One of the things I do at least once a year is a liver detoxification treatment. I chose to do the first one this year at the end of March. If you need a little inspiration, read on what we did and what results we got, as you go.

You can do liver detoxification in several ways. This time I chose to do the 14-day liver detoxification program that I learned from Dr. Eric Berg and that you can find in his book 7 Principles of Weight Loss.

What I have done:

I ate predominantly vegetarian, especially raw vegetables, but also fruits. The only animal products I consumed were about 200 grams of skim yogurt or 100 grams of skimmed cow’s cheese a day. I ate occasionally about 100 grams of fish, and another boiled egg.

Another ingredient I used daily, three times a day, was a combination of cranberry juice (60 ml), lemon juice (1 tbsp), apple cider vinegar (1 tsp), and water up to 250 ml. I drank this juice before every meal.

If you want to detoxify your liver using this method, you can find all the details in the article.

What I want to achieve by detoxifying the liver

When I do something for which I make an effort, I want to know if it’s worth it. That’s why I try to determine in advance what I want to achieve and at the end I measure the results. Normally, when you do liver detoxification, you should have better mental clarity in the end, reduce your cravings, have more energy and lose weight and inches.

What do I expect when doing liver detoxification treatment:

• Better sleep
• More energy
• Clearer mind
• Weight loss
• Decrease in centimeters at the waist
• Decrease in body fat percentage
• Reducing cravings

Therefore, we measured and tracked the evolution of the following parameters:

• Sleep quality
• Energy level
• Mental clarity
• Cravings
• Body weight
• The circumference over the belly
• Percentage of body fat

Where did I start?

I started the program with the following parameters:

• Weight: 83.7 kg
• Body fat percentage: 21.1%
• Percentage of water in the body: 57.7%
• Percentage of muscle mass: 36.9%
• Body mass index: 24.4
• Bone weight: 4.2 kg
• Circumference over the belly: 95 cm

I measured the values ​​with my home scale, which also allows the measurement of the above parameters. You can find a similar scale by searching the internet for the scale with body analyzer.

Spring detox log

Week 1

In the first two days I had a slight state of weakness. The body had to adapt to the new diet without refined carbohydrates and with a very small amount of protein. I felt the effort to adapt the body to the new menu. I felt the body change its energy source from sugars to fats.

From the third day I had greater mental clarity. On days 3 and 4, a slight weakness of the body persisted, but the general condition was good and increased mental clarity.

From the 3rd day I had a sensation like leg muscle fever, which on the 5th day was completed with a slight tremor of the heart. I suspected that the symptoms came from the daily consumption of apple cider vinegar, which brings a potassium intake, but decreases calcium reserves.

On the 4th day I also had a slight claw sensation in my heart. Both are symptoms of calcium deficiency caused by daily consumption of apple cider vinegar. I started eating a tablespoon of sesame paste every day, which is very rich in calcium, and the symptoms disappeared.

On the 6th day, being Friday, I didn’t eat anything until around 7 pm, as I usually do. It was a slightly harder day, I didn’t have much energy and my mind was less clear.

From the 6th day I had no weakness at all. I had few cravings but mental, that is, I thought I would eat bread or something sweet. Physically, however, I felt clearly that the body was well nourished and had everything it needed. It tempted me the most to eat bread. I didn’t necessarily have a craving for meat.

After the 6th day, my physical condition was good and I had the impression that I could continue the program as long as I had the necessary food. So the key is to get used to cooking differently. I had energy and clarity, I felt I could do sports.

After a week, I had the following parameters:

• Weight: 81.8 kg
• Body fat percentage: 23.1%
• Percentage of water in the body: 56.5%
• Percentage of muscle mass: 35.6%
• Body mass index: 23.9
• Bone weight: 4.6 kg
• Circumference over the belly: 94 cm

Week 2

From day 8 I didn’t feel the need to eat so often. The well-being of the body and the reduction of appetites were maintained.

It was very clear the difference between cravings caused by deficiencies in the body, and cravings that have an emotional or mental cause (the habit of eating something).

The only problem I had was that I had a very busy schedule during the two weeks of detoxification treatment. That’s why I went to bed a few nights late and didn’t sleep well. The quality of sleep was not very good, but this usually happens to me when I go to bed after 12 o’clock at night.

I interrupted the program after 12 days, because I left the country.

At the end of the 11th day, the results were:

• Weight: 80.9 kg
• Body fat percentage: 22.6%
• Percentage of water in the body: 56.9%
• Percentage of muscle mass: 35.8%
• Body mass index: 23.6
• Bone weight: 4.6 kg
• Circumference over the belly: 92 cm

Detoxification balance

I lost 3 kg in 11 days, and my girth was reduced by 3 cm. My main goal was not to lose weight, but it was a welcome bonus.

I obtained increased mental clarity starting with the 4th day, and a very good general condition, especially after the 6th day.

My appetite decreased a lot because my body was well supplied with nutrients. It would not have been difficult to continue the program, but I chose to end it, because I had to make a trip to another country and I did not want to refrain from eating their traditional dishes. But if my goal had been to lose weight, I could have continued the program for a while without much effort.

Speaking of cravings, I had an interesting surprise. The next day after I stopped I ate a cake and drank some hot chocolate. To my surprise, I couldn’t finish them, because I felt like my body didn’t want so much sugar anymore. This in the conditions in which I really like sweets. It is a very beautiful effect that occurs after any detoxification treatment. You can feel what your body wants and what it doesn’t. You become more aware of your body, and you can decipher its signals more clearly.

Conclusion: it is worth doing liver detoxification

The program works well and brought me the results I expected. I haven’t seen clear changes in sleep quality, but I do attribute this to the fact that I went to bed late (probably after 12 o’clock at night) for many of the 11 days. Instead, the level of energy and mental clarity increased and remained so after the 6th day.

The most important part of a liver regeneration program, as with any detoxification program, is to prepare what to eat. It’s not very difficult, but you should temporarily choose to eat other foods than the ones you are used to eating. To do this, you need to change what you buy and what you cook.

For me, for example, if someone cooked me everything I needed for a diet or a detox program, it would be 10 times easier for me to keep it. If you have no one to do this for you (I don’t have one either), be aware that you need to buy other foods and cook other dishes for the duration of the program, and be prepared for that.

The biggest changes are that you have to give up refined carbohydrates for a while, and replace them with carbohydrates from vegetables. You know, we usually eat bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, with almost anything, and salad is something quite rare in our menu. When you detoxify the liver, it must be the other way around. Lots of greens, zero refined carbohydrates.

Then you reduce the amount of protein a lot, which is why you need to be prepared to eat more often to give your body enough nutrients.

The best thing you can do when you want to do a detox program is to prepare in advance:

See what foods you will eat and check if you have the necessary ingredients in the house. If you don’t have them all, make a shopping list and buy them before you start.

Make a list of dishes you can prepare from the foods allowed in the program you make.

Think about the day before you eat the next day, so you have time to prepare.

If you don’t pay attention to these things, you risk waking up at some point because you’re hungry and not having any suitable food on hand. It is harder to find suitable food for a detox diet at catering or restaurant, apart from salads, so it is better to be prepared and have at least soaked nuts/seeds, allowed fruits, ideally, and a portion of food prepared by you.

What do you say? Do you also do a liver detoxification treatment? At the beginning of the article you will find the link to the complete description of the liver regeneration program that I did. Get ready, do it, and then tell me how it was for you. What went wrong, what went wrong?

If you have results to share or questions before you start, write a comment below. I will answer as fast as I can.