The liver is an important organ in the body. It plays a vital role in maintaining your overall health. When it isn’t functioning properly, a liver detox can be an important step toward restoring balance. Many people don’t realize just how essential a healthy liver is—it filters toxins from your blood, processes and absorbs nutrients, and helps regulate blood sugar levels. Beyond these critical tasks, the liver performs hundreds of other functions that help your body eliminate harmful substances while preserving the nutrients it needs. Unfortunately, toxins come in many forms, including hormones, heavy metals, environmental chemicals, pesticides, and substances like drugs and alcohol. Of these, alcohol is particularly damaging to the liver, making detoxification especially important for those who consume it regularly.
Here’s what you need to know about detoxing your liver for lasting health.
Why Is Drinking Bad for Your Liver?
To keep you healthy, your liver breaks down toxins and chemicals that enter the bloodstream. Approximately 90 percent of alcohol intake is processed and flushed out of your system via your liver. Since it’s also breaking down and metabolizing other substances, like macronutrients, hormones, and toxins, it can easily become overloaded. This can result in your liver being unable to repair itself due to excess alcohol. Plus, drinking too much (such as binge drinking or alcohol use disorder) can lead to fat build up, a.k.a. alcoholic fatty liver disease. Further alcohol liver damage can include alcohol hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and internal bleeding.
What Else Does Alcohol Do to the Body?
Undoubtedly, the damage alcohol does to the liver can be extreme with widespread results on the body. However, alcohol can also harm other parts of your system in significant ways.
Firstly, alcohol is an addictive substance that actually alters your neurochemistry so you become dependent on it. As a result, your normal brain functioning will be off kilter. You may even experience mental health symptoms like anxiety, depression, or paranoia, along with cognitive damage like memory loss or dementia.
Further, alcohol puts you at risk of developing health problems like:
- Heart damage
- Stroke
- Stomach inflammation
- Weakened immune system
- Cancer
- Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- Coma
What Is a Liver Detox?
To keep the liver healthy and functioning, people participate in liver cleanses. Even if you avoid alcohol, it’s a good idea to regularly engage in liver detox practices, but it’s especially important if you drink. People use a variety of methods to cleanse their liver. These include detox diets, herbal supplements like dandelion and milk thistle, and juices.
However, when it comes to extreme alcohol use, such as alcohol abuse and alcohol use disorder, it takes a stronger method to guarantee results. That is to say, changing your diet or taking supplements won’t be enough to protect your liver if you’re chronically flooding your system with alcohol. Many people struggle with addiction to alcohol, where they cannot stop drinking on their own. As a result, their liver keeps struggling under the weight of alcohol to detox. In these cases, medical alcohol detox is the necessary detoxification process.
This has a 4-10 day liver detox timeline (depending on the person) for ridding toxins from your body. Because it takes place in a medical facility, you’ll receive 24/7 care to monitor your vitals and administer medication and nutrients. Undeniably, medical detox is the best liver detox from alcohol method to give your liver a chance to heal.
Myths and Facts About Liver Detox
There are a lot of misconceptions around liver detoxes that can be confusing. For one thing, people don’t always understand when and why a detox is necessary. Many liver detox products are marketed as weight loss programs. While it’s true that flushing your system via a cleanse can eliminate excess water weight, it won’t have a significant effect. Also, people often believe they can detox their liver after binge drinking and prevent liver damage. However, chronic alcohol misuse will likely result in a sluggish liver regardless. Cleanses are not a miracle cure—instead, healthy lifestyle patterns are the best way to maintain your liver health.
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Signs Your Liver Detox Is Working
There are many liver detox benefits. In fact, experiencing the opposite results can indicate it’s time for a cleanse based on your liver detox symptoms. For example, here are some of the benefits you might notice when you start detoxing your liver, indicating it’s working.
Increased energy: When your liver is working overtime to remove excess toxins from your bloodstream, you will likely feel tired and sluggish. Part of your liver’s job is absorbing nutrients, but it has to do less if it’s bogged down with toxins. Cleansing your liver equals reduced strain, which will result in an energy boost.
Better sleep: Your liver is responsible for metabolizing hormones like melatonin, which plays a key role in regulating your sleep cycle. When your liver is healthy, it can properly absorb melatonin.
Clear skin: When your liver is struggling to filter toxins, it will show on your skin in the form of breakouts. Notably, your liver flushes everything from toxins to hormones, and having excess amounts of either can produce acne. Thus, you will likely enjoy healthier skin after cleansing your liver.
Why Do People Struggle to Quit Drinking?
As mentioned, drinking alcohol leads to altered brain chemistry. The more you drink and the longer, the more you’re at the mercy of alcohol. Your system will crave it in order to feel normal. Because you become physically and psychologically dependent on alcohol, it’s extremely difficult to quit. In fact, it can be impossible to quit on your own—the pull in your brain is too strong.
Yet, beyond this, there are other reasons that make quitting drinking hard. For one thing, drinking is often viewed as a social event. As an adult, it can be tricky to attend social plans that don’t include alcohol in some capacity. Even if you resolve to cut back or quit, seeing others drinking increases the desire to do so. Depending on your social life, friend group, and family, you may be surrounded by alcohol and the pressure to drink all the time.
For many of our guests, it takes temporarily removing themselves from their normal situations to achieve sobriety. Seeking help for alcohol use looks like changing your patterns by entering treatment to learn how to be fulfilled without alcohol.
Getting Help for Alcohol Use Disorder
We are an alcohol detox center in Lacey, Washington, called Sound Recovery. Our guests come to our beautiful rehab facility to detox their bodies from alcohol abuse. Our space is a safe and supportive environment where you will reach sobriety in a number of days. However, truly grasping the concept of sober motivation takes intentional efforts through therapy and counseling. Fortunately, we offer the full spectrum of alcohol rehab, from medical detoxification to inpatient treatment, along with outpatient rehab.
Seeking help for your alcohol use is truly the best thing you can do to save yourself from permanent damage. We would love to help you find restoration and a life that flourishes with health. Please call us today to schedule your liver detox, as there’s no time to wait!
