How Liver Detox Can Restore Harmony to  Energy & Emotions

Dr. Ameet Aggarwal 

The purpose of this presentation is to convey  information. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or  cure your condition or to be a substitute for advice  from your physician or other healthcare  professional. Summit attendees with a known or  suspected health condition, or currently taking  prescription medications, are encouraged to consult a  qualified health care professional before implementing any suggestions.  

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Hello and welcome. I'm your host for The Metabolism Summit, an event  featuring the top functional and naturopathic medicine doctors, nutritionists,  fitness experts, and influencers in the industry because achieving optimal  health is not about eating less, exercising more, or cutting calories. The real  secret is to heal the metabolism at the core.  

And today we have Dr. Ameet Aggarwal joining us all the way from Kenya to  share how detoxing the liver can restore harmony to energy and emotions. Dr.  Aggarwal, thank you so much for joining us today. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Thanks a lot. It's been a pleasure working with you so  let's do this. 

Interviewer: Yes! Well, before we get into this, let me just take a moment to introduce  you to everybody listening. Dr. Ameet Aggarwal from Kenya combines  naturopathic medicine and energy psychology to help people heal both their  mind and their body at the same time. He believes both need to happen for  optimal health.

He's the author of the book Feel Good: A Guide to Treating Anxiety and  Depression Using Both Holistic Medicine and Energy Psychology. He's lectured  around the world, teaching people how to recover from illness by treating both  their mind and bodies holistically and positively. He also runs mobile clinics  or remote communities in Kenya through his charity FIM Africa and  supervises students and doctors from around the world who volunteer with  him on these mobile clinics.  

His combination of Gestalt psychology, naturopathic medicine, energy  psychology, family constellation therapy, and EMDR trauma work gives patients a comprehension approach to treating the root cause. He's also  developing an Free Holistic Medicine Courses Online to help people treat anxiety and depression  holistically. And he treats people via Skype. You can find his holistic medicine books and other  information at DrAmeet.com. So, Dr. Ameet, thank you for being here and all  the work that you're doing to help people and your charity. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Thanks, as well. It's been pleasure working with people  because they teach you a lot about how the body works and how the mind  works and how to put it together. And also the summit that you're doing is  looking at all the different organs that are involved with metabolism. So I  think we're going to learn a lot here. 

Does therapy help with Anxiety  

Interviewer: Yes. Well, and since you practice Gestalt psychology, I kind of want to  start there. I think it's really fascinating actually. I put a little section of this in  my gut health book about how the metabolism is very like that. The Gestalt theory, for  those who don't know—and this is just a very simplistic feature of it—but one  of the quotes is the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  

And I think that's so true of metabolism. As a whole it relies on so many  different systems in the body working together—our detoxification channels,  our hormones, digestion. And if one of those gets out of balance, it can bring  our whole metabolism down. Even our emotions can be a factor in this. So  that's one of the things I wanted to maybe have you touch on initially is how you bring that into your practice.  

Dr. Aggarwal: Great. Okay. So you're right to say that the whole is greater  than the sum of parts because when people go through, for example,  something like trauma, the emotional experience of the trauma affects their adrenal system, their brain function, and puts them in a stress response.  

Now, when people go for treatment for anxiety and depression or herbs for anxiety and depression and they only  focus on the adrenal glands or they take an antidepressant, then that is just  one part of the picture. However, you have to also look at the cause, like the trauma. The experience has to be resolved in order for the adrenal glands to  break free from the stress response.  

So it's really looking at the whole picture and seeing that the whole picture  depends on multiple factors. And you cannot only target one factor at a time.  You have to bring it together and understand how they're all interacting: emotions, the adrenal glands, leaky gut syndrome as well as liver toxicity. 

Interviewer: Well, and the liver is what we're really going to be focusing on today because it's really the toxins, it's really becoming assaulted by all of these  toxins, not only just in our foods and our environment, but emotional toxins  that we're carrying around. And the liver is really what they call the "general of  the army" as far as our detoxification channels. And it's also one of the areas  that our emotions are very connected to, right? 

Can anxiety cause elevated Liver enzymes

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, the liver is definitely connected to emotions because it  controls so many functions in the body, from hormone production. So it  affects your progesterone levels, estrogen levels, and testosterone levels, which  are directly related to anxiety and depression.

