The Alkaline Lifestyle How-To Guide
The Alkaline Lifestyle How-To Guide
The Alkaline Lifestyle How-To Guide
all over her thigh and was wrapped in cling film giving an instant soothing effect, she was in
shock so we just looked after her and eventually she managed to sleep. In the morning
there was no swelling or discolouration and the pain had totally gone. She was able to
shower, even in hot water, and wear skinny jeans for breakfast although not before causing
the hotel to be evacuated by triggering the fire alarms with a can of dry shampoo! Anyway
a nice side effect of this event is that she no longer sees my remedies as being so weird.
Had it not been for the clay she certainly would have needed hospital treatment as I have
never even seen such a large, severe looking scald. The hotel staff were all looking very
concerned but my faith in clay allowed me to be fully confident that an ambulance was not
going to be required.
Another time I hit one of my knuckles badly. It swelled up to about double the normal size
and turned red then purple in a matter of minutes. I packed it in clay and held it in the air
and in an hour it looked and felt totally normal and healthy.
I injured my foot causing significant swelling and was unable to walk or put any weight on it.
After wearing a thick clay pack with my leg elevated and then leaving the pack on overnight,
the foot was fully healed with zero pain the following morning.
Yesterday, at the time of writing this, my friends mum fell off a ladder and sprained her
ankle, with her ankles being a weak spot for her. She has sprained both ankles a number of
times in the past and they often take quite a while to heal. She couldnt walk and I had to
carry her into the house! Clay was applied which she kept on overnight and this morning
there was zero pain and we walked in the woods for an hour without any problem. Another
great example. And none of these stories are exaggerated, they were all quite serious or
severe, if I seem blas it is just because clay is so dependable that it no longer seems
remarkable. The only difficulty is the logistics of getting the clay mixed with water correctly
and using cling wrap and Sellotape so that the clay doesnt leak.
It can be used in place of toothpaste and I soak my gums with clay by holding a spoonful of
it in my mouth for 20-30mins or for as long as possible. This heals or maintains health of the
gums and also loosens any plaque. I went to the dentist for the first time in 10 years and
when he asked the assistant to comment on my gums and oral hygiene and she said both
were extremely good. He asked what brand of fluoride toothpaste I use and was surprised
to hear about my use of clay, but the assistant later said in her home country of Zimbabwe
that clay is well known for its healing properties.
I have many other stories about how clay has quickly healed sprains, swelling, bites and
more and so I recommend looking into it and keeping it in your first aid kit. It works by
drawing acids away from the injury site so that the body can heal naturally. It is also very
healing for the small and large intestine and so using it internally is a good idea.
This website explains in detail about all the many different ways to prepare and use clay
internally and externally: http://www.eytonsearth.org/
6:00 pm: Raw Soup, juice or smoothie and (optional) capsule supplements
7:009:00 pm: Alkaline water.
9:00 pm: Test the pH of your urine with a pH Test Strip. If the urine pH is below 7.2 take 2
teaspoons of 4-Salts in 5 ounces of water.
Try juicing cucumber, kale, broccoli, celery, lettuce, chard, spinach, when you're juicing you
can use carrot or beet to sweeten the taste; but, they contain sugar, so you always want to
use them moderately. If you are dealing with an acute condition, you don't want to use
them at all.
My favourite smoothie at the time of writing this is as follows:
Blend an avocado with around a pint of water (using a stick blender which is very quick
and easy to clean) then stir in the juice of one head of broccoli and a whole cucumber and
a pinch of salt. Also juicing parsley, celery and a few leaves of Cavelo Nero kale makes this
pretty much the perfect drink. You can even run a few almonds through the juicer to make
it even more sweet and creamy. Stevia leaf might help you enjoy this more in the
beginning while your tastes are still changing.
I can do this, including the cleaning of my juicer, in around ten minutes it just takes
practice. When using broccoli, you will want to consume the juice right away as the
special and delicate antioxidants start to die quite quickly so I often find myself sipping my
smoothie as I clean the juicer. Have the avocado cut and spooned into the water before
you start juicing as that will save time too so you just blend it then stir in the fresh juice
and start drinking. I will upload a video on YouTube to show how to do all this.
