It may be Monday, but I’m not working on a menu plan for the week. For the next five days, my husband and I will be consuming nothing but unfiltered apple juice.
Sigh.
I started this fast on Friday, and my husband started on Sunday, after he finished off the contents of our fridge. (What a helpful fellow!) Bless his soul, J decided to join me in the apple juice fast to keep me from having to cook and do dishes while I’m not eating. He also said he was curious. Frankly, I am too.
This past spring, my doctor told me he thought I should do a gallbladder/liver cleanse. You know the old olive oil, grapefruit, Epsom salts routine? That’s the one. I had just received the results of a month-long saliva hormone panel. Basically, I spit into a little tube every two days for a month, freezing my spit after each collection, then sent the tubes in for analysis of several hormones. Saliva hormone tests are supposed to be far more accurate than blood tests (despite what many doctors will tell you), and this particular test showed how my hormones were fluctuating over the month.
The results were disappointing, to say the least. I cried after I left his office. My progesterone and estrogen were doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do. Both hormones should peak near the middle of the cycle, then taper off toward the end of the month (if I remember correctly, estrogen peaks first, then progesterone). This is what makes a woman ovulate. My estrogen and progesterone both peaked around day 6, bottomed out around day 12 (the center of my cycle), then peaked again around day 18. These results were made even more baffling by the fact that, at the time, I was taking progesterone in the middle of my cycle. Talk about confusing results! The disappointing part was his comment that he didn’t think I was ovulating at all and that he didn’t think I could get pregnant. Even though we were not trying to conceive at the time, I was eagerly looking forward to it. I didn’t take the news very well.
Since my diet was already great, his prescriptions for dealing with the situation included altering my progestrone dosing and cleansing my liver. The liver is responsible for metabolizing hormones, so an improperly running liver can cause hormonal imbalances (like my estrogen dominance, for example). He also thought it might be responsible for the lack of progesterone around the middle of my cycle when I was takingcompounded progesterone. Given my pharmaceutical history, a semi-toxic liver wouldn’t be surprising at all.
Though I pursued another route for balancing my hormones (which I’ll certainly write about soon), I kept the gallbladder/liver cleanse in my mind all these month. Meeting a new friend along the way who is a die-hard fan of the cleanse has only strengthened my resolve. She also introduced me to the apple juice fast leading up to the olive oil, grapefruit juice, and Epsom salts protocol. The lack of fat in the diet helps the bile build up, and the malic acid in the juice soften the gallstones. According to her doctor, this is supposed to make the cleanse more effective. Plus, you get all the benefits of fasting at the same time.
After feeling outrageously stressed out over the past couple of weeks, I knew I needed to slow down. I’ve also been feeling unwell and having nausea (no, it’s not that–I promise). Knowing that nausea is often related to gallbladder problems, and considering that I took a lot of painkillers earlier this month for my wisdom teeth extractions and for a series of awful headaches (probably hormone related), I finally decided to take the plunge and show my liver some love. This week is my last opportunity to do the fast this year. Parties, events, showers, holidays, and school stress will it impossible to do it any later.
I’ll post more details about the cleanse and my thoughts on it later this week. Juice fasting is certainly an unusual experience!
Have you ever done one of these cleanses? What were your results? What else have you done to cleanse or care for your liver?
I’ve never done the cleanse, but am also experiencing some hormone issues (I think in my progesterone levels). Thanks for your post. It’s given me something to think about.
Very interesting stuff. I look forward to reading more on it and good luck this week!
My dad swears by the olive oil/lemon juice gallbladder cleanse.
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Are you charting your basal temps? You can easily detect ovulation by looking for a temperature spike.
But yeah… wonky hormones are NO FUN. Blah.
Amanda — You’re welcome!
April in CT — Thank you very much.
ToilingAnt — Yes, until recently, I have been charting my basal temps. I started doing that a couple of months before we got married. My OBGYN thought I was crazy. I even have a little computer that makes it SO easy (I need to write about it sometime). Unfortunately, the temperature fluctuations were very inconclusive, despite having a regular (though short) cycle. The hormone test results gave me a little more understanding of why the temps are off. So we’re basically doing rhythm right now.
Does your dad do the apple juice fast before-hand? Or does he just jump straight into the olive oil/lemon juice protocol?