Your liver's also involved in sugar balance and sugar storage. So if you have  low blood sugar or an insulin problem, then you're doing to get these bouts of  anxiety when you are hypoglycemic. Your liver also activates enzymes in your

digestive system so if it's not working well, you're not digesting your food  properly, you're going to be deficient in a lot of nutrients, or you're not going to  absorb the nutrients properly. And when that happens, of course, you don't  make the right neurotransmitters in your body to improve your mood. And  there's many other factors like it detoxifies drugs and toxins.  

So if your liver is sluggish or you have leaky liver, you're not detoxifying well, you'll be more into  inflammation. And as we know, inflammation and leaky gut syndrome affect  your brain chemicals, your hormones as well as cortisol levels. So it's a real  synergy that happens throughout your body from the adrenal system, leaky  gut, and your liver, which affects your emotions. 

Interviewer: Well, now that you're describing it, it just sounds so central to our  metabolism, as well as our mental health.  

Dr. Aggarwal: It's really the core organ that I treat in my practice. Along with  digestive health and leaky gut syndrome, the leaky liver has to be treated. 

Interviewer: Tell me how you combine your psychotherapy more with the  naturopathic medicine in your practice. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Okay, that's a very interesting question. Well, so I use Gestalt  therapy and family constellation. So a lot of people have gone through trauma and stressful emotional experiences in their life. Now, just like your vision is a  function of your eyes, and hearing is a function of the ears, so emotions are  really a sense of some part of your body.  

And when there's something wrong with your body, your emotions will shift.  Either it's too many toxins, neurotransmitter imbalance, or even a hormonal  imbalance. And the opposite or the other way around is also true. When  you stare at strong lights for too long, it will affect your eye's quality. If you  hear loud sounds all the time, your ears will get damaged.

In the same way if you hear a lot of negative thoughts, you're around a  stressful environment, something in your body will start breaking down. You'll  feel more stressed. You'll lose energy, and you'll become more sluggish. So it's  very important to release these stressful emotions that have happened in your  life. You have negative beliefs you've created from trauma. And I do that using  Gestalt psychotherapy.  

When we release the emotions using counseling, the body begins to recover  slowly. The adrenal glands feel less stressed. And that's the time now you can  also build up the adrenal glands using naturopathic medicine so we use herbs  such as rhodiola, ashwagandha, or a nice B vitamin complex.  

However, one has to keep in mind that when you're using nutrition to build up  the adrenal glands or to detoxify the liver, we have to resolve emotional trauma because if we don't resolve the trauma, subconsciously your body  remains in a stress state and continues to press on or stress the organs within  you. Does that make sense? 

Interviewer: It does. Are there some techniques that you would recommend for the  listeners that they could use themselves just on their own to help release  some of this? 

What is Emotional Freedom Technique

Dr. Aggarwal: Absolutely. So there's worldwide quite famous is emotional  freedom technique. I find that extremely effective. It's a tapping technique  where you tap on certain points on your wrist, as well as on your face and  

your collar bones. And you say empowering sentences while tapping at these  points. And you also speak about trauma that you're feeling or the anxiety that you're feeling. And a lot of people are feeling a huge shift using EFT  (emotional freedom technique).  

Then the other technique I teach students or people is positive thinking. It  comes from positive psychology. Every morning when you wake up, think of  everything that went well for you the previous day. And when you go to bed, think about what went well for you during that day. What that does, is it  actually rewires your brain using what we call neuroplasticity so that imagine  in the morning, you see your body's designed to anticipate a threat, so if  you're having a stressful time in your life, you're going to wake up and  anticipate threat. So you're going to think negatively and stress yourself out  even more.  

With this exercise by thinking positively, your brain gets used to expecting or  thinking about positive experiences. So it actually prepares itself for happier  times. So in that way you let go of traumatic memory from the limbic brain  using this exercise. 

