– Follow guidelines for Liver Rescue Morning beginning on page 334 of Liver Rescue.

– Avoid gluten, dairy, eggs, lamb, pork, and canola.

– Reduce “radical” fats by 50%, and eat fats/animal products only at dinner.

– Bring in more fruits, veggies and leafy greens each day.

How much water should I drink for days 1-8?

– Drink enough to stay hydrated for your size and activity level.  This varies by person.

– Medical Medium has this to say about hydration on his blog: “I personally try to drink around two liters of water everyday with lemon juice squeezed in. In addition, I’ll bring in celery juice, cucumber juice, and oftentimes 16 to 32 oz of fresh squeezed orange juice. These are just a few of the ways I try to keep myself hydrated. Each person’s needs are different when it comes to hydration though. An avid exerciser might want to bring more than two liters of water into their daily routine. Play around with all of these suggestions and see which ideas work best for you!”

The plan relies on celery juice for days 4-9, but the book doesn’t contain the recipe.  How do I get it?  

– Celery Juice!  Medical medium wrote a whole book on this single magic elixir.  Page 346 in Liver Rescue gives you a small glimpse of how he feels about this ‘life-giving tonic.’  Making it yourself and consuming it fresh is best, but you can order it from a juice bar if you have one local to you.  If you already have a high-end juicer, you’re all set.  If you do not have a juicer and want an inexpensive option for the purposes of this cleanse, here is a link to the one I ordered from Amazon for $35.  It’s perfect for celery and cucumbers, though it will not do the trick for apples or any type of greens.  Apple juice is required on the last day, so I just purchased a high quality organic unsweet apple juice.

For planning purposes, how much celery is required for 16 ounces of celery juice?

– One large stalk makes approximately 16-20 ounces, though stalks vary wildly in size and juice content.  I always try to choose the heaviest stalks when I am at the market, and PLEASE buy organics when it comes to celery!  It won’t help the liver to detox if you are adding in more toxins (pesticides) with your celery juice every day.  One day the grocery store only had organic celery as hearts, so I bought them and discovered they are far more bitter than a full stalk of celery and I didn’t purchase celery hearts for the juice again.  Yuck.

For the Liver Rescue Smoothie and Salad, do I go with Option A or B?  Do I have to mix it up?

– Liver Rescue Smoothie: I had an absolute preference for one and stuck to it, but other people will like having options, so mix it up and do what tastes best to you!

– Liver Rescue Salad: On ‘the 6’ or days 4, 5, and 6 we eat one of these salads at each lunch and dinner, so using both options will help reduce feeling limited in your choices.  Try one for lunch and the other for dinner.  Or make enough of one to have for lunch and dinner to reduce your prep time, then do the other option for lunch and dinner the next day.  Any way that works for you, you’ll want to have both options to mix it up a little so you don’t get bored.

Here’s a GREAT tip I read after I finished the cleanse: You can blend the salad ingredients together into a soup! i am totally going to try it this time around because sometimes I don’t have 30 full minutes to spend chewing a salad!

For days 4-6, the orange juice for The Liver Rescue Salad: does it need to be from the refrigerated section in the grocery store, or am I juicing oranges to make it?  

– For all of the Medical Medium recipes, fresh is the best choice.  He loves fresh, whole foods as the source of nutrients.  If you do use something from the store for convenience, read the label closely to be sure you are using just orange juice and not some type of beverage with lots of other ingredients or added sugar.

For days 4-8, regarding the asparagus and Brussels sprouts, the plan refers to the preparation as “steamed.”  Must I steam them?  Can I roast them in the oven (sans oil) or sauté them in a skillet?  Do I eat them without “the usual” butter, oil, salt, lemon, and/or other tasty additives?

– Butter and oil are NOT allowed after day 3 of this cleanse and should not be used even in small amounts!  This is so the liver does not have to deal with fats while cleaning out the toxins that we intend to get rid of.  I like to think of the cleanse as a prescription diet for my liver.  The asparagus and Brussels sprouts are prescribed steamed or raw for the purpose of maximizing nutrients and this is the BEST way to eat them for the purpose of this cleanse.

– THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, the first time I did this cleanse I wrongly assumed that because the Maple Roasted Brussels sprouts recipe was included in the Liver Rescue book that it was an allowable way to fix them for the cleanse.  I roasted them every time I ate them the first time through the cleanse because I like them MUCH better than steamed.  Afterwards I discovered that even though the recipe is in the book, it is NOT supposed to be used during the cleanse because they are more nutritious when steamed.  But I still got miraculous results from the cleanse despite the roasted Brussels.  I highly recommend that you stick to the cleanse as closely as possible to get the best results for your body.  Since I am not fond of steamed Brussels, I plan to eat mine raw this time through.

For days 7 and 8, the plan calls for Spinach Soup Over Cucumber Noodles, but the recipe is not in the book.