Info about 4 Salts: http://www.phmlife.com/supplements/phour-salts/
http://www.phmiracleliving.com/s-12-whole-body-cleanse.aspx
go) Monitor the reaction in your body if you feel fine then, as each day passes you can
start adding more greens powder to each green drink you make. If you feel confident from
the start then you may want to experiment with stronger doses right away. Before long you
can build up to the full maximum dose of 5 pH drops per litre too.
Some signs of a detox reaction include headaches, runny nose, flu-like symptoms,
frequent loose bowel movements, skin eruptions.
If you experience any of the above symptoms it is perfectly safe and natural. It means old
stores of toxins in the body are being mobilized into the blood for elimination. However to
avoid discomfort, if you think you may be detoxing too fast, just lower the dose and the
symptom/s should pass quickly. Over time as your body becomes more alkaline and
cleansed, you will have no trouble tolerating the full doses as described on the product
containers (1x scoop greens per litre and 5 x pH drops per litre)
Once you are well and truly used to the greens and pH drops you can start to increase the
dose to really speed up the process of alkalizing and energizing. One scoop per litre is a
great maintenance dose but if you have a health challenge or if you need increased nutrition
for sport or exercise then it is advised that you use 2-3 scoops per litre. So basically, start
off with scoop of greens with 1 or 2 drops of pH liquid per litre and build up over time to
taking 1-3 scoops of greens with up to 5 pH drops per litre.
You can skip the pH drops if you are using good alkaline water if you want. Also, you can
use liquid chlorophyll instead of the powdered greens. As long as you are getting plenty
of electrons, be it from the powdered greens, ionized water or from both, then you will be
progressing well. If I had to choose an essential it would be the ionized water, with
ionized greens being an optional, albeit exceptional product to use.
Powdered greens: http://www.phmlife.com/supplements/doc-brocs-supergreens/
These are the pH drops: http://www.phmlife.com/supplements/puriphy-2-oz/
There are other products from the pH Miracle brand on that phmlife.com site. You cant
really go wrong with any of them as the quality is very high and they are all designed to
meet the needs of people wanting to alkalize and energize themselves.
Some examples of what you may experience from the greens:
Increased energy, reduced cravings for sugar, caffeine etc. Desire to eat healthy food. Better
sleep (this is very common, not least due to increased hydration). Start losing weight. Start
gaining weight (if needed)
PLEASE NOTE: The dormant factors in powdered greens become activated once introduced
to water and so should be consumed within 30-40 minutes, best within the first 10 mins.
1. The efficiency of the digestive system to deal with what you ate the night before, i.e., the
first and second AM urine and saliva pH. These numbers will change from day to day if you
are living an eating acidic. When you begin the pH Miracle Living Plan you will see the pH of
the urine and saliva become more constant and balanced at a pH of 7.2 or higher.
2. How well you treat yourself in general, i.e., how 'strong' the salivary glands, stomach,
pancreas, gallbladder and liver are in dealing with excess acidity. This is once again the AM
urine and saliva pH. This number shows the overall state of your health, the condition of the
alkaline reserve of your body which reflects the diet you have been eating over the last
months and years. This pH number stays rather constant and will only change after some
work has been done in alkalizing and energizing the body as outlined in the pH Miracle
books. Since the saliva and urine pH is an indicator of intracellular pH, saliva and urine pH
readings should never be below the pH of the phosphate buffer system, 6.8. (See below).
The most accurate readings of saliva and urine pH is recorded immediately upon awakening-after sleeping at least five hours and before brushing your teeth.
It is during sleep that the body removes waste and is in an anabolic state restoring and
replenishing the body. For example, if you have a saliva or urine pH of 5.5 and only 5.6 after
eating, you know that you are deficient in alkaline reserve and your body is devoid of the
minerals necessary to process food properly -- your body cannot adequately respond to the
physiological crisis of handling food or drink that is acidic.
3. The pH of your saliva and urine after you eat or drink gives you an indication of your
alkaline mineral reserves and your body's ability to deal with the acid residues created from
the digestion of that food or drink. It is normal for your pH number to increase after you eat
or drink not stay static or decrease. A decrease, once again indicates your inability to deal
with acid, the deficiency of alkaline reserves and the build-up of latent tissue acidosis. Even
if you think of a food like an avocado or a lemon the pH of your saliva should increase by a
whole point. This simple test indicates you have sufficient alkaline reserve minerals to pull
into your digestive system to begin the digestive and alkaline buffering process.
