I loathe the phrase “liver detox” because it’s so misunderstood by most people.
If you’re liver is struggling, it doesn’t need to be detoxed!
Got eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, dandruff and other skin issues?
Your liver MUST be on your radar, but not the way the internet gurus talk about it.
In this episode, I’m going to share with you how your liver actually detoxes on its own and what you need to do to support it. That way you can avoid those horrible “die off” symptoms that are so common when doing different detoxes you can do on your own.
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I’ve worked with too many clients who have terrible flares as a result of not keeping an eye on supporting their liver, and ended up with even worse rashes than before they started.
In this episode:
- Stop listening to people who say your liver is like a filter or a sponge
- What “die off” symptoms actually mean
- Why detoxing your liver is unnecessary (and what to do instead)
- What liver support I recommend from clinical experience
- How to easily understand what your liver actually does
Quotes:
Anyone telling you that you just need to detox your liver doesn’t truly understand how your liver works, why it plays a role in helping rebuild healthy skin, and what it really needs in order to operate optimally. They claim that your liver acts like a sponge. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your liver isn’t a sponge. It’s not like a fish filter either. (0:25)
When Phase 1 detox is pushed too hard OR if Phase 2 doesn’t have enough ingredients (like glycine, glutathione, and magnesium) to move things through, a backup of toxic material will occur. When this happens, you can experience “die off” (also known as the Herxheimer Reaction), symptoms like rashes and even an exacerbation of symptoms. (12:45)
Will A Liver Detox Help My Skin Rashes (FULL TRANSCRIPT)
Welcome back to episode # 47 of the Healthy Skin Show!
Today I want to talk about liver detoxing because it’s a term that’s thrown around a lot, especially when it comes to chronic skin issues.
“You just need to do a liver detox and your skin will get better,” you’ll read online.
But the problem with this is that it’s not based at all on science.
In fact, anyone telling you that you just need to detox your liver doesn’t truly understand how your liver works, why it plays a role in helping rebuild healthy skin, and what it really needs in order to operate optimally.
Instead, they’re coming at your problem from the incredibly flawed position that your liver acts like a sponge.
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your liver isn’t a sponge.
It’s not like a fish filter either.
And detoxing in general is NOT code for diarrhea. I could go on and on about what detox symptoms mean, but that’s for another podcast.
Just know that the term “detoxing” is thrown around way too much. You can literally find some sort of gimmicky detox products for almost any body region now like…
Your skin…
Your gut…
Your liver…
Your blood…
Your lymphatic system…
The list goes on.
But one thing has become quite clear to me → most people haven’t a clue what it really means to detoxify anything. Nor are they aware of their body’s innate capability to detoxify on its own.
Two questions come to my mind!
Why are we so obsessed with pushing the detoxification process harder?
And is forcing detoxification faster even a good thing?
Let’s take a deeper look!
Is Detoxing Your Liver All You Need To Do?
I think we can all agree that the world we live in is filled with too many harsh chemicals to count. And you’re constantly bombarded by fuels, off-gassing, hidden toxins, xenohormones, byproducts, heavy metals, all sorts of drugs, and the list goes on.
When your skin is a mess, we have to consider environmental exposures like detergents and allergens too!
I understand your concern… I truly do.
And I know what it’s like to have a personal mandate to take control of your health even if it means you have to basically become your own doctor.
But in the hurry to jump on the next detox bandwagon, you should ask yourself → is it appropriate for me to push my body harder right now?
For 99% of everyone listening, the answer is NO.
See, increasing detoxification can add even more stress that may leave you feeling worse off than before when it’s not balanced appropriately.
This often happens when you don’t understand what’s actually causing your liver to struggle in its functioning from a biochemical perspective.
It’s also possible to have other issues with your liver pop up which I’ve discussed on previous podcasts with Dr. Jolene Brighten and Dr. Alan Christianson that can result is physical changes to your liver.
AND you can have genetic SNPs that impair certain processes in the liver — as can be the case with sulfur metabolism and how your body deals with salicylates.
But here’s the thing, if you increase liver detoxification, are you really addressing why your liver is being overloaded or struggling in the first place?