Interviewer: I love that. I think, yes, just turning on the positive thoughts in our  brain and trying to get a quiet down the negative talk is massive. I think it's  huge. We could all do more of that. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, I think we really need to take care of our minds while  we're taking care of our bodies. It's prime. Meditation, breathing, exercise is  also very important because exercise is like a fight or flight response. So your brain freezes when it goes through trauma. And exercise gives the body an  impression that it's actually recovering or fleeing away from trauma. And so  there's actually a recovery feeling that happens during exercise, and that  discharge is subconscious stress. 

Interviewer: Well, and you see that in animals too. Animals that are not getting  enough exercise, their stress builds up. And so they can release a lot of stress  just by exercising. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, yeah, we definitely need to include exercise in any  therapy that we choose. 

Interviewer: So let's get into the liver because I know we were going to be talking  about that. And I think it's so connected to the metabolism and so important, as well as our emotions. But let's talk about how the liver is related to and  affects our digestion. 

How to Improve Liver health

Dr. Aggarwal: Okay. So your liver basically processes everything that you  absorb from your intestines. Those blood vessels around your intestines, which absorb the food and all that goes into your liver through the portal vein.  And it's processed there. And then it's spread around the body. So that's one  way it's related to digestion and absorption.  

However, the second thing which I find the most fundamental to digestion is  the liver's production of a liquid called bile. So the liver produces bile, which is  made of special salts which break down fats. And so your liver is needed to  break down fats so they're properly absorbed. And as you know a lot of  vitamins need fat to be absorbed. The liver also has salts in it, which activate  enzymes coming from your pancreas and from your digestive system.  

And so if your liver is sluggish, it's not working well because of too many  toxins, then the amount of bile released is much less which means that you'll  digest fat less so you'll absorb fat soluble vitamins less. Less bile also means  that you activate enzymes less. So your entire digestion suffers when your  liver is compromised.  

And the other important thing to note is bile, which is produced by liver,  actually lubricates your stool. And with less bile there's a lot of sticky stool so  most people who are constipated, they actually have a liver issue. And the  problem is a lot of these people will take laxatives. However, they never treat  the liver. And they become laxative dependent.  

Now, when you treat your liver and you get the bile flowing and you detoxify  the body and reduce inflammation, everything self corrects itself because  you've treated the root cause, which is the master organ. It's a vicious cycle.  And the key thing is when there's not enough bile and more constipation, of  course you get more toxic build up in your intestines, which causes more damage in your intestines and more leaky gut syndrome. 

Interviewer: And then the side effect of all of this is that a couple of decades of this  down the road, our gallbladder is no longer working because the gallbladder  plays a role in this, as well. And so then the gallbladder comes out, right? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, so gallbladder what happens is a lot people get gallstones  because of high cholesterol levels and basically high inflammation. So the key  thing is to keep inflammation down in the body. Have a lot of antioxidants.  Minimize bad cholesterol development through eating the right foods. And  then you won't have so many gallbladder problems.  

Interviewer: Yeah and they do work together very closely. Now let's talk about what  get a little bit more into this area of inflammation and leaky gut and food  sensitivities and how that's impacting our liver. 

Best foods to fight Inflammation

Dr. Aggarwal: How does inflammation impact the liver? 

Interviewer: And eating foods that we're sensitive too. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Okay. So a lot of people talk about leaky gut nowadays and  food sensitivity. So when you eat the wrong types of foods especially like  gluten and dairy, that creates an inflammatory process in your body.  Inflammation means a lot of chemical reactions. And a lot of chemical  reactions take place in your blood, and they create toxins. Inflammation also  happens within the liver itself so that creates damage to the liver tissues.  

Now, with inflammation going on throughout your body and your blood, a lot  of toxins are produced, which have to be processed by the liver. And  remember that the liver's also suffering because of oxidative damage, meaning  damage caused by free radicals caused by inflammation. So when the liver  suffers because of this damage, it produces less bile and detoxifies the body  less.

When that happens, now all your organs become more toxic and more  sluggish. So your adrenal glands suffer, your thyroid suffers so you get  hormonal imbalances. Also what happens is inflammation upsets your cortisol  levels. And when cortisol is imbalanced, it affects serotonin, GABA, dopamine,  and melatonin, which then starts causing anxiety and depression. So you can  see how inflammation from the gut then compromises liver function, right?  

Interviewer: Yes. 