The ideal urine and saliva pH pattern is 7.2 on awakening, 6.8 to 7.2 before eating and 7.2 to
8.5 following any alkaline meal or drink. A simple test can be done at most any time of the
day by eating a few almonds.
This will check the adequacy of the alkaline reserve of the body. When a healthy person
with adequate alkaline reserves eats a few almonds, the saliva pH almost immediately goes
up to a pH of 8.4. The more acidic the food that is eaten, the more rapid the response of the
alkaline reserve, and the higher the saliva pH should be following a meal.
4. The pH of the saliva and urine between meals should be kept in the basic range, pH 7.2 or
higher. After one eats, the stomach releases its necessary sodium bicarbonate to help
alkalize the food. While doing this action, it also makes an equivalent amount of base or
baking soda, sodium bicarbonate that is picked up by the blood stream and delivered to the
alkaline glands of the body, the saliva, the pancreas, the gallbladder, the pylorus glands in
the duodenum and the liver. The maximum amount of base in the blood and therefore in
the urine and saliva occurs one to two hours after you eat.
This rhythm of the acid and base flow of the body is called by Frederick F. Sander, the Basefloods and the Base-tides of the Acid-Base household. This information was first published
in 1930, by Frederick F. Sander, a German scientist, in a book called, The Acid-Base
Household of the Human Organism and its cooperation with the nail circulation and the
rhythm of the Liver. In his book he states that the body fluids and therefore the urine is
most acid at 2:00 A.M. (pH 5.0 to 6.8) in the morning (the base tide) and most alkaline at
2:00 P.M. (pH 7.0 to 8.5) in the afternoon (base flood).
'The ideal pH numbers depend on the time of day. Plotted on a curve it looks like the double
hump of the back of a camel. Two times a day the urine should be alkaline and that is the
top of the humps and corresponds to 10 A.M. and 2 P.M., the alkaline tide after meals.
During the rest of the day the pH should be between 6.8 and 7.2. This is optimal urine. The
first urine in the morning should be more acidic because of the decalcification that takes
place during the night in neutralizing excess acids.'
If all the acids generated in a day from digestion, respiration, metabolism and degeneration
are not all flushed out during the night they accumulate, day after day. The results are the
expression of states of imbalance as the body desperately tries to maintain the alkaline fluid
pH at 7.365. The day to day buildup of acids affects each of us differently depending on our
genetics, lifestyle and diet. I have found that acids settle in the weakest parts of the body
and if not eliminated through the bowels, urinary system, lungs or skin, acids are then
bound to fat and stored on our hips, thighs, stomach, breasts and brain. Bottom-line acids
are the expression of all symptomologies and the direct cause of ALL sickness and disease.
Monitoring your saliva and urine pH puts the responsibility of caring for your health back
into your hands. Measuring the saliva and urine pH guides your therapy and shows you how
living, eating and drinking determines the quality and quantity of your life.
You should monitor your saliva and urine each day for at least 12 weeks or until you
establish your balanced pH at 7.2. Once you have established a balanced saliva and urine pH
at 7.2 you can reduce the number of tests to once a day or 2 to 3 times a week.
these are the best times for cleansing, but again this is flexible. Or, if you feel good you can
just continue with the smoothies and juices long-term. Personally I view juices and
smoothies as the ideal way of eating as it saves time trying to create meals or recipes, they
are pre-digested i.e. they are in liquid form so they dont require lots of chewing and also
juices provide plenty of blood-building chlorophyll.
There are things that anyone can do easily without much effort. Switch to organic animal
produce, have a green smoothie 2 or 3 (or more) times per week think of this as a blended
salad of avocado, salad leaves, tomato, celery (peeled celery ideally) with water and some
unprocessed salt. Reduce sweet fruit, only eat ripe organic fruit and never eat fruit for
desert as it will ferment on top of your main meal. Reduce or cut out mushrooms, vinegar,
processed food, and sugar. Quit wheat, rye, barley and oats use spelt instead for bread
and pasta and use gluten-free porridge made from quinoa, millet and rice flakes and
experiment with having freshly cooked quinoa, millet or buckwheat with avocado and veg
for breakfast. My favourite breakfast is a green smoothie, juiced greens and oil, or maybe
just almond milk. Swap normal chocolate for organic chocolate or even better use raw
chocolate instead (raw chocolate is the best option, but cacao is still acidic, despite claims
saying it can be used therapeutically and so dont go overboard with it). Whatever you do,
the one universal thing for everyone is to eat/drink more greens! Also you need to make
sure you eat enough, this isnt a starvation diet. You need lots of nutrient dense foods to
repair and rebuild a strong healthy body, so never go hungry. If you are overweight you will
need to eat more in order to lose weight. Chewing is essential as food must be liquefied if it
is to be absorbed and turned into blood in the intestines. Blending/juicing is excellent as
food is liquefied (like baby food!) ready to be turned into blood cells. The stomach really
does nothing to break-down lumps of un-chewed as the stomach doesnt have teeth.