Nope.
Your liver can become overwhelmed (and commonly does) when your gut microbiome is out of balance. This is an insight that I’ve come to learn working with so many gut problem clients over the years.
It also is a reason why poor liver function will result in “die off reactions” while you try to fix your gut.
And that’s why I’m wary about suggesting “candida detoxes” to people who randomly contact me because as I’ve shared in a podcast on candida, trouble can ensue making your rashes worse.
I’ve spoken to too many clients who’ve found out the hard way that doing gut cleanses can make cause flares and exacerbations of rashes.
One of the big reasons why is that their liver couldn’t handle what they were doing.
So before you jump in head first to doing any one thing, know that your liver is always a critical piece of the puzzle, but you’ve got to know how to appropriately support it to avoid having your rashes go nuts!
Understanding Your Liver Detox Pathways
As you probably remember, I said in the beginning of this episode that your liver is neither a fish filter nor a sponge.
Likening it to either of them is just wrong — so run away from anyone telling you that it is.
However, it is more similar to an Amazon Fulfillment Center.
That might seem like a strange analogy, but hear me out!
When Amazon gets an order, they have to package a bunch of items and ship them out.
Similarly, your liver takes certain items and repackages them (through different biochemical processes) so that they can do what they need to elsewhere in your body.
This list includes hormones, certain vitamins, cholesterol, toxic materials that your body makes as well as what it is exposed to in the environment and more!
If you’ve been sick (or even just moderately unwell) for some time, pushing your body to detox is probably not the next best step.
It’s only band-aiding a problem, rather than coming at your entire body and array of symptoms from a root cause approach. (While this totally is.)
And it ultimately fails to acknowledge the science and biology of your liver’s detox system.
So let’s take a moment to break down your natural liver detoxification system. That way, you can make better choices moving forward.
Before we go any further, here’s some things that liver detox is responsible for…
- It helps activate and deactivate certain hormones (ie. Vitamin D, estrogen).
- It makes toxic chemicals even more toxic (yes, you read that correctly), and then water-soluble so that they’re easier to excrete through urine.
- It metabolizes drugs that you’re exposed to and can determine how long those drugs last in your system.
So you can see from this short and incomplete list that your liver does more than you probably realize.
And it underscores that not everything your liver deals with is toxic.
In order for your liver to move substances through its natural detox system, your body must have an ample supply of certain ingredients on hand (like glycine) to keep the process going.
Without these ingredients, your liver’s actual detoxification capacity drops.
And this ultimately creates a situation where your liver becomes overwhelmed and you begin to feel not so hot.
How Your Liver Detox Pathways Work
I think now is a good time to explain how the liver detox pathways work.
You’ll see exactly how your liver can become overwhelmed when detoxification is pushed too hard. And why I believe that supporting your liver should be your first priority.
I recently shared the role that your mitochondria play in producing energy and that they need an ample supply of certain nutrients or else they can’t function optimally. (Read more about it here.)
The same is true for your liver.
These detoxification pathways require specific non-negotiable “ingredients” in order to handle whatever is going on. Should you be exposed to more of something (like a pesticide, drug, or toxin), your liver’s need of said ingredients will increase in order to detoxify properly.
Your liver detox system is broken into two phases →
- Phase 1 (also known as the P450 Cytochrome Detoxification)
- Phase 2 (which includes multiple pathways such as the Glycine pathway, Glutathione pathway, and Glucuronidation)
Phase 1 happens before Phase 2, but not all things headed for your liver require Phase 1 detox. Some can head straight through to Phase 2 as they are.
The purpose of Phase 1 is to prepare chemicals for Phase 2 detoxification, but often the products of Phase 1 end up being more toxic than they were beforehand. And this is an important point that I’ll explain more of in a moment.
Lastly, Phase 1 detox can be increased (or upregulated) by certain exposures like caffeine, alcohol, hormones, high protein diets, high intake of cruciferous veggies, and acetaminophen (or Tylenol). Increasing Phase 1 means you increase the amount of products that are spit out on the other side waiting to go through Phase 2.
