I know you’ve all experienced this line of questioning from your medical practitioner, typically delivered with a slow saunter in their voice, a gentle yet prodding query that produces beads of sweat to slowly cascade down your temples.

“Ahh, well, I’d say…about a glass. Maybe a dash more.”

To be clear, I hate this question. Not to say that it’s not valid, or worthy of inquiring, but depending on your cultural upbringing – which is North American for me – guilt is the first and foremost feeling that gets stirred in my belly. Hence, I automatically tend to error on the conservative side.

“Really Gabriella, a wine professional by trade only has one glass of wine a night? Interesting. Well, for those days that you ‘indulge’ with 2 or 3 glasses, rest assured that it’s perfectly healthy amount to consume for a woman.” Yes, my doctor is Spanish, and has lived and breathed the vineyards since her youth. Consequently, she holds a completely different stance on what is considered “normal” consumption.

And though her answer provoked an immense sigh of relief, there was a part of me that was severely disappointed in her response. Beyond this one question, her analysis of my overall state of health was completely reliant on my blood work. But I am more than blood, cells, skin and bones. I am a mental, emotional and physical being. Consequently, mental and emotional issues can hide behind my white blood count, and exhaustion and weakness can abscond behind potassium and iron percentages. In short, I wanted more.

I wanted her to ask me if I was happy, content and at peace in my life. I wanted her to feel my organs to see if there was unnecessary pain, inquire about my general state of being or inquire about my emotional stability. And most importantly, I wanted her to discuss and debate prevention, self improvement and long term care!

Alas, she didn’t, so I did! I asked myself what I could to to improve my sluggish state of being, fits of anxiety and feeling of heaviness. Through a little Q&A I realized that the best thing I could do is a little internal cleansing. My theory was this, though I tend to consume enough vegetables and fruit to compete with a rabbit den, my sugar and saturated fat consumption is clearly on the high side. And as I only have one liver, I’d like to do everything I can to keep it going for at least another 50 years.

Why do a Liver Cleanse?

From my understanding, since we eat vegetables loaded with pesticides, beef with hormones, chicken with antibiotics and fish with mercury – not to mention breathing car exhaust and drinking water with trace amounts of prescription drugs – our liver general hates us, because we’re overloading it with toxins. Here toxins are defined as a compound in the body that the it doesn’t need or can’t use, and must expend energy to get rid of it.

Every day, our body works hard to filter out said toxins from the body in 3 main phases. The first 2 phases take place in the liver. Phase 3 is in the kidneys. The simplest way to explain it is that the liver will add a chemical to the toxin so that the kidneys can recognize and filter these toxins out of the blood. (Flickr photos by Tambako the Jaguar)

If we assume that you’re exercising, eating well, getting enough sleep and are of sound body and mind, this filtration system works fabulously! You have energy, you feel on the ball and are clear-headed, and you are emotionally stable and relaxed. But, when you’re out of whack (a very professional term, I’m sure), and your body is tired and overworked, the organs can’t function at the top of their game. Consequently, filtration slows down and toxins begin to build up. Hence, I thought the best way to help kickstart a healthy state of being was to cleanse my internal system.

Is a Liver Cleanse is Right for You?

I could easily argue that the simple elimination, or reduction of saturated fat and sugar, could easily achieve the same result as a detox program. According to The American Liver Foundation, “Nutrition and the liver are connected in many ways. Since most of what we eat, breathe, and absorb through our skin must be refined and detoxified by the liver, special attention to nutrition and diet can help keep the liver healthy. Approximately 85–90 percent of the blood that leaves the stomach and intestines carries important nutrients to the liver where they are converted into substances the body can use.” Put in layman’s terms, by eating a low fat healthy diet, with plenty of exercise and water, the liver will remain healthy and happy.

However, if you are one of the many people neck deep in the food and wine world, especially in Europe, you are well aware that a simple tasting can turn into a 4 hour lunch with several rich and delicious courses. A wine tasting, or simple get together, can result in long leisurely conversations over a few extra glasses of wine. Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear such statements as, “I can’t wait to get home and go back to small meals of salads and fresh fish paired with nothing more than water.” For the record, this too can be defined as a personal “cleanse” of sorts.

I, however, wanted something more…shall we say, intense. So, I chose to do to “The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush, by Andreas Moritz“. My rational was purely based on intuition and trust. I did it because a close friend of mine had suggested it, and it mirrored my already veggie friendly diet. But as mentioned, there are several out there to choose from, and it’s worth conducting a little research of your own to find out what jives best for you.

This particular cleanse asks that you avoid caffeine, meat, processed sugar, dairy and alcohol. And of the food and drink you do consume, follow in the footsteps of Goldilocks: it should neither be too cold, nor too hot, but somewhere in the middle.

