Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational purposes and should not be considered medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition..
Your Liver Might Be the Reason You’re Tired, Bloated, and Stuck — Not Your Willpower
If you’re eating “clean,” working out, doing all the right things… and still feel exhausted, inflamed, bloated, or completely stuck with weight loss — this isn’t a motivation problem.
It’s a liver problem.
Your liver is the Grand Central Station for:
Energy production
The liver is responsible for processing nutrients from the food you eat and converting them into energy. It metabolizes carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, turning them into fuel for your body. Without this conversion, your energy levels would plummet.Fat burning
The liver breaks down fats into usable energy. When it's overwhelmed (due to poor diet, toxins, sluggish bile, or fatty liver disease), this process slows down. Instead of burning fat for energy, your body might start storing it, which can lead to weight gain.Hormone clearance
Blood sugar stability
The liver helps keep your blood sugar levels stable by storing and releasing glucose as needed. If your liver isn't functioning well, your blood sugar can spike or crash, which affects how efficiently your body burns calories and uses energy.Detoxification
The liver is also your body's detox powerhouse. It filters out toxins and waste products from the bloodstream. When it's overloaded with toxins, it can’t perform optimally, which can slow down your metabolism and energy production.And here’s the part no one tells you:
👉 Your liver uses 20–30% of your resting energy just to do its job.
So when it’s sluggish, overwhelmed, or backed up?
Your metabolism slows. Hormones recirculate. Fat loss stalls. Energy tanks.
Not because you’re “lazy.”
Not because you’re “doing it wrong.”
But because your body is protecting you.
This manual will show you:
Why your liver may be silently struggling
How that directly affects hormones + weight
And the simplest ways to support it without extreme detoxes
Before we go any further, let’s make this personal.
Check all that apply:
⬜ You can’t lose weight despite eating less
⬜ You crash between 1–3pm
⬜ PMS is intense or cycles are heavy
⬜ You feel worse after fatty meals
⬜ You react strongly to supplements or meds
⬜ You’ve been told your labs are “normal”… but you feel awful
⬜ Triglycerides are over 100
⬜ AST or ALT are over 20–25
⬜ Bloating, constipation, pale or floating stools
⬜ You feel better fasting but worse when you eat
👉 If you checked 2 or more, your liver is likely part of the bottleneck.
And the good news?
You don’t need a juice cleanse, a detox tea, or to starve yourself to fix it.
You need better flow.
A sluggish liver means a sluggish metabolism.
When the liver is healthy and functioning properly, it helps you burn calories more efficiently, clean the body, stabilize your blood sugar, and keep your energy levels high.
The liver is also the organ that we don’t (yet) have a way to externally support in acute situations like we do other organs. I.e. If the kidneys are struggling, doctors can utilize Dialysis…we don’t have anything like that for the liver and it is a vital organ so we need to support it!
So what do we do? How do we support the liver - well there are a variety of ways, I know this can be overwhelming so pick 1-2 things and start there.
1. Eat Bitter Foods and Bile-Stimulating Foods
Certain foods are particularly nourishing for the liver and gallbladder, and should be included daily. This is not a comprehensive list, but it includes some of the most helpful foods:
Beets, particularly the fermented beet juice called Beet Kvass, can be very helpful in stimulating bile flow and thinning the bile. The juice of beet greens, particularly the part of the stem closest to the beet, has strong detoxification properties. Blend these into a smoothie.
Dandelion greens are very cleansing for the liver with their high antioxidant levels, impressive vitamin and mineral content including calcium, potassium, zinc, and vitamins A, B, C, and D, as well as health-promoting compounds such as alkaloids, steroids, and triterpenoids. They support bile production, encourage fat metabolism, purify the blood, and normalize blood sugar levels. These greens are also a mild laxative, which aids in the opening of that important elimination pathway. I would recommend dandelion tea or small amounts of dandelion greens in a salad or smoothie.
Ginger has been shown to have therapeutic qualities particularly with its high antioxidant content and thermogenic properties, which enhance blood circulation and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to cells throughout the body. Studies have shown that ginger may protect against liver fibrosis and the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Citrus, with its high antioxidant, vitamin C, and bioflavonoid content, has been shown to be very cleansing for the liver. Grapefruit, which is high in glutathione, stimulates the natural cleansing processes of the liver by increasing the production of detoxification enzymes.
Dark, leafy greens are high in plant chlorophylls that help to cleanse the blood by neutralizing toxins. They are protective for the liver, as they can alleviate its detoxification burden.
Cruciferous vegetables have high levels of glucosinolates, organic sulfur compounds that, in conjunction with the folate, flavonoids, and vitamin C also found in these vegetables, help to cleanse the body of free radicals and other toxins by amplifying the production of detoxifying enzymes in the liver.
Berries have very high antioxidant levels, which makes them powerful free-radical scavengers. Strawberries contain one of the highest levels of vitamin C of any fruit at 260 mg per gram of fruit and are high in ellagic acid, which supports the liver in breaking down toxins. Raspberries also have high levels of vitamin C and ellagic acid, but also contain ketones that have been shown in one recent animal study to help minimize the accumulation of fat in the liver. And blueberries, also with very high antioxidant levels, have been shown in animal studies to reduce ALT in the blood and increase levels of superoxide dismutase, a potent antioxidant enzyme.
