Your liver knows Spring is the new year

While the new year starts in the January, but to our body, spring is the time to make important health changes. Everything aligns inside and outside to make this possible.

So it you missed the opportunity to make the changes you want in January, nature gives you another opportunity.

In the dark and cold of winter, the body is slower, heavier and contracted inward. This is not a great time to eat lighter, drop weight, detox or move more.

If your resolutions failed, just know, we weren’t designed to restart in winter.

Here’s why….

Our bodies open in Spring

In spring light increases and our circadian rhythm recalibrates. The body is ready to drop storage of fat meant to keep us warm in the our winter “caves”.

Nicer weather and more light may invite you to move more. Your system is starting to wake up to do its own internal spring cleaning. This is the time that the liver opens up for gentle detox.

Many people have allegories in the spring. I did too, until I supported my liver. Now I never suffer with spring allergies.

What Happens in the Liver in spring

The liver is one of the most overlooked digestive organs, assisting with more than detox. It helps balance hormones, control weight, balance bacteria, digest fast and is connected to skin and eye health. Because of its hard work, we need to give it attention once a year to tune its function.

In winter the body conserves energy and slows detox pathways. It craves heavier, warming foods by design. By spring, this accumulated metabolic waste is ready to be dumped.

The liver does this by increasing bile flow and activating detox pathways to get rid of stored toxins. Sluggish bile flow is one of the three reasons that people develop stubborn overgrowth of bacteria in their small intestine (SIBO).

If you have a lot of toxins to dump, you could feel worse in spring, with symptoms like allergies, headaches, irritability, skin shifts and digestive changes. This is your body clearing winter debris. It’s normal to feel worse before feeling better, as the body dumps toxins. Below I give you ways to support and speed the process.

I healed my gut with liver support

Before I move to the practical tips, I want to mention that the liver played a big role in my digestive symptoms and Irritable Bowel Syndrome diagnosis. I had reflux, bloating, constipation, migraines, yeast infections and gas. I would have never imagined it had anything to do with my liver. But supporting my liver and biome made all these symptoms go away, including my hiatal hernia and histamine issues.

For exactly one year, I took processed foods and sugars other than whole, fresh fruit, out of my diet.

I took vitamins and minerals to replenish my body’s energy stores and gentle liver detox herbs.

The work was slow and gentle and after 8 months I got big boils on my face out of nowhere. It was the liver releasing the last of the gunk it was holding onto. The skin is a major detox organ of the liver. Often, skin issues can be tied back to a sluggish and congested liver.

None of my standard medical tests pointed to liver distress. But these tests only flag high when the liver has moved beyond sluggishness and is in crisis mode. You can have a sluggish liver, and the symptoms associated with it, and have normal lab ranges for your liver enzymes. I wish more people knew this.

There are two ways to test liver health, through the GI Map and the Hair Tissue Mineral Test (HTMA).

Steatocrit and Beta-Glucuronidase are the liver marker on the GI Map, and when elevated signal liver congestion. High cobalt on the HTMA also points to liver stress.

Signs your liver may need attention

Direct digestive symptoms:

Bloating, especially after fatty meals
Nausea or feeling of fullness/heaviness after eating
Pale, greasy, or floating stools (poor bile production)
Constipation or sluggish bowels (bile is a natural laxative)
Burping, reflux, or upper right abdominal discomfort
Difficulty digesting fats

Broader gut-related effects:

Dysbiosis (imbalanced gut microbiome), bile helps regulate gut bacteria, so poor bile flow can allow overgrowth
Leaky gut, the liver filters toxins; when overloaded, inflammation can compromise gut lining integrity
Food sensitivities that seem to worsen over time
Bad breath or a bitter taste in the mouth (especially in the morning)

Less obvious signs that connect back to the gut-liver axis:

Skin issues like eczema or breakouts (toxins rerouted through skin)
Hormonal imbalance (liver metabolizes estrogen and excess recirculates)
Brain fog and fatigue after meals
Chemical or fragrance sensitivities

How to improve liver health

As I said, your body already starts detoxing in spring, which could be felt an uptick of both emotional and physical symptoms.

Here are a few ways to support your liver gently. Reducing your toxic load is the obvious first step but here’s more ways to support liver detox.

To move sluggish bile:

Castor oil packs over the liver (20–40 minutes, a few times a week)and sauna (15 minute sessions a few times a week)
Support circulation and lymph with gentle movement or (self) massage
Warm lemon water in morning, bitter greens or digestive bitters
Don’t go too low fat, you need fat to keep bile flowing
Prioritize sleep. Earlier nights = better liver repair
Hydrate and add minerals/ electrolytes. Fluids + a pinch of sea salt or broth
Emotional work around anger helps liver function
Don’t eat 2 to 3 hours before bed
Rest is key here. Your liver can’t keep up if you never stop moving. A stressed or tired body doesn’t detox well.

Don’t push detox

The biggest mistake I see people make is being too aggressive with detox. Make detox a lifestyle by adding in a few habits daily or a few times a week. Liver support can help move your bowels, clear your mind, balance hormones, boost energy and lengthen your fuse.

I feel like a spokesperson for the forgotten liver. It’s so often overlooked or overdressed when dealing with health issues. It’s simply not a big part of Western culture.

In Eastern culture and Chinese medicine the liver is the center of health. If it doesn’t function well, your body will not function well and you won’t feel good.

Don’t let your liver health slide, especially in a season when nature opens it up.

Our modern lifestyle with processed foods, high carb/sugar diets, alcohol, repressed anger and high stress, more people are getting fatty liver disease without being heavy drinkers.

A Little Liver Love

Here are some liver basics.

Move daily, but rest before you crash
Eat lighter (not super high carb or fat/processed fat) but don’t restrict carbs/ fats
Be consistent in daily support (lemon water, bitters) not extreme or aggressive
Reduce overwhelm (easier said than done, but a 20 minute rest does wonders)
Give it a rest with a bit of intermittent fasting (not eating for 12 hours per day, like 7 pm to 7 am) eating late will prevent nighttime detox