Dr. Aggarwal: And the thing is when the liver is compromised, that means  less detoxification. And when you detoxify less, you have more toxins in your  body. So inflammation actually increases. It's a vicious cycle all over again. If  your liver's not working, any inflammation that you're trying to control by  removing inflammatory foods, it doesn't help as much because you have to get  the liver working, as well, to reduce inflammation. 

Interviewer: Yes, such a vicious cycle. And I just get this picture in my mind about  how everything is so connected with our metabolism. And that our mental  health is connected to all these metabolic processes and so really  foundationally we have to kind of detoxify and heal at the organ levels to heal  everything. 

Metabolic Renewal

Dr. Aggarwal: It's funny you mention that actually, that our mental  thoughts affect our organs. And very interesting observation by some people is  you know when you breathe, yeah, when you breathe properly, your  diaphragm goes up and down fully. And that actually massages your liver and  helps the detoxification process.  

Now, stressed people, they breathe a bit more shallow. So when they breathe  shallow, they actually only use the upper part of the lungs. And that's why  stressed people get tight shoulders. Now the problem with that is that when  you're only breathing with the upper part of your lungs, your diaphragm is not  moving fully.

And if your diaphragm is not moving fully, your liver will not be detoxified or  massaged well enough. And so it's a common term to see in Chinese medicine  that stress affects the liver. Stress causes liver chi—which is energy—chi  stagnation. So really deep breathing can actually help you heal your liver. 

Interviewer: Yeah, I don't know if you've heard of the Buteyko method. But I have  another speaker on the summit I encourage you to listen in to that and look  into it. It's about the importance of breathing, not mouth breathing, breathing  through the nose. And I know that's very common in yoga and things like that  to really do the majority of our breathing through our nasal cavity and all the  benefits of that. So I think that will tie well into that interview.  

So let's talk a little bit about what does it mean to have a sluggish liver? You've mentioned a couple of symptoms, things like constipation and it's one  of those tough things because we may not necessarily know we've got it or  connect these symptoms to our liver, right? 

How to boost metabolism Naturally

Dr. Aggarwal: Absolutely. So first of all, liver stagnation means that the  enzymes, the processes in the liver are not working too well because the liver  has a lot of enzymatic processes and detoxification. Now, when the liver is not  working properly, because it controls all your hormones and a lot of functions  in your body, you'll notice things like hormonal imbalances, especially PMS.  

So in Chinese medicine, when somebody has a sluggish liver or liver chi  stagnation, they will be prone to PMS symptoms, breast tenderness, clotting,  maybe migraines during their menses. What else? Irregular periods or painful  cramps.  

Irritability is another big sign of a stagnant liver so you know the people who  use a lot of alcohol or who are stressed become very irritable. And in Chinese  medicine, there's a direct connection between that emotion and the liver. Once  you start detoxifying the liver with best herbs for liver repair, you'll notice levels of irritability will go down.

Gas and bloating basically means poor digestion and less bile in the system.  So that is another sign to look at when you see a toxic liver. And then  insomnia. A lot of people who have trouble sleeping or wake up in the middle  of the night, especially between one and three o'clock in the morning, that's a  sign according to the Chinese medicine clock that the liver is out of balance. 

Interviewer: And how about floating stools? Because that a lot of times tells us we're  not absorbing and digesting our fats properly. Would that be a sign of liver? 

Can you heal Gallbladder Naturally

Dr. Aggarwal: Absolutely. Yeah so you'd see fatty stool, breaking down the  fats. And generally just irregular stool. Instead of it only being about food  sensitivities and inflammation, I'll often treat the liver as well because there's  a sign that the liver is not working when you have irregular stool or difficult  stool.  

So some people don't realize they're constipated. They think, oh, if I go once  every two days it's fine, or if I drink a lot of water or I have my coffee and I go,  then I'm fine. But no, if they don't have their coffee and they don't drink water  or they don't eat a lot of fiber, then they'll end up not going well. So that's a  sign for me to say that the liver is still compromised because they need this  extra help to get their stool moving. And so people who need a helper to get  their bowels moving, it means they need to heal their liver with best herbs for liver repair.

Interviewer: That's so powerful. Tell me a little bit, you talked a bit already about adrenal fatigue and anxiety. Tell me, make that connection for us about how  the liver can contribute to that and how to reverse adrenal fatigue naturally. 

