What do Liver, Progesterone AND Colon Hydrotherapy Have in Common?

Warmer, warmer, HOT! I feel each day we are closer to the source of the problem. Hang tight. This may all sound esoteric but there is science around this too, I promise!

On Friday, August 12th, after suffering 3 days of intense migraine, I went with my friend Carol to an acupuncture session with Dr Liang. I had tried over the counter headache medicine and massage and nothing had worked. Dr Liang brought up once again how by her quick examination of my tongue and eyes she detected my progesterone was still too low and how it is rooted from a badly functioning liver. This could be caused by excessive alcohol, which is not my case or just a lazy/poorly functioning liver. She recommended I could do more sessions with her but as it is very expensive and not covered by insurance she gave me a few nutrition tips like eating more pear, watermelon, apples and green vegetables. She also said to avoid spicy foods, raw garlic and onion, and alcohol. In terms of the migraine, the pain stopped during the session and I left feeling so much relief.

A few days after, I decided to reach out to my yoga community to know if they recommended specific yoga poses for the liver or any foods or teas that could help. They quickly began sending ideas and many were from a liver detox program they had gone through with a functional doctor. I was a little overwhelmed with all of the information and shared that starting another treatment sounded challenging so they suggested creating a group so we could do it together.

Thanks to their idea, I started a liver cleanse Whatssap group that grew from 3 to 33 participants in a few days! At one point, we were over 40 people but I had a few who quickly removed themselves from the group because either they were too overwhelmed with the messages or didn’t feel ready to start something like this yet.

On Monday, August 29th, I did my first colon hydrotherapy treatment with Natalia Lanza. I won’t go into any details on the actual procedure because TMI (too much information) but I will say the process overall felt good. I left feeling lighter and more energized. I was very hungry and stopped to order a fresh juice and some food as I had to teach that afternoon. I also noted in the days and weeks following the procedure I felt more productive with my projects. Physically, my belly was more flat although that was not the point of this but an added benefit. My metabolism was functioning much more regular after the procedure as well.

So the liver cleanse program basically meant eating healthier and staying away from grains (I love rice), pasta and bread (my mornings without toast are hard!), nuts, seeds, alcohol, beans including lentils and chickpeas, some fruits like grapes and bananas and processed sugars. I know it sounds like a lot but it was actually very doable. In the mornings, I would start with drinking warm water with a whole lemon squeezed. The program also recommended a juice before breakfast but I go to my black coffee with no sugar. I’d then proceed to eat some fruits. For lunch, I ate proteins and salad and was recommended soups or a protein with cooked veggies at night.

In parallel, I contacted my psychiatrists to know what they thought of these treatments like the colon hydrotherapy and liver program and both had pretty much the same conclusion that there is not enough research or evidence connecting this kind of treatment with mental health improvements. Although many claim the gut is the second brain, my Doctors say there is little evidence to connect a liver cleanse with improved mental health. In my opinion it is connected. I’ve learned that high cortisol levels and stress can be one of the causes for the liver to slow down, which causes your body not to produce the progesterone it needs. Low progesterone symptoms include insomnia, anxiety and a few others I had. In my experience, it is very challenging to single out cause and effect since I’ve tried many things and the average person does too. Not only does your food influence your mood, so does your sleep, and some external factors like stress, relationships and other factors like information you consume and any toxic cleaning products or drugs you are in contact with. In my case, I still take daily psychiatric medications and hormone treatments.

It’s now September 17th, 2022 so that is about a month since I began trying these treatments. I feel much better overall – mentally, physically and emotionally. I’ve had really nice milestones this last month that I’ll be sharing more about soon.