If you drink alcohol then drink the best quality thats available and be sure to drink 1 or 2
pints of alkaline water sometime before going to bed as overall you will sleep more deeply
even if it means you need the bathroom in the night. If you smoke tobacco and want to cut
down then switch to the brand American Spirit as this brand doesnt have added chemicals
unlike regular brands which have up to 3000 toxic preservatives added. It is actually the
chemical additives which cause strong addiction and which damage your health. Switching
brands will reduce the toxicity and lower the addictive nature of smoking which will help
you to be healthier in the short term and also help you quit in the long run. Cold turkey is a
fine option too if you are up to it, and drinking several litres of greens will eliminate any
physical withdrawal symptoms.
I personally have been taking up to 200 milligrams because high doses are necessary for
eliminating bromide, fluoride and chlorine from the pineal and thyroid (nothing else is
capable of displacing these toxic halides) and also for providing every cell with the amount
of iodine necessary for health. Iodine is alkalizing too and its importance cannot be
overstated. Hair mineral analysis is a great way to assess what nutrients you are lacking and
do not rely on blood tests as they are not accurate for many nutrients, and the ranges are
often very forgiving. You can be told your levels are healthy when in fact they are far from
optimum. Try to work with an experienced professional if you have any doubts.
Some people say supplements are a waste of time but it is physically impossible to remove
toxic halides such as bromide, fluoride and chlorine without using iodine and as you will
learn, you must take the companion supplements to support higher doses of iodine as diet
will not provide enough of the minerals required to compliment iodine therapy.
Any generic Lugols iodine will work well and it is widely available. Nascent iodine is another
option but it contains alcohol. The LL Magnetic Clay brand uses grape alcohol which is
better than grain alcohol and you can use warm water to evaporate it (add iodine to warm
water and leave for 5 mins). You can maybe alternate to see which form you prefer, I find
that Lugols in ionized water works the best overall.
Start small, build up gradually and invest a little time learning about iodine usage. You could
maybe take 1-2 drops of Lugols in a glass of water on an empty stomach in the morning,
and see how you feel. You will need to take a multi vitamin and mineral to support the
process of detoxification and also make sure you have good salt in your diet.
If you get a headache or backache, put half a tsp of salt in 5oz of water, drink this and then
follow with a litre of pure water and the pain will go quickly. Iodine displaces bromide which
can cause discomfort when it accumulates in the kidneys salt will flush it out. Salt pushing
is essential when building up to higher doses of iodine to prevent problems. To make it
easier just prepare a litre of water with salt in and carry that around with you. It is also a
good idea to take extra zinc, selenium and magnesium (2g of magnesium chloride per day).
Actually the selenium is essential and you should take 200-400mcg of selenium in the form
of selenomethionine per day when using higher doses of iodine.
Just google for nascent or Lugols iodine reviews on amazon and you will see the sort of
results people are getting. It helps with mental clarity, eyesight, hearing, all kinds of cysts,
diabetes, arthritis, inflammation, lungs, low body temperature, kills infections, mold and
pathogens, it can get rid of food poisoning symptoms very quickly, protects from radiation,
helps the prostate, breasts and reproductive system/fertility, adrenals, decalcifies the pineal
gland (causing vivid dreaming and improved meditation etc.) and restores proper thyroid
function but I am really just scratching the surface here. If you do nothing else besides
drinking more water and green juices), buy some iodine and then use it!
http://drsircus.com/medicine/iodine/iodine-rescue
http://youtu.be/oDRd40VK5PY
Advanced level:
When you are more competent with your healthy lifestyle you might want to think about
cleansing your body on an even deeper level.