Phase 2 detoxification has different pathways that require ingredients like glycine (an amino acid), glutathione, and other biochemical ingredients that you’ve probably not heard of.
I don’t want to get too nerdy here… so the point is that for Phase 2 to detox properly, your liver MUST have the necessary ingredients available to get the job done.
For the record, milk thistle (a common liver detox supplement) is not an ingredient your liver needs to support these biochemical pathways.
Learning About Liver Detox From “I Love Lucy”
To make this incredibly simple for you to understand, I want you to think back to the episode of “I Love Lucy” where Lucy and Ethel go to work in the chocolate factory. The boss told them that they had to wrap every single chocolate or else they’d be fired.
The ladies figured they’d easily take care of the job, but we all know that things didn’t go as planned!
Their funny skit is something very similar to Phase 1 and Phase 2 liver detox!
Phase 1 would be when the chocolates are being made.
Meanwhile, Phase 2 is the process of wrapping the chocolate bon bons.
In this case, we see an overwhelmed Phase 2 illustrated by the failed attempt on Lucy and Ethel’s part to wrap all of the chocolate bon bons efficiently.
Ultimately the conveyor belt speeds up to the point where they begin stuffing the bon bons down their blouses, in pockets and hats, and even in their cheeks in order to prevent the boss from seeing that they couldn’t get the job done!
I hope this light-hearted visual helps you see why you can’t just “detox” your liver.
It probably doesn’t need to be detoxed!
If anything, it desperately needs the right support in order to handle what’s being sent its way while simultaneously addressing what’s creating the overload in the first place.
When Phase 1 detox is pushed too hard OR if Phase 2 doesn’t have enough ingredients (like glycine, glutathione, and magnesium) to move things through, a backup of toxic material will occur.
When this happens, you can experience “die off” (also known as the Herxheimer Reaction), symptoms like rashes and even an exacerbation of symptoms.
That’s why it’s important to properly support your liver rather than fixate on detoxifying it (especially if you’re not working with a practitioner). It also underscores the deep connection that your liver has to other systems in your body.
No matter what type of protocol I create, I always have to consider if my client’s liver needs support.
One of my favorite products is called P2 Detox Balance since it includes many of the nutrients that help keep the liver detoxification systems running.
This way, when you are working on rebalancing your gut and optimizing the way your liver converts or repackages those “chocolate bon bons”, you don’t end up flaring in the process and making things worse.
Just remember that your liver needs love and support… not necessarily to be detoxed or pushed to do more when it’s already under a lot of stress!
I hope this has been insightful — and that the next time you hear someone refer to your liver like a sponge or a filter, you run the other way.
If you’re struggling with chronic skin issues, supporting your liver in the process is paramount.
Got questions or thoughts? Leave your comments on this episode’s post. I’m happy to respond and continue the conversation with you there!
In the meantime, don’t forget to rate and review the Healthy Skin Show on your podcast platform of choice. And please… share this episode with someone you know who could use the help!
I hate seeing people with eczema, psoriasis and all sorts of other skin and health issues making things worse! All because they listened to internet gurus make uneducated claims about liver detox lacking any sort of scientific background.
Thanks so much for tuning in and I look forward to seeing you the next time!
Jennifer Fugo, MS, CNS
Jennifer Fugo, MS, CNS is an integrative Clinical Nutritionist and the founder of Skinterrupt. She works with women who are fed up with chronic gut and skin rash issues discover the root causes and create a plan to get them back to a fuller, richer life.
I am wondering about coffee enemas for detoxing?
Hi Patricia, so coffee itself is an irritant to the gut which is likely why people use it to stimulate BMs when they are constipated (which I generally don’t recommend because it can cause disruption of the microbiome). There are also other ways to stimulate BMs should you be constipated that don’t involve enemas.
Caffeine itself upregulates Phase 1 detox which you would still get the same effects from consuming caffeine orally. However caffeine doesn’t support Phase 2 and by upregulating Phase 1, you push things through faster. Should Phase 2 not be prepared, you’ll have the issues I discuss in the article.
Frankly, I think using the term detoxing in relation to a coffee enema is actually very misleading. Again, this is one of the reasons why I don’t like the common use of the term.
Hi Jennifer,
I really appreciate this article (and all of your work) and I’m trying to understand what to do next. I have dyshydrotic eczema which has evolved from hand eczema (fun as you know! 😜) I drink one cup of coffee in the morning, so would it make sense to then have dandelion or milk thistle tea in the afternoon, effecting covering both phase 1 and phase 2 detox? Thank you!
This was so informative! I’ve known about the liver-skin connection for a while, but had no idea how the liver actually works. Thank you for all you put into the Healthy Skin Show – my only complaint is that you put out info so fast I can’t keep up! 🙂
LOL, I try to make it digestible 🙂 So glad that this was helpful. I wanted to make it clear that it’s not that people need to do a detox or cleanse.
I love this article and am left with questions when applying it to myself. When I drink coffee (rarely) it keeps me up at night unless I drink it before 9 AM. Ha! This is partly why I rarely have any. I think this means I am a slow PHASE 1 . But you say caffeine can speed up this pathway! Does that mean this shows mine is moving at snail pace?
Mindy, great question! I think the critical piece to remember is that caffeine INCREASES the rate that things move through Phase 1. If there isn’t enough nutrients necessary to run Phase 2, you can end up feeling awful because you essentially cause a back up or traffic jam. Once things move through Phase 1, they’re made biochemically MORE toxic than before they went down the Phase 1 pathways. Does this help you better understand the issue?
Jennifer I have heard that people that may be toxic with mercury should not take oral glutathione. If this is the case is it alright to take some separate supplements like the glycine, glutamine, NAC, ect by themselves? Your article is giving me hope as I have a full body rash for two years from doing a digestive enzyme. Thanks!, Donna
Hi Donna, unfortunately NAC also can bind to mercury. I’m not an expert in heavy metals and chelation though so it would be best to find a doctor who can speak to this with ample experience.
I think i am a slow phase 1 detoxifier. I also am a celiac. I tend to dislike the effects of caffeine, alcohol and Tylenol all things that upregulate this pathway. Why would that be? I can only have caffeine very early in the morning or it keeps me alert at night. I would only use Naprsyn if needed for injury, never Tylenol or ibuprofen.
My body dislikes the feeling of those medications. These effects and impressions seem to be at odds .
There certainly can be genetic variations that impact Phase 1 detoxification, however it’s critical to make sure that your Phase 2 is properly supported. That may be more helpful to you!
I read through this and it was quite informative. However where can I find out what foods support the liver? I’m sure you have another podcast that explains what TO DO to help your liver! 🙂
I was so sure you would recommend castor oil packs, aren’t they gentle and supportive to the liver? Thanks!
I see glutamine is in the supplement; I thought this could cause a rash in many people who have skin sensitivity?
Hi Ann, I’ve never had that experience that it would cause that. That is not an across-the-board rule. Perhaps some people who have issues with glutamine could experience rashes, however my experience has been more that they more commonly will experience digestive issues. That’s why I don’t use glutamine alone in my practice anymore. But I have not had that experience with “skin sensitivity”.
Hi Jennifer:)
I am curious if you have heard of Grovers disease? I have been diagnosed and dealing with it for a few years now. The unpleasant itching has subsided but I still have the rash that worsens when I sweat or get hot from exercise. I have been researching it and can’t find a lot of information. It sounds like it will eventually go away but I’m getting impatient lol 🙂
Thank so much!
Cassi
Hi Cassi! I am and you’re not alone… I’ve gotten several requests for more information on Grover’s Disease.
I actually did an interview that will be coming out at a later date (right now scheduled for Sept 2020) specifically on Grover’s Disease. It’s not something that I’ve worked on in my practice, but I interviewed Dr. Sivamani about it who is very knowledgeable. The conversation was very fascinating! Stay tuned!
Is gmo-free, organic plant based lecithin granules okay for gently supporting the liver? My nutritionist recommended it for that and also digesting fats.
Should you take the Amino D Tox with or with out food? And does it need to be taken away from other supplements or RX?
Hi Curtis, you can take it with or without food. Doesn’t matter. I’ve never had an issue (nor clients) taking it with other supplements. I would defer to your doctor/pharmacist to advise you about taking it with an RX. You’d need to go by their recommendations about how to take your medication since different meds have different requirements.
Dear Jennifer, thank you so much for this article!! My son, me and my mum suffer from histamine and salicylate intolrance and my idea in that was a detox problem, so I’m trying to research everything I can find. And tataaa!!! Your articles are so eye opening!!Thank you so much for sharing. My question is, is there a way to check the Level of glycine , glutathione etc in the blood and does it make sense to test or how do you find out if you have a problem in Phase II and what the problem is ? Thank you and best regards from Germany
Hi Ines, there’s no way to test that. An Organic Acid Panel (specifically the one from Genova Labs) can look at glutathione (also known as GSH for short) status and recycling. GSH is a really important antioxidant and necessary for one of the Phase 2 pathways. I hope this is helpful and answers your question.
Hi Jennifer,
thank you for your fast reply! I got my boy tested at glutathione GSH and I´m waiting now for the results. Thank you again for all your articles and help!
Hi Jennifer,
Have you heard of drinking a cup of lemon juice first thing in the morning to help heal your liver? It was recommended to me to do for 90 days under the theory that lemons are the only foods that produce an-ions which your liver needs to produce to detox (original source is Don Tolman).
Thank you,
Lauren
Hi Lauren, no… that’s not how you support Phase 2 liver detox pathways. They require specific nutrients. If you don’t have enough to handle the load headed their way, that’s where the issue is. Adding in lemon water isn’t going to do anything and I don’t subscribe to the idea that lemon water will “heal” your liver. Yes, it can be helpful to the GI tract for those that are constipated, but it’s not magical. That’s a really outlandish claim that to my knowledge has no science to back it up. I’d be wary of someone making claims like that especially since the liver is responsible for doing many different things. Lemon water isn’t going to fix a lack of nutrients necessary for Phase 2 detox or heal a fatty liver.
I recently had a severe liver reaction from Ashwaganda (on top of andrographis) that raised by bilirubin levels so high, I got red itchy pustules all over my body and the itching was tortuous. Liver doc sent me to ER to get an MRI over a weekend and that ruled out any liver issue and it has since resolved and I learned that ashwaganda should not be taken if you have a thyroid issue. I have Hashimoto’s. Unfortunately, I contracted COVID while in the hospital and while dealing with the itchy pustules and very sick from COVID I couldn’t eat much and lost 12 pounds. Interestingly, I have had eczema all my life (at times severe) especially contact dermatitis on my hands which are never clear (I am 69 years old) and it completely went away while I was going through this. It took about 6 weeks for the pustules and itching to clear and recovery from COVID required an infusion of antibodies. During that time and for a few weeks afterward, my hands were completely clear of eczema. While I would not want to go through that again, I wondered about the connection of the liver issue with my hand eczema. The eczema has returned and I wonder if you have any thoughts regarding this so that I can regain hands clear of eczema? Thank you for the information!
Hi Gisele, unfortunately I’m uncertain of every part of your treatment plan in the hospital. There can be many different reasons for why the hands cleared. Certainly I find in my clinical practice that hand eczema does have a tie to some sort of gut dysbiosis (imbalance of organisms) and liver detox challenges which I talk more about here: https://www.skinterrupt.com/liver-detox-skin-rash-connection-part-1/
Hi Jennifer, I recently had a big round of labs done by my naturopath and GP. My ALT liver enzymes were slightly elevated so I’m now taking liver support. I have a lot of environmental allergies and I’m wondering if some of the ingredients are making my itch worse…eg. supplement contains artichoke, milk thistle, dandelion root. I have allergies to ragweed, pollen, grass etc. Do you think this liver supplement is causing me more issues than good?
Hi Kat, so if you have an allergy to ragweed, the herbs milk thistle and dandelion are both in that family and would likely be a problem due to cross-reactivity. I would bring this to your ND’s attention as this can make your itchiness worse.