All organs of the body must purge toxic components in order to operate properly, although several organs have waste removal as their primary function: the liver, the lymphatic system and the kidneys. Other organs operate secondarily as waste removal machines: the gastrointestinal tract, the lungs and the skin. We call these organs that remove waste from the body “emunctories.”

Keeping your emunctories clean and increasing their waste removal capabilities ensures that toxicity isn’t building up in the body and is a critical method to keep our immune systems operating properly. You cannot stop a viral signal from occurring if your organs are full of toxins. Herbs are a great way to do this.

Here are the important plants for each region of the body or organ system that can easily complement a detoxification program and that tend to be most prominent in Western herbology, easy to grow and cultivate, and readily available from commercial suppliers.

Liver

The liver is easily the most well known of the organs of detoxification, but the symptoms of liver toxicity are less well known. Easily recognizable signs throughout the body can point to liver dysfunction and a need for herbal cleansing of this organ.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Dandelion is an all-around gentle purifier for both the liver and the kidneys. It clears congestion in these organs and “toxic heat” resulting from impurities in both our diets and the environment. When taken over long periods of time, dandelion can improve digestion and skin eruptions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis, which are often an expression of organ congestion.

Some detoxifying plants are best used before a toxic offense, but dandelion is so adaptable that it can be used before, during, or after a toxic insult, and it is safe for long-term consumption in adults and children.

Toxic livers and gallbladders will often present as pain under the right shoulder blade or tight and contracted muscles in the shoulder, particularly on the right side and up into the neck and the back of the head—often resulting in a temporal or dull frontal headache. Dandelion can help correct these referred musculoskeletal pains from the liver.

A slightly swollen and painful liver, which has a slight ache after drinking too much alcohol or eating too rich a meal, can also be a good indication for the use of dandelion.

Because of its broad and gentle applications, I often use dandelion as a base for many of my detox formulas, as well as recommend it as a tea that people can sip in the spring and summer, either hot or over ice.

Although the root is the primary portion of the dandelion used in tinctures, the leafy dandelion greens make an excellent addition to salads and are rich in vitamins B and C, minerals and antioxidants. Be sure to harvest them from a place far from roads, golf courses, and non-organic farms, which often have toxins, or buy organic ones at a market.