Dr. Aggarwal: How adrenal fatigue is connected to the liver is basically when  people are stressed or anxious or depressed, often it is a cause of adrenal  fatigue. And with adrenal fatigue basically cortisol levels are imbalanced which  affects your brain chemicals. Now, how the liver ties into this is that when the  liver is sluggish, it detoxifies less. And when there's more toxins in your body,  inflammation is higher.

When inflammation is higher, your adrenal glands have to produce more cortisol to manage the inflammation. Now, your adrenal glands are already  fatigued from burnout. And when there's a higher demand for cortisol, they  burn out even more. All right, so that's how the liver contributes to adrenal  fatigue.  

The other way, of course, is when your liver is sluggish, you are digesting your  food less. So you're not absorbing enough nutrients to support or re-nourish  your adrenal system. So it's all interconnected. And then also what happens is  when your liver is sluggish, you see, your liver helps convert your thyroid hormone into the active form.  

And with a sluggish liver, the active form of your thyroid hormone is in smaller  amounts so your metabolism is compromised. When your metabolism is  comprised, your adrenal glands have to work much harder, and they burn out  much faster, as well, that way.  

Interviewer: Yeah, and you had mentioned earlier the role of the liver in detoxifying  the sex hormones. Can you touch on that real briefly, as well? Because I think  that's such a big one. I think a lot of times we have these hormonal  imbalances and maybe the first thing we should do is clean up the liver.  

How to treat Hormonal imbalance

Dr. Aggarwal: Exactly. So a lot of women who experience PMS symptoms, they  usually have a progesterone deficiency and estrogen dominance. And the liver  is a master organ for your hormones. So we have to correct liver imbalance  when treating hormones.  

And then a lot of people who are on the birth control pill or any other  medications, it compromises liver function. And with a compromised liver  function, they continue to compromise it further by continuing on these  hormonal pills. So it's really hard to correct until they agree to come off some  of these pills or just support the liver while taking some of these medications.

Interviewer: I think one of the most amazing things about the liver is what a resilient  organ it is. We've talked about a lot of these things that can impact our liver  and really so many different things the liver is responsible for detoxifying. But  it's one of the most amazing organs, that it can literally regenerate itself,  right? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, it's a beautiful organ, especially when you give it the right  antioxidants and the right herbs. It really takes care of itself. 

Interviewer: Let's talk a little bit about that. What are some of the ways that we can  detoxify our liver and then just generally things that we can do to support it  ongoing? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Okay. So let's start with the basics. First thing is eating  right. So removing inflammatory foods is key first. So that's the gluten, dairy  for sensitive individuals, and look at other food sensitivities. When you remove  inflammatory foods, there's less inflammation, so less damage to the liver.  

Secondly, is increasing the amount of fiber, so green vegetables. When you  have more fiber, you pull out toxins more out of your body through your stool.  And so that protects your liver. The next step is to have more bitter greens.  Bitter foods actually stimulates more bile flow and more detoxification from  your liver. So have things like greens and just bitter foods like bitter gourd  because that will stimulate bile flow. And that's the basics.  

Natural herbs for Weight loss

Then because your liver detoxifies a lot, it's exposed to a lot of toxic damage,  free radical damage. So it needs high levels of antioxidants. So what you need  to do is have things like berries and vitamin A, E, C, and alpha lipoic acid,  CoQ10. These are all supplements you can have to protect liver from oxidative  damage.  

And then I also use beautiful herbs: milk thistle, dandelion, artichoke leaf.  These are fantastic herbs that protect the liver. So they actually stimulate regeneration of liver cells. And they stimulate the liver to detoxify itself. So  that's the basic in terms of nutrition and herbs.  

Then I also specialize in homeopathy. And there's fantastic homeopathic  remedies to help support your liver. And the main ones that I use is something  called nux vomica. And it's great for hangovers, as well. And lycopodium is a  fantastic liver remedy, as well.  

And two or three others are phosphorus, china, and chelidonium. So these are  homeopathic forms. And depending on the unique symptoms of the patient, I'll  use a specific homeopathic remedy. Nux vomica is great for people who have  constipation, for example, especially when their stool is like little sheep balls. 

Interviewer: And is that something that you would have people take daily or based  on symptoms? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Okay. So the remedies are based on symptoms. Of course, the  diet, fiber, the high antioxidant foods and stuff, that's the daily routine. The  homeopathic remedies depends on the symptoms if they are suffering because  I don't want to make the body dependent on supplements and herbs and  things.  

I would say if you're symptom free, I generally would recommend a liver detox  every three months. Just do a bottle of milk thistle complex or something with  milk thistle dandelion and artichoke leaves in there, just to stimulate the liver  to regenerate itself. And turmeric is also a great herb, by the way. Turmeric is  very protective the liver. So I'll often add turmeric to my cooking. 

Interviewer: Yeah, and it adds that beautiful color, the yellow rich color to it. You  had mentioned artichoke. That's one of my favorite remedies also for  cholesterol. Can you talk a little bit about the link between the liver and our  cholesterol levels?

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah. So basically your liver's in control of your sugar  metabolism and fat storage. And so it really controls your cholesterol  metabolism as well. And when your liver's compromised, of course, you're  going to make imbalanced levels of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides.  

And when your body is in an inflamed state, there's a lot of damage going on  in your blood vessels in different areas of your body so your liver has to  produce more LDL in order to repair the damage. So what we got to do to help  manage cholesterol levels is not only depend on statin drugs, of course, is to  really repair the liver and reduce inflammation. 

How to naturally lower Cholesterol

Interviewer: Yeah, I love the thistle plant. They're such beautiful plants- milk thistle  and artichoke. When they bloom, just the colors. They're such amazing,  beautiful plants. 

Dr. Aggarwal: It's true, right? Nature's good for us. It gives us beauty and  medicine in the same package. 

Interviewer: Exactly. So I know you'd mentioned exercise before. That's an  interesting one. What about castor oil packs? Is that something you like for  liver? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, so castor oil packs is a common way of detoxifying the  liver. What you do is so your liver is on your right side underneath your right  rib. And what I recommend patients do is rub castor oil, try and get organic  castor oil, of course. Rub it over your right rib cage so just underneath the  right nipple of your right breast down to the edge of your ribs.  

And then place a white cloth on there, a very thin white cloth and then a hot  water bottle. The heat drives the castor oil in through the liver and flushes the  liver out. And what that does it softens your stool. It helps with constipation.  But I never recommend it during menses. So if somebody's menstruating, they  should not do the castor oil pack because it's too much flow then. You lose too much blood. And then the research is not clear whether castor oil packs are  okay to use during cancer and metastasis, as well. So I want us to be careful  around that time. 

Interviewer: And probably pregnancy, as well. 

Dr. Aggarwal: And pregnancy, as well, absolutely. And over broken skin, yeah, definitely. And if you're getting too many loose stools because of the  castor oil packs, of course you can cut back on it. And you generally leave the  castor oil pack for about an hour. So you do it when you go to bed. And after  an hour just take it off. 

Interviewer: That's something I've never tried, but I'm interested to try it. I think I  will give that a try. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, it has a very calming effect. 

Interviewer: Nice. You also find acupuncture beneficial, as well. I love acupuncture.  My entire family goes to acupuncture, including my two kids. They started  when they were fairly young. Tell me a little bit about how acupuncture can  support our liver. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Acupuncture is like one of my favorite remedies. So  acupuncture is based on putting needles in certain points on your body. And  each of these points connects to an emotion on an organ and helps that organ  function better or detoxify better. And so most acupuncturists will often treat  the liver during a normal acupuncture session because the liver stores, how  do I say, regularly, it's the control of chi, of energy, throughout your body a  lot.  

So there's a common point on your foot between your large toe and the second  toe, just behind the web of that toe junction. That's called liver three. And it's  given a number. And it's the master point for the liver. And you have other points, your rib cage and different points of your leg that either can cool down  too much heat in your liver or can stimulate the flow of blood through your  liver. So a lot of people with menstrual issues or depression, anxiety they  definitely need their liver treated, as well as your adrenal glands and the  kidneys. So acupuncture takes care of all these organs in a very synergistic  way. 