I have done both the traditional liver cleanse and the apple juice fast. I despise apple juice so that was a biggie for me to do. I also don’t like how sweet natural apple juice is. I even mix it with natural cranberry juice to ‘tart’ it up a little. The cranberry juice also contains malic acid like the apple juice so you aren’t messing anything up.
I personally prefer the traditional liver cleanse. I get the best results from this. Of course, this could be because I have no gallbladder.
I use apple juice and Siliverin, a milk thistle, dandelion root, tumeric blend by Solaray, whenever I show signs that I may have a blocked bile duct. This even saved me from a VERY invasive scope procedure that would have included dyes. I am allergic to so many narcotics and sensitive to so many OCD that I didn’t want to take the risk with them injecting me with dyes. I went to my little health food store, asked them what to do for blocked bile ducts and they told me apple juice and milk thistle. I felt better within 3 days. I had been in pain for over 6 weeks going the traditional route.
I then did a liver cleanse shortly after that and all seemed right again. Getting down those Epsom salts with the liver cleanse is the only touchy part. I have capped some Epsom salts for doing my next one…..whenever I can find the time!!
I did a different version of the gall bladder cleanse. I only ate apples for a day and then drank olive oil and lemon juice as the cleanse. I don’t remember if epson salts were involved. I got the version out of Paul Pitchford’s book “Healing with Whole Foods” It was 8 years ago and I do not remember all the details except that the olive oil mixture made me want to vomit. I do remember it was tough just eating apples all day, even though when I had done it, at was at an all time health low where I was only eating a few foods a day. I did it because I was scared I had a gall bladder problem, but did not want to go to my doctor who I did not like or trust at the time. I had no more pain after doing it. It did not help me with allergies as I had hoped.
I keep my liver as clean as I can by laying off pharmaceuticals that are rough on the liver and that includes all western allergy medicines and over the counter pain killers. I also eat beets regularly which pushes bile out of your liver. Even canned beets are good (on a salad) when you do not have time to cook fresh. I rarely drink alcohol and when I do, I stick to wine. I use to take chinese herbs in the past, but fell off the wagon with it as I have been doing much better with my allergies these days.
Nausea is easily caused by fluctuating hormones. To see if the doctor is right that you may not be ovulating, I would purchase an ovulation test at the pharmacy and give it a go. They are expensive, but I think the peace of mind would be worth it. Your hormones can be off and still ovulate. Many women’s hormones are unbalanced after coming off the Pill, but that is a different story for another day without making this entry too long.
I hope this was helpful.
Marjorie,
I agree about apple juice being way too sweet! I’ve been diluting it to half strength with water and adding unsweetened cranberry juice. I’m so glad to know I’m not hurting anything by using the latter. I couldn’t think of a reason why it would, so I just went ahead and did it. Much easier for me that way. I’m definitely dreading the Epsom salts. I can’t even gargle with salty water without gagging, so this will be tough for me. Maybe I should procure some capsules. That’s a pretty brilliant idea.
I’m going to look into that supplement you mentioned. I need a quality source of milk thistle.
bijou Frise,
You’re right, I need to include more beets in my diet. The marinara-style cultured vegetables I make have a lot of beets in them, but I should try adding them in other ways too. I can’t handle the canned ones at all, but I’m going to try them roasted. I made a *fabulous* garden-style borscht last year. I need to dig up that recipe!
Good idea with the ovulation kit. I hadn’t even considered that. Fortunately, my hormones seem to have levelled off a lot with the other things I’ve been doing since seeing that doctor in the spring. I plan to do another saliva hormone panel in a couple of months to track my progress. Because I tend to be a control freak, I think I’ll need to wait on the ovulation kit until after we actually start trying for children and have problems. Who knows? Maybe we won’t have any issues at all. It’s happened to lots of other women with crazy hormones.
Thank goodness I never took the Pill! I am still so thankful I knew enough at the time to avoid it. I remember telling my (now) husband when we were engaged and discussing BC options for after the wedding that going on the Pill would *never* be an option.
Thanks for leaving such a great comment! I’ll take your advice on the beets for sure and, somewhere down the road (if necessary), on the ovulation kit too.
I’ve read that these gallbladder cleanses aren’t good for you and that the “stones” that come out are clumps of the oil and salts you ingest during the fast.
Can you direct me to some resources that you’re relying on for the information that they are healthy and useful? I know you’re a nutrition student and probably have access to some resources that are more quality than what I’ve found online.
Interested in learning more,
DINK
DiaryofADINK,
Good question! I’ve read those things too. I think I’ll respond in a blog post so the answer is more available to other readers as well.
And just so there’s no further confusion, I’m not nutrition student. I hope I haven’t mislead anyone in that area. Although I very much want to pursue that in the future, I’m not quite there yet.
I don’t remember Dad’s gallbladder cleanse including either apple juice or epsom salts, but then again, it’s been probably a dozen years since he did it ,so…
What I do remember is that it was NOT recommended for people who have not confirmed both that they do have gallstones, and that they are small enough to pass. The olive oil/lemon juice was supposedly intended to soften stones so that they would not be painful to pass, but if there are very large stones present, they could still become impacted and complicate things much further. And if there are no stones at all, you’ve just choked down a ton of fat and stressed the gallbladder for nothing. (Even though olive oil is a good fat, the cleanse is still a seriously high dose for the gallbladder to process all at once.) I don’t know enough to say if the cleanse is good for anything besides gallstones.
But yeah, it’s been ages. I could ask him if you’d like.
ToilingAnt,
No need to ask him. I was just curious.
From what I understand, olive oil and lemon juice do not soften the gallstones. They merely create a strong rush of bile. Avoiding fat for a period of time before-hand allows the bile to build up. Malic acid in apple juice softens the stones, which is why some doctors recommend doing an aj fast first (it makes it safer). Epsom salts help relax the ducts and also ensure a bowel movement. You’re right that passing large stones is dangerous, so many people need x-rays before doing the flush.
I think there is room for disagreement on something like this, in terms of what it’s good for and what it doesn’t help. Some people believe it’s only good for gallstones, some believe it doesn’t move gallstones at all (but helps the liver and gallbladder in other ways), and some think it doesn’t help anything. Based on the advice of 3 different medical doctors and the accounts of several people I know and trust, I’m going to give it a shot this one time. Whether or not I ever do it again remains to be seen.
Dear Alison,
I am a neuro-immune-endocrine holistic nurse practitioner. I have been treating hormonal imbalances for over twenty years.
Doing a saliva test while taking progesterone is not an accurate baseline of your hormones. So do not get too overwhelmed by your results. I work extenseively with my colleagues to teach them how to accurately assess hormonal milieau, but honestly endocrinology is more of an art than a science. I do find it a rewarding craft
There are natural ways to balance your hormones. To help my patients and myself (the eye doctor has the thickest glasses), I developed a nutraceutical- Genesis Gold– to keep Hormones in Harmony.
It has worked wonders with my most hormonally challenged patients and I even have had success with infertility patients–both men and women.
As for a cleanse, it’s a start, but if your body isn’t getting what it needs to produce hormones and enhance receptor site activity, you will need to consider nutritional support.
Blessings of Abundant Health,
Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP
Intuitive Integrative Medicine
http://www.lovedance.com
Epsom salts do not taste salty at all. They have a metallic taste. It is best to mix them up and place them in the fridge to chill before drinking. another positive is that once you drink them swish your mouth out with water and the taste it gone. I have also drank them while holding my nose and not breathing until after I swished my mouth. This is not that easy to do….you find out how uncoordinated you are, but it does lessen the taste some.
I can attest that the liver cleanse…the epsom salt, grapefruit juice mixed with olive oil one is very effective and that the stones you pass are definitely not just from the oil you just consumed.
Bile stones will be pea green in color. If this was just oil coming from your gall bladder and liver then all stones would be yellowish and slightly green, but not pea green. Also, if all you do is pass a lot of ‘chaff’ this also has cleansed. The first time I cleansed my liver I got rid of almost all my nasal allergies…..I couldn’t believe it… Now I try to do a cleanse once a year….I think I am 2 year behind!!!
Deborah,
Thanks for your concern. I should have mentioned that I am not devastated by the results or anything. At the time, it was a shock, and I reacted emotionally. I feel a lot more moderate about the whole thing now.
As you say, nutritional support is very important, and I have been pursuing other means to balance my hormones. In fact, I no longer need to take progesterone at all. It’s wonderful! This cleanse is just a tiny piece of my approach.
Marjorie,
Oh! Metallic? How odd. And gross. I’ll be sure to chill that water.
Though your nutrition studies are “informal” I would still very much consider you a student of nutrition. You’re well read and passionate about the subject. I look forward to continuing to read through your fast
DiaryofADINK,
LOL. Okay. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t misrepresented myself. Whew!
And thanks.