Colon cleansing:
Colon cleansing can provide a massive boost in health, energy and feelings of wellbeing.
Health begins in the core of the body and a deep-clean in this area will often yield seemingly
miraculous results. Modern processed food can cause masses of undigested wastes and
mucus to become stuck in the colon and lymphatic system. This will compromise the
digestion and assimilation of nutrients causing the body to be malnourished. Undigested
debris will produce toxins and putrefaction which pollutes the body, paralyses white blood
cells and makes it hard to hold a proper pH. This is an extreme example, but John Wayne
who died of cancer had 50-60 pounds of undigested meat in his digestive tract.
A colon cleanse using clay, psyllium and specific herbs will clear all this waste and the effects
will be reflected in how you look and feel. My favourite cleanse-kit is made by Arise and
shine and the link is provided below.
You will feel like a different person after the cleanse and many people report massive
changes in their health. Cravings, allergies and health problems can disappear or reduce
and digestion will improve. It helps with clearing yeast, fungi, and parasites by improving the
drainage and elimination of acid wastes. Do the basic groundwork first by following a good
diet for a while and then look to do a colon cleanse if/when you feel ready.
Clay which is used in the cleanse, is alkaline and has a powerful effect on healing and
cleansing the small intestine (where blood cells are produced)
Good mental and emotional health begins in the colon. If the gut is filled with junk, this will
affect your mood/emotions and the quality of your thoughts. Dr Young refers to the
intestines as the primary brain and if there is a problem here such as constipation and
toxicity, it will cause anxiety and stress.
Arise and shine colon cleanse results (emotional releasing) http://youtu.be/Ocb-Kojp6TY
How to do a Colon cleanse:
Here you can take a look at a colon cleanse schedule:
http://www.ariseandshine.com/cleansing/cleanse-guides.html
The only thing that concerned me about the cleanse schedule is the advice to avoid all salt,
even unprocessed salt. A month is a long time to go without salt in my opinion and
especially when cleansing, but celery juice will easily keep sodium levels topped up as celery
is high in organic sodium.
Liver flushing:
The idea of doing a liver-flush is to push out the old accumulations of coagulated bile which
can build up in the bile ducts. Basically, when there is more acid and poison in your day-today life than the body can eliminate (drugs, medication, poor diet) they get solidified and
become stuck in the liver. Because of this the flow of bile is reduced, digestion becomes
impaired and overall health will be affected. A liver flush involves taking Epsom salts to
temporarily widen or dilate the bile ducts, then you drink some olive oil mixed with
grapefruit juice, which triggers the sudden release of bile through the liver, and this tidal
wave effect easily pushes all solid obstructions out of the dilated bile ducts and into the
intestine for elimination. It is a very simple procedure but I will give full details further on.
Liver flushing on YouTube: http://youtu.be/DnnlnAsRP20
After cleaning my liver, which required me to repeat this procedure about 20 or 30 times
due to all the drugs and junk food I had used, I noticed that my breathing had improved. My
liver was so congested that it had been obstructing my right lung because it was too large
from being full of old accumulations. Once the liver was back to its normal size my lungs
could inflate fully on both sides. My digestion of fats and other foods improved significantly
and there were no more twinges in the liver area. I instantly lost interest in coffee and my
health and energy improved. Also, my chemical sensitivities massively improved to the
point where paint and other fumes dont give me headaches. In general, right after each
liver flush, I felt cleaner and fresher and like my body had been restored to a better level of
health.
If you are someone who regularly cleanses/detoxes but never feel fully cleansed and often
swing or yoyo between clean eating and dirty food, then you may just need a good colon
or liver flush. When you have a large amount of old acidic junk lodged in your body
(including old emotional toxicity which is held in the liver and colon) you will never fully feel
cleansed, even on a raw diet as you will still be resonating with foods which have the same
makeup as the acidic residues in your body. People may view you as obsessive, orthorexic
and so on, but in many cases the cause is more physical than it is psychological. If this
sounds like you, then ignore the doubters, trust your own instincts and the messages given
by your body and work towards doing a deep-clean of the liver and colon.