In those six days I drank an inordinate amount of apple juice, which contains a particular type of malic acid that is supposed to soften the liver and gallstones. Then, at the end of day five, the real fun begins, involving enemas, Epsum salts, olive oil and fresh grapefruit juice. I won’t get into details, but I will say that the results were rather extraordinary. I not only lost a few pounds – always a bonus – but I felt lucid, light and fantastic! And the greatest benefit was my hypersensitivity to taste, smell and texture. It was as if I was born again virgin to flavor, where everything that touched my palate was electrified with personality. This heavenly feeling lasted weeks, in part, because I tried to limit my alcohol (spit not swallow), meat, dairy, caffeine and processed sugar consumption – prolonging the euphoria and hypersensitivity.

To be fair, this wasn’t a walk in the park. During that week, I enviously drooled over my salad in a Michelin starred restaurant, while my fellow gourmands savored their exquisitely carnivorous cuisine. I went on a tapas crawl with a fellow wine professional only to find myself dining on pimientos de padron, while they ate patatas bravas, fried squid and deliciously battered croquettas. Did my life end? No. Did I pull my hair out when fabulous bottles of wine were passed around as I sipped upon tap water? No. When I put my mind to something, I tend not to waver. I was bound and determined to cleanse my system and no amount of fabulous food or wine was to deter me from that mission. Granted, it wasn’t the easiest task in the world, but it’s a choice – and one that I would do again in a heartbeat.

Being a Healthy Skeptic

Now, let’s step back for a second. Did this work for me? YES! But, there are loads of critics out there that discredit this particular cleanse and liver cleanses in general. The Andreas Moritz Cleanse requires you to consume a fair amount of Epsum Salt, which can be very dangerous for someone with a weak liver. Additionally, what is expected to be “cleansed” from your body on the sixth day is suggested to be a direct result of the olive oil and grapefruit juice mix. Hence, it’s called a “hoax cleanse”, used as nothing more than to suck you of your money.

My theory is that regardless if the “end result” is a hoax, avoiding certain types of foods for a set period of time is a good thing! Your body is allowed a break, giving it an opportunity to chill out, relax and reset. If you can then limit your intake of said foods and beverages, adding a bit of exercise to your day, you’ve succeeded tenfold. So drop the Epsum salt, olive oil and grapefruit juice if it doesn’t feel right to you. Instead, let’s talk about moderation.

In the wine and food industry, there is a tendency from my experience to enjoy gastronomy to its fullest. Tables lined with various styles of wine, thick slices of steak, delectable foix gras and butter infused pastries are all part of the research, right?! Unfortunately, neither our teeth, nor our organs, can handle such gluttony over long stretches of time, despite its gorgeous flavor. So take a moment and try something different.

As an aficionado of wine and/or food, are there tricks you abide by to keep the body happy and the liver working at its fullest potential?

Cheers,

Gabriella Opaz

I had first heard of his work a few months ago on a podcast, and for the life of me, I have no idea which podcast, but the main crux if the argument was essentially those who delayed satisfaction are said to be more successful, happier and more fulfilled.

In this particular Ted Talk, he fleshes out his theory by saying there are generally, 3 types of people:

1. Present Oriented: Individuals who are only concerned with the moment and answer the question “what can I experience now?”
2. Past Focused: Decisions are based on what they’ve experience prior to this moment – “based on past experiences, what will I choose now?”
3. Future Focused: Decisions are based on cost benefit analysis of the future – “If I choose X now, what will be the repercussions or consequences of my choice?”

And within these 3 types of people, each tends to focus on either extreme of this time continuum:

1. Past Positive
2. Past Negative
3. Present Hedonism
4. Present Fatalism
5. Future Life-Goal Oriented
6. Future Transcendental (Life After Death)

Optimally, he theorizes that your goal is to remain mentally flexible so that at any one time you can temporarily shift your time perspective to meet the demands of that moment. For example, if you’re about to eat a tuna fish sandwich in Spain, and from past experience living in the Midwest you remember that most tuna fish sandwiches have mayo in it. And because you’re allergic to eggs, you stop, open the sandwich and look. Odd, you don’t see mayo. Staying in the present moment, you ask the woman behind the counter if there are any eggs or mayo in the sandwich. She says no, and now your mind shifts to future thinking. If she’s wrong you could end up in the hospital, but as you remember that most sandwiches in Spain do not have a sauce other than olive oil and tomato, the chances of there being egg in the sandwich is slim. Therefore, your choice, assessing all three time perspectives, is to happily take a risk and eat the sandwich.

Philip believes that the ideal time perspective is:

• High Past Positive - provides you the roots to not only remain grounded, but to connect with your identity and family
• Moderately High Future – allows you to dream, imagine and aim for new challenges
• Moderate Present Hedonism - gives you the raw energy to explore what’s around you now

Where he emphasizes that you not go is into High Fatalism (believing that you have no control over your actions), Negative Past (where everything behind you is frightening and scary) or Transcendental Future (where you’re waiting for some reward at the end of your existence, making this life “less than” your next one). Personally, I think his framework for tackling the psychological issues as to how we relate to ourselves and others is not only fascinating but very poignant, but I’m curious what you think.

Other sites to check out include: the social implications of understanding time perspective (www.mappingthinking.com) and the other deals with the commercial implications (www.gpsforthemind.com)

Check out his video here:

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• Philip Zimbardo on Time and Temptation (brainandlearning.blogspot.com)