Interviewer: Yeah, I love that word "synergistic" because that's what Chinese  medicine is. That's what functional medicine is. That's what our metabolism  needs is all of these synergies coming together and working together. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Exactly. There's too much isolation of organs going on in  the common medical paradigms. And that's creating a blockage in another  system. When you only focus on one organ and the other organ is ignored, it  creates an imbalance.  

So heat or toxins build up in one area while you're trying to free up the other  area. You just keep on repeating treatment after treatment after treatment.  When you use a synergistic approach, everything rebalances itself, and you  don't need medication anymore after that. 

Interviewer: Yeah, Margaret Gerson said the quote about when the body heals, the  whole body heals. I'm sure I'm messing it up, but it's when you use foods and  these natural approaches, you heal everything together. And that's what the  body is needing. Tell me a little bit about, I know you practice something  called Bowen body therapy. What is that? 

How to reduce Inflammation

Dr. Aggarwal: Bowen, it's a therapy started in Australia. It's one of the  strangest therapies I've ever learned. And I find it one of the best treatments  for chronic pain actually. So you just make small, rolling moves over different  muscle points and different acupressure points, and you leave the body for  two minutes.

What happens is the body actually starts resetting itself. So compensated  areas in your body, usually muscle tension or stored emotions start letting go.  After two minutes, I come back and do another move. And you repeat this  process for about an hour. Depending on the symptoms or the condition, you  chose different areas to stimulate. And then you leave.  

Then the next treatment you can only repeat after five to eight days because in  that gap, the body is actually shifting on its own. So it's a very deep, self healing therapy. The body starts taking over the healing metabolism, the  healing mechanism. And why that's powerful is because your body has an  innate knowledge on how to heal itself. So when you cut yourself, for example,  the wound will heal on its own because your body knows what to do. And  Bowen therapy facilitates that healing process. Very powerful. 

Interviewer: I love that. I think that's such a powerful statement that the body really  does have this innate ability and drive to reach this state of homeostasis. And  if we can understand where these symptoms are coming from and to support  the body holistically, it can heal in many instances. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Completely. And even with the mind. If somebody's  having a bad day and you give them a hug, suddenly they'll feel better. You  don't have to give them instructions, “Okay, smile now.” Automatically the  body lets go of stuff and comes to a better state of itself, the mind comes to a  better state, because literally your mind and body has an innate ability to heal  itself. It's a natural intelligence we have built into us. Life has it built into  itself for its automatic survival. 

Interviewer: So I think another one, Dr. Aggarwal, is the B vitamins. I know that they  are so important in liver function, and one of the issues is there's so many  ways that we're getting depleted, especially things like B6. When we take  hormones or contraceptives, that depletes vitamin B6 and again we see that a  lot of times in gallbladder trouble.

Dr. Aggarwal: So vitamin B6 is extremely important for a lot of functions in  your body, especially for the creation of neurotransmitters. And people on the  birth control pill and excessive alcohol, too much caffeine and just toxins, B6  is depleted from the body. And then people suffer from more adrenal fatigue as  well as more anxiety and depression and compromised detoxification  processes because B vitamins are extremely important to enhance liver  detoxification. 

Interviewer: Okay. Well, is there anything else that we haven't touched on today in  our discussion? Well, of course, there's many, many things. But was there any  final thoughts you wanted to leave before we moved from the liver? Because I  wanted to ask you about your charity work. 

Dr. Aggarwal: So when I was in Canada, I had a dream of returning to Kenya  and doing mobile clinics in remote communities. And so I wrote a book to help  fund this, and I'm still working on promoting the book. Basically I go out to  remote areas that don't have medical services. And I supervise students and  doctors from around the world who come and volunteer with me. And we go  and treat these people with mainly homeopathy.  

And now what I'm doing is I'm fundraising to help get books and teaching  material because I want to educate doctors in these remote areas and any  healthcare workers and nurses to use integrated medicine, to use simple tools  like homeopathy and diet and nutrition to protect the immunity of these  people because a lot of people in remote villages, if they do get medicine, it's  mostly antibiotics and antimalarials.  

