I'd sure appreciate help from anyone on this: I know I have read in an Atkins book somewhere his recipe for a liver cleanse or fat flush. 4 oz. of olive oil and lemon juice, 3 or 4 days, etc. etc.

Can anyone lead me to the book where I read this?? It's drivin' me nuts, cuz I know that I have it somewhere at home, but I can't find it in the books I have thumbed thru.

Much appreciated if someone can tell me where to find it. Thanks.

Cinnamom

I have never seen that in the book.

May I suggest you go to the www.atkinscenter.com and ask there? They may be able to help you out

If you do find it, can you come back and let us know the answer

Atkins explains the liver/gallbladder flush in his book AGE-DEFYING DIET. Sounds hokey but here are the directions:

1) Mon thru Sat noon eat normally but try to drink as much lemon juice as your appetite permits - mixed with water (and sucralose if wanted)
2) eat normal lunch on Sat
3) 3 hours later, dissolve 2 teaspoons of sodium diphosphate (milk of magnesia) in 1 ounce of hot water and drink it
4) repeat step 3 two hours later
5) for Sat dinner have only fresh grapefruit, grapefruit juice, or other citrus fruit or juices
6) at bedtime have 4 ounces of unrefined olive oil followed by 4 iounces of lemon juice
7) immediately go to bed and lie on your right side with your right knee pulled up close to your chest - stay that way for 30 minutes, then go to sleep
8) next morning, before breakfast, take 2 more teaspoons of milk of magnesia dissolved in 2 ounces of hot water. From now on continue with your regualr diet

He says the liver flush has a relaxing effect on you bowels (well, duh!) and that you may have irregularly shaped light-green objects in your stool the next day. This is normal he says.

Hi Cinnamom (cute name ),

Several months ago, a friend of mine who is an herbalist gave me a recipe for a liver cleansing tea blend that was VERY effective. I don't know if all the ingredients would be easily obtainable for you (I found all of mine in the bulk section of a natural foods store) but it was very inexpensive and seems like it would be a lot less of a hassle than Atkins' liver cleansing routine. All of these ingredients are natural (though, I do believe that one or two of them are not supposed to be ingested while pregnant.....just a warning)

Here it is the recipe, I think it calls for equal parts of each herb:

-dandelion root
-Burdock root
-Oregon grape root (or regular grape root, not sure of the difference there)
-yellow dock root
-red clover
-nettles
-alfalfa
-oat straw
-spearment, licorice or other all-natural flavoring of your choice

I mixed up some of these in a large sealed jar and had a big cup of this tea every night for several weeks. I did it during induction and it really made me feel better--I was thinking of doing it again to maybe to help my last ten pounds find their way outta here

Hope this helps!
Grace

This is a specific plan in a book written by Louise Gittleman, It has a forward by Barry Sears of "The Zone"

The Fat Flush Diet's program targets "cleansing" the liver~~.

Based on a combination of essential fats, proteins, and some carbohydrates, this plan is meant to boosts the liver's ability to function and claims to accelerate weight loss while improving your health.

I have only read a review of the book, not the book itself but the main aspects seem to be:
No white flour, white sugar, margarine, vegetable shortening, artificial sweeteners, or caffeine. The diet emphasizes essential oils (e.g., flaxseed and GLA), protein (eight ounces or more, plus two eggs a day), vegetables, thermogenic spices (e.g., ginger and cayenne), water, and diuretic beverages (eight glasses/day of diluted, unsweetened cranberry juice). In its first two-week phase, the plan is a rigid, low calorie (1,100-1,200 calories/day), low-carb (no grains or starchy vegetables) diet. Phase two lets you increase your calories to 1,500 and add two "friendly carbs." Phase three, the "lifestyle program," moderately adds more dairy, carbs, and calories. Gittleman promotes walking and recommends strength training in phase three.

I first saw it on ivillage. Not my sort of thing.

There was a question a few days ago on using elements of that program with CAD:

CAD and fat flush?

And the result:

fat flush/CAD

Karen

There is a excellent book by Dr Sandra Cabot all about liver cleansing and liver flushing.

Fran McCullough discusses liver cleansing, albeit briefly, in her book Living Low-Carb. She mentions Sandra Cabot's Liver Cleansing Diet (thanks tobethin ) .. and there's a website where you can find more information. http://www.liverdoctor.com/

Milk thistle has a proven track record for cleansing a sluggish liver, and some studies show it will even stimulate regrowth of liver tissue that's been damaged .. by toxins, alcohol, drugs including prescription meds. McCullough states:Doreen

When I first came online and searched for Atkins or low carb sites, the search engine turned up several lilver cleansing and gall bladder flush sites. I read one -- with horror -- and it sounds very like the olive oil, lie on your side. The "little green things" in the stool are gallstones. In a discussion about this "cure" one discussant pointed out that if one of them gets stuck in the duct on its way to be flushed, excruciating pain will result.

I'd stick to the milk thistle

Thank you all for your replies to this thread. Very informative, as I hoped it would be. I experienced a difference in bowel color when I started takinh a colon cleanse product that I purchased at vitamin shoppe. It reminded me of what I read in the Atkins book - Thanks Nopie - and now I am satisfied that I need to take care of my liver this year.

Best of luck to you all. . .


Cinnamom

I'd never heard of liver cleanse before reading this post - I went out at lunch and bought milk thistle - taking 3 per day. Health food store said it's excellent. Thanks once again for the important information that this forum gives.

Gitterman's Fat Flush is posted on Ivillage.com.

I have done it a couple of times and felt great afterwards...

Dee

Hi Dee,

This Liver Flush thing is REALLY interesting, I can't get over how complex all this nutrition thing is in our bodies and now they function! It's fantastic!

A question for you... Did doing the liver flush help with your weight loss when you did it twice before, or just make you feel better? Would taking Milk Thistle have the same effect, or is the also the diet that Gitterman has you follow that promotes the rapid weight loss? After all the phase 1 allows no diary if I remember correctly, which could be the reason for many people's stalls.

Thanks
Banana

Hi Banana..

I did the Gitterman Fat Flush...complete with the unsweeten cranberry juice ...takes a little getting use to.

I followed it for 2 weeks and lost about 15 pounds. I felt great...this is when I discovered that it was the carbs that was causing the water retention. Without them the swelling in my hands and feet went away.

You could smell the toxins as they exited my system. I plan on doing it again when I get 100 pounds off...which is 23 pounds away <yes!>

The weight came right back when I went back to low fat eating.

Hope this helps.

Dee