I want to preface this by saying no, this post isn’t here to tell you that detox products are useless because your liver and kidneys already handle detoxification. We already know that.
What often gets overlooked is that our bodies are designed to detoxify yet don’t always do it efficiently, especially when they’re burdened by stress, poor diet, environmental toxins, and everyday chemical exposure.
The word detox has been thrown around so much that it has lost all meaning. It gets plastered on product labels promising to “cleanse your system” or “flush out toxins,” usually with little explanation of how detoxification actually works. Real detoxification has nothing to do with a three-day juice cleanse or a trendy tea, because it is a constant, intricate process that your liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, and even your skin carry out every single day.
And just because detoxification is happening doesn’t mean it’s happening well, since certain lifestyle factors can slow these processes down and make it harder for your body to eliminate waste.
A Series on Detoxification
Originally I planned to cover all of our body’s natural detoxification pathways in one go, the liver, skin, lymphatic system, kidneys, GI system, and the rest of the crew. Then I realized that’s way too much to grasp in one sitting, and I’m writing these articles to help my readers rather than overwhelm them (toxic overload, lol, don’t detox me).
So we’re breaking this up into a series, which lets us focus on one system at a time and dive deeper into the beautiful herbs that support each one.
First up? The liver.
(Paid subscribers will get access to expanded materia medica on liver-supporting herbs in the next edition of The Herbalist’s Notebook!)
Let’s Break Down How the Liver… Well… Breaks Things Down
One of the liver’s most important jobs is metabolizing and detoxifying xenobiotics, which is a fancy term for foreign substances like drugs, chemicals, or toxins. The liver can break down some of these substances using lysosomes, the cleanup crew that dismantles waste, old cell parts, and unwanted materials, but most of the heavy lifting happens through a process called biotransformation.
Biotransformation: Phase I and Phase II Detoxification
Liver detoxification happens in two main steps.
Phase I Detoxification
This step modifies toxins by exposing or adding an oxygen molecule, which makes them more reactive. It’s carried out by enzymes from the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) family, which I am obsessed with, by the way. Phase I reactions include oxidation, reduction, and hydrolysis, all of which prepare the toxin for further processing in Phase II.
Phase II Detoxification
This is where the liver gets creative and “packages” these modified toxins by attaching them to other molecules so they become even more water-soluble and easier to eliminate. The process is called conjugation, and it happens through three main pathways:
Glucuronidation adds glucuronic acid and handles substances like bilirubin.
Sulfation conjugates alcohols and similar compounds with sulfate.
Glutathione conjugation attaches glutathione, a powerful antioxidant, to toxic metabolites. (Fun fact: when the liver runs low on glutathione, toxins can build up, which is exactly what happens in acetaminophen overdose.)
Some scientists even refer to the final transport of these processed metabolites through blood or bile as Phase III detoxification, which we’ll cover later in this series.
Other Organs in Detoxification
The liver is the star of the show, but it doesn’t work alone, since other detoxification organs like the kidneys and gut also help break down and eliminate these substances.
How well your body handles drug metabolism depends on several factors, including age, gender, genetics, pregnancy, liver or kidney function, inflammation, and drug-drug interactions. All of these influence how efficiently the liver processes and eliminates toxins.
Why Your Liver Needs Support
The liver is built to detoxify, and that doesn’t make it invincible. Modern life constantly exposes us to toxins, and when the liver gets overwhelmed, its efficiency can slow down.
Some common burdens on the liver include alcohol consumption, processed foods and excess sugar, medications like acetaminophen, NSAIDs, and statins, pesticides and environmental pollutants, and chronic stress and inflammation.
When these factors overload the liver, it can lead to sluggish bile production that affects both digestion and detox, difficulty breaking down and eliminating toxins, increased oxidative stress and inflammation, and a buildup of harmful substances in the body.
Supporting your liver has nothing to do with forcing it to “detox,” because it’s about giving it the right tools to function efficiently. And this is where herbs like milk thistle come in.
Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)
Parts Used: Seeds
Actions: Hepatic, demulcent, cholagogue, antihepatotoxic
Milk thistle has been used for centuries as a liver tonic, and for good reason.
Why Milk Thistle?
Protects liver cells from damage
Supports bile production and flow
Used in both traditional and modern medicine
Helps restore liver function impaired by disease or toxin exposure
How to Take Milk Thistle
Milk thistle is easy to incorporate into daily life.
Whole seeds have a mild, nutty flavor and make a delicious garnish for salads, oatmeal, or smoothie bowls, and you can also grind them and sprinkle them over food.
Tea or infusion works well when you lightly crush the seeds before steeping, since that helps extract some of the beneficial compounds.
Tincture, whether an alcohol extract or a glycerite, is a convenient and concentrated way to take milk thistle.
Standardized extract is the route for therapeutic effects, and David Hoffmann, AHG, recommends up to 600 mg per day of an extract standardized to 80% silymarin.
(Paid subscribers will have access to more liver-support herbs in the next edition of The Herbalist’s Notebook!)
Please feel free to share this article! All shares, likes, comments and subscriptions are so greatly appreciated. And as always, do not hesitate to message me with any questions!
Next time in the detox series we will cover the lymphatic system and herbs that help get that lymph moving!
See you then :)
Agy
I just added milk thistle to my seed order for the year. And I love that you're obsessed with the cytochrome P450 family!
This was really informative & helpful, wonderfully written! 👏 Milk Thistle keeps finding me and while I am interested in it I needed some more info that was approachable like this!