Garlic, particularly raw garlic, supports liver detoxification due to its high content of allicin and selenium. It’s also high in sulfur, a mineral known for supporting detoxification processes.
Animal proteins, in particular organ meats such as liver. Raw liver, such as raw beef liver from 100% grass-fed cows, can be an excellent source of nutrients to nourish our liver, following the principle of ‘like heals like’. Freezing it and then slicing it into small “pill sized” pieces and taking it much like a supplement is a more palatable way to consume liver raw.
2. Hydrate with quality, filtered, water!!
Tap water is filthy, to put it simply.
Things like pharmaceuticals, birth control, NSAIDS, heavy metals, pesticides (like glyphosate), herbicides, bacteria, parasites and even tampon particles can be found in tap water.
So, ensure that your water is filtered so that you’re not putting more of a burden on your liver!
Also, avoid waiting until you are thirsty to drink purified water and super hydrate your body throughout the day.
Drinking purified water is also a significant contributor to improving the detoxification pathways in your body.
Bile is about 95% water. If you're chronically dehydrated, chances are the body is operating from a deficit to start with.
Ensuring that you're properly hydrated with clean water can be a sure way to support healthy bile flow.
I recommend the following:
As I mentioned tap water is filthy, and your genetic fridge filter is crap! I tested the a brand new Frigidaire fridge filter and it was the same as my tap water… ya - no thank you!
They can be costly so here’s 2 things I recommend:
You can start with a Clearly Filtered in line fridge filter. They have water bottles, pitchers, etc but the in line is universal and last for a year! This is my link and you can use code Welcome10: https://get.aspr.app/SHnAt
If you can afford to, I would highly recommend doing the under the sink system as it is so much easier especially if you have multiple people in the household. Clearly filtered is my favorite water filtration company.
3. Avoid Inflammatory Fats
Avoid
Canola Oil, Soybean Oil, Peanut Oil, Corn Oil, Safflower Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Margarine, Cottonseed Oil, and Hydrogenated Oils (AKA Processed Foods!)
Include More
Eggs, Coconut Milk or Oil, Avocado or Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, Fish Oil, Ghee, Grass Fed Meat, Dairy, and Butter, Nuts and Seeds
4. Add a Liver Support
Most of the supports listed can be found here: https://us.fullscript.com/plans/fitmom-liver-gallbladder-support
Well rounded liver supports we like include:
Studies also show that the essential micronutrients, cofactors, and amino acids found in Detox Support work to support healthy immune function and support the activities of key liver enzymes involved in phase I and phase II detoxification pathways.
5. Add a Bile Support
100% without a Gallbladder, someone should be supporting with Ox-Bile, and even my clients with floating stools, pale colored stools, or constipation, I often recommend including Ox-Bile, as well as other digestive and stomach acid supports.
5. Fatty Liver Support
Fatty liver affects 1/3 adults in the US right now. Extremely common, and sadly - symptoms don’t show up until things have gotten much worst. You can see subtle cues though, and you want to look for elevated liver enzymes (AST/ALT over 20-25) and elevated Triglycerides (above 100) on labs. Our go-to supports for Fatty Liver include:
You can get all of those supports here:
https://us.fullscript.com/plans/fitmom-liver-gallbladder-support
This is not a detox. This is support.
Do this for 7 days straight:
Every Morning
1–2 large glasses of filtered water
Fresh lemon added
Daily
Include one bitter food (dandelion greens, arugula, beets, citrus)
Remove seed oils completely
Eat protein with every meal
Drink 2 liters of clean water by 2pm
Evening
Magnesium before bed
No food 2–3 hours before sleep
Non-Negotiable
You should be pooping at least once per day
👉 If symptoms improve even slightly, your liver was part of the problem.
If they don’t… that tells us something too.
More is NOT better here.
Do not aggressively detox if:
You’re constipated
You have extreme fatigue
You react to everything
You have mold exposure
You don’t tolerate supplements
Rule of thumb:
Drainage before detox. Always.
If toxins can’t get out, pushing detox makes things worse.
Food and supplements can support your liver.
But they cannot tell us WHY it’s struggling.
That’s where labs come in.
Because liver dysfunction is rarely “just the liver.”
It’s often driven by:
Blood sugar instability
Estrogen clearance issues
Poor bile production
Iron overload or deficiency
Genetic detox bottlenecks
Inflammatory fat intake
Hidden metabolic stress
On labs, we’re looking at patterns — not single numbers:
AST / ALT trends
Triglycerides
Fasting insulin
Ferritin
Hormone metabolites
Genetic detox pathways
This is how we stop guessing and start targeting the real bottleneck.
Because when you support the liver based on your data, everything downstream gets easier.
You don’t need to try harder.
You need your liver working with you — not against you.
Support the flow first.
Then fix the root.
If you want help personalizing this instead of guessing…
...you already know the next step 😉
Schedule a free Root Cause Discovery Call with our team so we can help you fix what’s been ignored for years — step by step.