Of course, antimalarials are needed. However, sometimes antibiotics are over prescribed in a lot of these areas. So you'll see children with chronic infections  and eye infections, just because their immune system has been compromised  from poor use of medication. So I really want to help these people have a more  integrated approach to healthcare.

Interviewer: So, now, you founded this charity or was this charity already in place  and you joined up with them? I'd love to hear a little bit more about that. 

Dr. Aggarwal: It was actually myself and a group of naturopathic doctors. We  founded it together in Canada. And it operates in Kenya. So, yeah, it was just  a stroke of good luck, found the right people to help support and create this  charity. And then I moved back to Kenya. And I started doing this part-time  and then, as well, working full-time in Nairobi and Skyping around the world.  

Interviewer: That's so amazing. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, I'm looking to actually sell a million copies of my book  hopefully one day and just self-fund this mobile clinic full-time because I  think this medicine needs to go out to these areas, as well. 

Interviewer: So your book Feel Good, is that the book you're talking about? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, that's the book I'm talking about. I wrote it. It's a  combined approach to treating anxiety and depression and a lot of other  therapies by healing emotions as well as treating the liver, the digestive system, and the adrenal system, holistic through naturopathic medicine.  

Interviewer: Well, it sounds like an amazing book, and your charity sounds  wonderful. If there are people that want to donate or get involved or be a part  of this, can you tell them where they can go? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah! Thanks for this opportunity. Yeah. So the website  is FIMAfrica.org. That's Foundation Integrated Medicine Africa. People can  donate through there. And then on my website DrAmeet.com there's a link to  the book, and the more books people buy from Amazon then the more chance  we have of doing more mobile clinics. So I'd appreciate it either way. It would  be a blessing. Thank you. 

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Interviewer: Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. You get all this great  information from your book, and you're helping all these people in Kenya get  medical care and such good medical care in that. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Thank you. Yeah, I hope it takes off and sustains itself  long enough, well enough. 

Interviewer: How long have you been doing this? 

Dr. Aggarwal: I came back to Kenya in about 2008. And so I ran it for a  couple of years straight. And then I had to take a break just because I had to  work full-time in Nairobi. And I'm going back now. I'm planning to do some  fundraising and promote the book. And with enough funding then we'll  continue it. So we'll be doing one in April. I have a bunch of students coming  from Rome so and I'll do it just more often now with more and more students  coming down. 

Interviewer: Well, good. Well, keep me posted. I'd love to stay in touch and hear how  everything's going. And if there's any way we can support, I love what you're  doing. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Thank you. I'll send you pictures. 

Interviewer: Please do. Tell me a little bit more about Kenya. I've never been there,  and I'd love to go some time. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Oh, you got to come. It's magic. Really it's magic. I mean it's  what you see in the movies. It's stunning scenery, perfect weather, and okay  it's a mixture of of course poverty and wealth and corruption. There's other  sides to it as well.  

However, when you're here, you're alive. You're on your toes. It's survival. And  it's like the wild life you see. It's the animals you see as well all about survival.

And you'll see some amazing things out here like elephants bathing in the  river, palm trees bordering the river, and then lions hunting, cheetahs hiding  in the grass. It's really primitive life happening right in front of you. 

Interviewer: Oh, that's amazing. 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yeah, it's magic. Come. You're most welcome.  

Interviewer: Well, thank you so much, Dr. Aggarwal. Thank you for being here today  and for all that you do in Kenya and beyond.  

Dr. Aggarwal: Thank you. And one thing I'd like to mention is that we're  actually running health retreats here in Africa, combining all the Gestalt  therapy, the psychotherapy I do, with naturopathic medicine. So if anyone's  stressed or burnt out or wants to combine yoga and a safari, they're welcome  to get in touch with me. 

Interviewer: Oh, you run safaris where you practice. Oh, that sounds amazing! 

Dr. Aggarwal: It's like a health retreat/safari combination. 

Interviewer: Very cool. And that information in on DrAmeet.com? 

Dr. Aggarwal: Yep. It's all there. 

Interviewer: Good. Well, I encourage everyone to head on over there and get a copy of  Feel Good and learn a little bit more about what Dr. Ameet's doing. Thank you everyone for listening in today to The Metabolism  Summit. I hope this information can help support you in your journey to  reclaim your energy and vitality.

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