On the other hand, sometimes people feel weak and tired and think that they are full of
toxins/poisons/heavy metals as that seems to them like the only explanation for how they
feel, when really they are just severely lacking electrons or electrical energy. In this case
they will notice the biggest difference from just drinking ionized water, green juices and
eating an alkaline diet. Go for the easiest fruit from the tree first, then if you are still not
right, think about trying a liver flush.
later, when you drink the olive oil, there is maximum pressure for forcing the stones out. If
you eat fat on the flush day with breakfast or lunch, your bile gets used up for digestion.
Recap: So its breakfast in the morning, then lunch around 1pm, drink some water before
breakfast and between meals (several litres in total on the flush day).
Then, at 5pm take 2 to 3 teaspoons of Magnesium oxide which can optionally be mixed with
some buffered vitamin C powder (50/50 mix) in about 10 oz of water. So its 1 tsp mag
oxide with 1 tsp Vit C or, just 2 to 3 teaspoons of plain magnesium oxide with no vitamin
C. After 10-20 mins (or at about 5.30) drink a good amount of warmish water and make
sure you can quickly access a toilet once it takes effect. Magnesium oxide will empty your
bowels so that when you do the liver flush, the stones will be able to pass without
obstruction. You can do colonics/enema if you prefer)
Next, dissolve 4 tablespoons of Epsom salts into 750ml of water. This will make 4 x equal
servings of about 185ml each)
6pm take one 185ml serving of your Epsom salt solution (this dilates the bile ducts in the
liver) 20 mins later Drink lots of warmish water to really flush your bowels and to replace
the water that you are losing as water should be going straight through you like a racehorse
at this stage. You can and should drink more water, but should stop drinking by 7:30
8pm take another serving of Epsom salts solution (this dilates the bile ducts in the liver). 20
mins later drink more warm water. You can and should drink more water, but stop drinking
by 9:30.
10pm This is the part of the procedure where you drink the oil and grapefruit mix. This is
made by mixing 125ml of good quality olive oil with about 225ml grapefruit juice. Put the
oil and grapefruit in a bottle and shake hard, you can shake again when the oil separates.
Drink it whilst standing by your bedside, being sure to get it all down within 5 minutes (hold
nose if necessary, but I actually quite enjoy drinking it!) and then get straight into bed. Lie
down flat on your back with head elevated on 2 pillows. Do not change position for at least
an hour. Relax your mind. You may feel the stones travelling out of your liver into the
intestine. If you feel nauseous try to ride it out as this means you are passing large stones.
Avoid moving too much/going to toilet in the night. If you have drunk sufficient water up
until 9:30 as instructed your bowels should have eliminated everything and so you should
not have the urge to go to the toilet in the night.
Following morning 6am go to the toilet, you may notice that you pass some stones. Then
drink another 185 ml dose of Epsom salts, or instead, take 1-2 tsp of magnesium oxide. (I
prefer the magnesium oxide option myself as it tastes better and it is healthier too).
8am final dose of Epsom salts, or again use magnesium oxide.
You will go to the toilet lots in the morning and should see stones floating in the toilet like
the ones in my pictures.
Lunch at 12pm of steamed vegetables. Keep it low fat for a little while, maybe a bit of
avocado but nothing too heavy.
Liver flush notes:
If you use the magnesium oxide for the morning doses, you will only need to mix enough
Epsom salts for the 6 and 8pm doses, so just half the quantity you mix up. You will only need
375ml not 750ml.
In between doses of Epsom salts make sure you drink water otherwise you will get
dehydrated. Though you should wait 20 minutes before and after taking Epsom salts or
Magnesium oxide to avoid dilution.
Prepare the oil and grapefruit 10 minutes before 10pm and have it ready by your bedside.
Drink it and lie down right away if its not all down in 5 minutes you may not get any
stones out. Make sure you have prepared for bed and have done everything by 10pm.
Dont drink cold water at any stage in this procedure as this chills the liver and you may not
get any stones out.
Your first flush is the hardest as you wonder if youve done everything right and youre not
sure if youll get any stones out, but after the first flush it gets easier.
It is best to do any detoxing when the moon is waning and also, spring/summer and autumn
are best times of year.
After a few flushes I no longer wanted coffee and still do not ever crave it.
Here's a website where you can do more research on this:
http://curezone.com/cleanse/liver/huldas_recipe.asp
Here are some of the stones which were flushed from my liver. The spoon and coins are for
scale only, they didnt come out of my liver in case you wondered: