The Liver and Gall Bladder Flush

by Dr. Sandra Cabot

The liver/gall bladder flush is a quick way of flushing toxins, fat, sludge and small gallstones out of the liver and gall bladder. It is becoming quite popular in Russia and the U.S.A. I will warn you that it is not for the faint hearted, and can cause some unpleasant reactions. Quite a few people have told me of excellent results from this procedure, so you may find it of interest and also of help. This is particularly so if you have gallstones or sludge in the gall bladder, which may or may not cause discomfort. The presence of gallstones can be diagnosed from various imaging techniques such as an ultrasound scan, CAT scan or cholecystogram. Many people have “silent gallstones” that do not trouble them and in such cases it is not necessary to panic and rush into surgery. Gallstones are often discovered accidentally when a patient is being investigated for some other problem. The natural history of these stones is that they will remain silent and cause no problems, and only around 18% of such stones will cause problems over a 15-year period. If you have stones that are not troubling you, I suggest that you follow the liver principles in this book and take a liver tonic and watch the stones slowly dissolve and shrink away.

If however the gall stones or sludge are causing upper abdominal pain, nausea, bouts of vomiting, pain in the right shoulder, or if there is a chance of infection or cancer in the gall bladder, then you must be guided by your own surgeon.

Laparoscopic surgery (keyhole surgery) has made the recovery time after surgery to remove the gall bladder (cholecystectomy) much shorter. In some very acute biliary attacks, gall bladder removal can be life saving. However, remember this type of surgery can have risks and complications and nobody looks forward to an operation. Although complications from gall bladder surgery are not common, I have seen patients who have had more problems after cholecystectomy than they had before. These problems included leaking bile, damaged bile ducts, liver haemorrhage, recurrent pain and fatty liver. Indeed I have found that the incidence of fatty liver is higher after removal of the gall bladder. These are the reasons why some people opt to use the liver/gall bladder flush to try and avoid surgery. If you decide to do this please talk to your doctor first. One evening I was giving a seminar in Florida, when a middle-aged gentleman stood up in front of several hundred people and proudly told his account of how he had flushed out his liver and gall bladder with olive oil and lemon juice. This had resulted in him passing 1425 small gallstones over several hours, which he had obviously gone to great lengths to count! These small stones had been eliminated from his body via his bowel actions. For patients who believe that they need to stimulate the elimination of toxins and/or gall stones out of the bile ducts, a liver flush can be done to greatly increase the flow of bile through the liver and bile ducts.

A Standard Method for the Liver and Gallbladder flush is:

1. Freshly squeeze some citrus fruits such as grapefruit, orange, lemon and limes to make 300 mL (11oz) of juice. This will have a slightly sour taste, which is good, as bitter tasting fruits and vegetables stimulate the flow of bile from the liver and gall bladder. Dilute this juice with 200 mL (7oz) of filtered water.

2. Finely grate 1 to 2 cloves of fresh garlic and half a teaspoon of fresh gingerroot, and then press both in a garlic press to make juice. Add this juice to the water and citrus juice mixture. Garlic and ginger are liver cleansing and garlic contains sulphur compounds that the liver requires for its detoxification enzymes.

3. Pour 300 mL (11oz) of cold pressed good quality olive oil into a warm glass.

4. Every 15 minutes swallow 3 tablespoons of the citrus juice mixture and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Try to relax in between these 15- minute intervals. Some people find it beneficial to lie down on their right side with a hot water bottle over the liver area, which helps to dilate the bile ducts to allow the passage of small stones and sludge from the gall bladder. Others prefer to sit in a warm bath, which also helps to dilate the bile ducts.

5. If you desire, collect all your bowel actions (they may be loose and messy) into a bucket and when the flush is over, place them in a large strainer or colander and run tap water over them. You will probably find many greenish stones/gritty sludge around the size of a lentil or slightly larger. There may also be some large soft stones full of fatty cholesterol. Some people may not want to collect their bowel actions and are content to hear the stones clanging as they land in the toilet bowl!

I recommend that a qualified health practitioner always supervises the liver/gallbladder flush. Certain people such as pregnant women, young children, very elderly and frail people, insulin-dependent diabetics or those with severe liver disease or an acutely inflamed gallbladder, should not try the liver/ gallbladder flush and should discuss it with their own doctor. Some people who do this flush may find that they feel very nauseated (bilious), and/or vomit several times. Abdominal cramps and diarrhoea may accompany this, before the stones are passed.

An Alternative Method for the Liver and Gallbladder flush is:
• Drink one quart (one litre) of organic unsweetened apple juice daily for five days. This will soften up the stones to such an extent that they can be squashed with the fingers. During these five days eat mainly raw fruits and vegetables and no dairy products, red meat or chicken.

• On the sixth day, skip dinner and at 6 p.m. take a tablespoonful of epsom salts with 3 glasses of water. Repeat this at 8 p.m.

• At 10 p.m. make a cocktail of 115ml (4 ounces) of olive oil and 115ml of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Shake this very well and drink immediately.

• Next morning you will pass green stones varying from the size of grains of sand to as large as your thumb nail. You may be amazed at the results, as have many thousands of people who have used this technique to avoid surgery.

Preparation for the flush:
To prepare for the flushing procedure, I recommend that during the two days prior to the commencement of the flush, you only consume raw fruits and vegetables and drink 2 litres (4 pints) of water daily. This preparation will lessen the chance of a bad reaction.
Begin the liver flush in the morning after some brisk walking and deep breathing exercises. Make sure that you drink two litres of water gradually by sipping it slowly during the day, otherwise the flush may induce dehydration.

Some protagonists of this procedure, recommend that you begin the flush at 7 p.m. because they believe that the gall bladder is “more active at night.” This may be true; however, you will not get much sleep that night, if you decide to do the flush while the moon is shining!
If you are a person who forms recurrent gall stones you can do this flush 3 times every year to prevent gall stones from building up. Some people do it every month and find that it does not cause any problems or side effects. If you follow the principles of the liver cleansing diet found in this book, you should not have to do this procedure very often, if at all. This is because a healthy liver manufactures and secretes healthy bile, which prevents gall bladder inflammation and gallstones.

We do know that family history often plays a part in liver and gall bladder disease so if you find yourself with gallstones, have a good look at your family history and take extra special care of your liver. Gallstones are more common during pregnancy. If gallstones are recurrent in younger persons, this may be a sign of an underlying blood disease.