Spring is upon us, and the concept of "spring cleaning" our domiciles comes to mind. It can apply to the health conscious as well for cleaning out the body's master cleanser, the liver, while increasing supportive nourishment.

Coincidentally, Chinese medicine associates spring with the liver and gall bladder; both work together as blood cleansers. It's like they've worked to keep our other organs and blood relatively free of toxins all winter, now it's time to clean them out so they can function to their fullest. Liver dysfunction leads to chronic poor health, disease and death.

The symptoms of a sluggish liver can be vague, but chronic fatigue and/or increased irritability may be indicators. Mainstream medical liver tests only spot major problems such as hepatitis, sclerosis and fatty liver. Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine practitioners are better at diagnosing troublesome liver problems in their early phases.

There are several methods that can be utilized to cleanse and strengthen the liver and gall bladder system. Ten will be pointed out here with some links to give you details.

(1) Coffee enemas: There's no better assurance of efficacy and safety than knowing Max Gerson used coffee enemas to detox the liver while curing cancer. The Gerson health protocol uses it daily still, and so does Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez with his alternative cancer therapy based on Dr. William Donald Kelley's earlier groundbreaking cancer therapy.

If you're not dealing with cancer, the coffee enema can be used as infrequently or frequently as you wish. Here's how (http://www.naturalnews.com/022905_coffee_body_water.html).

(2) Liver-gall bladder flush: This one is controversial. Whether it actually eliminates gallstones or fatty globules is the issue. This link contains two different views with instructions for you to peruse and decide what's right for you (http://www.alternativehealth.co.nz/cancer/liverflush.htm).

(3) Alpha lipoic acid (ALA): ALA, especially R-ALA, has been used to treat serious liver diseases. Here's more (http://www.naturalnews.com/024513_liver_lipoic_acid_alpha.html).

(4) Glutathione: The master antioxidant. You must ingest precursors to synthesize glutathione in the liver because it can't get past the GI. Look for subhead "How to Increase GSH" in here (http://www.naturalnews.com/027114_glutathione_antioxidant_GSH.html).

(5) Milk thistle and dandelion root: These two natural herbs are commonly used to protect and cleanse the liver. Milk thistle is the protector, and dandelion root is the cleanser. They can be taken separately, but many liver supplements contain both. These herbs can be taken regularly over time with or without obvious liver issues.

(6) Vitamin C: Vitamin C is great for liver health. Earlier studies have shown large quantities of vitamin C flush out fats and repair liver damage. Here's how to make your own mega dose encapsulated orally consumed C, linked at bottom of this article's text (http://www.naturalnews.com).

(7) Lecithin: This helps the liver emulsify fats. You can use sunflower lecithin if want to avoid soy based lecithin, but non-GMO soy lecithin granules are used for encapsulating ascorbic acid in (6) above.

(8) B complex: All the Bs are helpful, especially B12, which has been used to help hepatitis patients. But you need the right type of B12 administered the right way separately from other B supplements. Find out here (http://www.naturalnews.com).

(9) Lemon water: Start out the day with a half glass of warm strong lemon or lime water without any sweetener. Chinese medicine promotes sour tasting food as conducive to liver health. The warm lemon/lime water stimulates a sluggish liver.

(10) Avoid or minimize alcohol and all over the counter and prescribed pain suppressant drugs containing acetaminophen, a known liver toxin.