SPRING CLEANING

The advent of spring never fails to conjure up ghastly images from my childhood! My grandmother routinely subjected me to one of her favorite rituals of spring – the spring tonic – sulphur and molasses.

She said it was good for my liver. I knew my grandma never lied to me so with left thumb and index finger firmly pinching my nose, I poured it down.  I’m not so sure it made my liver feel any better at the time, but I’m convinced that it alone is responsible for my liver being able to survive the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that I have perpetrated on it over the years.

As you may know, the liver is the main detoxifying organ in our body. It is responsible for taking the products of our metabolism, medications, and environmental toxins—most of which are fat soluble—and converting them to a water soluble form so they can be excreted by the kidneys. This involves a two stage process. In stage one, a receptor site or binding site is created on the molecule.  In stage two, this intermediate compound is bound or coupled to another group (like a sulfate or methyl group) and the new molecule is water soluble.

When the first livers came off the assembly line a gazillion years ago they had a pretty easy time of it. Adam and Eve didn’t have a 500 hp 32 valve ohc engine to roar around the Garden in. There weren’t a lot of coal burning power plants polluting the environment with tons of lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic and the multibillion dollar pharmaceutical industry was just a twinkle in Mr. Pfizer’s eye.

Over the centuries, the products of our metabolism have remained fairly constant, but the list of environmental toxins has grown exponentially.   For example, since 1900 over 80,000 chemicals have been introduced into our society and only 550 have been tested for safety according to the EPA.  The last fifty years has witnessed the pollution of our waterways and the fish that live there, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.  It’s a wonder that we are still alive!  Truth be told, we may not be for long.  Last year was the first ever that a child born in 2006 would probably not live as long as his parents!

The bottom line – our livers are working overtime to keep up and they are losing the battle. We are seeing an increasing number of patients who just don’t feel well and have abnormal liver function tests. Our livers are crying for help.  Maybe grandma was right. Maybe our livers do need a spring tonic. Think about it. We take our cars in for a tune-up, spruce up our air-conditioners, even our lawnmowers get an overhaul and sharpening, so why not our livers?

Our supervised medical cleanse program is just what the doctor ordered.  It will help you clean up your diet, flush out your pipes, revitalize your liver, and get you ready for summer fun.  Your grandma will be pleased and you will be pleased because our cleanse powder tastes a lot better than sulfur and molasses.

For assistance or additional information, call The Metabolic Institute at 509-747-7066.