This is Anthony’s 4th book and I think a lot of it is written as if we all have purchased and read his previous work.  The spinach soup and cucumber noodles recipe was in his Thyroid Healing book and can be found on his blog at this link.  I got lazy and served the delicious spinach soup with cucumber slices on the side, (image at top of page) and that worked great!

All of the Medical Medium books have valuable nutrition information, interesting stories & helpful tips.  All but the original book contain and lots of delicious, healthy recipes and are well worth having on hand for reference. 

For Day 9, the author spends a lot of time on page 350 discussing the proper ratio of cucumber-apple juice, but does not devote any attention to the blended melon, blended papaya, or fresh-squeezed orange juice.  What kind of melons should I use and in what proportion to the other ingredients?  Or is it not a mix-and-match drink?

– The melons and orange juice are unlimited in any amounts or mixture that you want.  My favorite were a blended cantaloupe with ice and blended watermelon.  I liked them separate so I could taste the flavor of each melon.  We also did honeydew and papaya with orange juice.  Be creative and don’t be stingy!  Eat plenty of melons and papaya all day.

This entire plan seems like a lot of food.  How do I complete the cleanse while not spending a ton on all this fresh produce?

– Fresh organic produce is expensive, but not as expensive as chronic illness.  Since you’re not purchasing expensive dairy or meat options, it balances out.  Shop Costco and local farmers’ markets for the freshest produce at the best price.  My local Sprouts was the best source I found for organic celery.  I said earlier that I think of this food as a prescription for my liver.  I actually know someone that takes a prescription for her liver monthly that costs more than $500 a month.  By comparison, this prescription is quite reasonably priced.

What tips are the most helpful for being prepared and completing the cleanse successfully?

– Read the Liver Rescue book!  Read the section on the cleanse first so that you can be prepared, but then read it cover to cover to glean as much helpful advice as you can as well as moral support to make these healthy changes!

– Read the meditations section of the book!  I found some of these very helpful during the cleanse.  I especially enjoyed the one for strengthening bile production, but do whichever ones resonate for you.

– Be prepared to have a few detox symptoms during days 4 to 6.  These vary from person to person.  Energy is also low on these days, so plan to rest when you can or at least set yourself a lighter schedule than normal.  Keeping active is important, but plan to do less strenuous workouts.  I didn’t feel like getting on my elliptical during the cleanse, but I did walk  ten or twenty minutes each day followed by some gentle stretching.  Go with the flow.  Listen to your body and honor it’s needs.

– Ideally you need to own a juicer and a blender.   If you already have a high-end juicer, you’re all set.  If you do not have a juicer and want an inexpensive option for the purposes of this cleanse, here is a link to the one I ordered from Amazon for $35.  It’s perfect for celery and cucumbers, though it will not do the trick for apples or any type of greens.  Apple juice is required on the last day, so I just purchased a high quality organic unsweet apple juice at Sprouts.  If you don’t already own a blender, this link goes to an inexpensive option that handles all the needs of the cleanse.

– Planning is KEY.  Writing out the whole plan ahead of time and then organizing individual grocery lists for each of the 3 sections was a great help to me!  The client who provided all these lovely, thought-provoking questions has her entire 9 days plan written out with grocery list already!  I will share that valuable tool along with my own meal plans in a post later this week!

– Preparation time is more than most people are used to!  I had to take two or three small meals to work with me each day, so that meant prepping LOTS of food first thing in the morning.  Some days I had to get up an hour early to accomplish this.  The cleanse takes effort, but your improved health is WORTH the effort!  

– The first three days are really quite easy if you plan and prep ahead.  It gets challenging with LIMITED food options, low energy and detox symptoms on days 4, 5, 6, but by then you are halfway there!  On days 7 & 8 my energy came way back up as my body adjusted.  The liquids-only prescription for the final day was actually quite refreshing since I was really OVER the Brussels sprouts and I love fresh cantaloupe.  And the energy I had and the clarity of thinking that were mine on day 10, and the lack of pain and inflammation in my back was MORE than worth any discomfort or challenge that arose.

– Focus on your intentions. When you feel challenged in any way or are having some detox symptoms, focus on WHY you are doing this. My intention is to see what benefits are available to me for simply changing my diet for a few days, and to explore what further benefits will be gained by paying attention to how foods react in my body, and which foods for me personally allow me more energy and more mobility!

– Journaling helps! Writing about your intentions is a super awesome way to get clarity on why you are personally undertaking the cleanse and what benefits you expect to gain.

If you have any additional questions not answered here, please leave them in the comments.   I will add them to this post along with the answers I find for us.

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The information provided on and accessible from this website is for informational  & support purposes only and should not be considered to be healthcare advice or medical diagnosis, or treatment. I support individuals who want to transform their health in whatever way they choose as best.  The state of California has no licensing requirements for Life Coaches. I am not a doctor and do not diagnose or treat disease, nor make recommendations regarding medical treatment or medications.  Please consult your medical doctor if you have any questions about the whether any cleanse is appropriate for you.