Detox diets and Gilbert’s Syndrome

I’ve been monitoring the ‘de-tox diet’ phenomenon for many years, and each year my scepticism grows. Avid marketers have spotted a desire for many people to find a solution to the modern malaise of feeling tired and sluggish, and there is a proliferation of products – powders / pills / soups /  excercises / regimes / books / websites / treatments etc that claim to help powerfully cleanse the body and leave you lighter, fresher, and generally bright eyed and bushy tailed.

However, on the one hand many run of the mill Doctors will tell you that the liver does a perfectly good job of dealing with toxins. On the other hand many people feel generally under par much of the time. Although I agree that the liver generally does an excellent job, some of us may need a wee bit more help for our liver to do the job we want it to.  Given the disadvantage that those with Gilbert’s Syndrome experience, with a reduced capacity to process certain toxins, it makes sense to me to look after my diet so that I can help my liver. But I don’t want to burden my body with the shock of suddenly changing my diet to all fruit or liquid or pureed broccoli or whatever. My message would be to make a lifestyle choice to ensure you feel better EVERY day.

So, what can we all agree on?  Well, water is good for you. Drink plenty of it. Alcohol may be ok in small quantities, but personally it makes me feel awful so I avoid it. Caffeine can mess up your blood sugar levels and so reduce your ability to maintain consistent energy, particularly because those with Gilbert’s Syndrome are lacking in an enzyme that needs stable blood sugar levels for it to work properly. Eat little and often to keep your energy up, but make sure you stick to wholefoods such as brown rice, wholemeal bread, crackers, jacket potatoes etc and plenty of vegetables and fruit and not high fat food. This will help you maintain a steady weight, not experience hunger pangs, as well as avoiding over burdening your liver with fat processing. Protein is supposed to help with extra energy. I avoid eating animals and animal products for environmental reasons as well as health and compassionate reasons, so my sources of protein tend to be marmite (full of an awesome range of vitamins), and nut butters, such as peanut butter and cashew butter (high in fat but replace margarine and used as my only source of fat– don’t rule it out completely as your body does need fat), avocado, hemp powder added to soups and dressings, plus lots of soya milk.

Star liver foods include: broccoli, garlic, turmeric, avocado, beetroot, apples, lemons, walnuts.

If you need caffeine then try swapping to green tea which is better at cleansing the liver, and more gentle to your system than coffee.

Don’t forget a little naughty treat is ok. But use it as a reward for staying generally more liver conscious and once a week rather than every day. I like the 80 / 20 rule – stay 80% within a good diet, then the other 20% ain’t so bad.