9 Must-Have Herbs for Cleansing the Body

Critics of detox diets argue that there’s a lack of solid scientific evidence supporting the necessity of detoxing. However, this doesn’t rule out the potential benefits of giving your body some extra support during its natural cleansing process.

Each day, our bodies are bombarded with toxins in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we consume, our personal care products, and even our homes. These toxins can strain and overpower our natural detoxification organs, such as the liver, lungs, kidneys, and lymphatic system.

Eventually, a buildup of toxins in the body can trigger various symptoms, like brain fog, headaches, exhaustion, fatigue, rashes, stiffness, and even body odor. These are just a few signs your body could use a detox. 

Alternatively, many natural health and wellness experts recommend regularly detoxing to give our cells, organs, and tissues a chance to heal and repair. That’s why adding herbs to your routine is a wonderful way to support the body’s natural cleansing processes. 

Made with 8 herbs supported by research for over a decade, Flor-Essence Liquid Tea Blend from Flora is a well-known, trusted, and potent herbal cleanse tea blend for natural health experts and enthusiasts.

For decades, people have relied on Flor•Essence to gently cleanse the whole body. Building upon the foundational 8 herbs found in Flor•Essence®, Flora now offers Flor•Essence Made with Organic Turkey Tail & Turmeric. This formula (formerly Immune•Essence) adds turkey tail and antioxidant turmeric to help support cleansing and immune health.*

Keep reading to learn about the powerful cleansing herbs found in these formulas.

Here are 9 herbs that can help cleanse the body.

1. Red Clover

Red clover’s pretty purplish-pink flowers, with a sweet vanilla-like flavor, are often dried and used in teas, tinctures, and capsules to support hormone balance in women. 

It’s also popularly used as a purifying herb that can support liver function and assist the body in removing waste products from our skin, fluids, and other tissues. (1)

Red clover also contains the mineral molybdenum, which studies show evidence may improve circulation. With good blood flow, your body can remove waste products from your bloodstream more quickly.

2. Burdock

Found growing wild throughout the U.S., burdock root is a biennial plant with 5 to 9-foot stalks and prickly purple tufted flower heads and is commonly mistaken as a weed. But it’s eaten around the world and is very popular in Japan.

Burdock root has been used as a jack-of-all-trades for centuries in herbal medicine to treat a variety of ailments. And studies show some of its active ingredients help remove heavy metals from the blood. (2)

It’s especially rich in a variety of nutrients, including powerful antioxidants like luteolin and apigenin that neutralize free radicals in the body, which can damage cells. (3) 

Burdock root also supports healthy circulation, which can help the body’s cleansing processes (4).

3. Sheep Sorrel 

Related to buckwheat and rhubarb, sheep sorrel isn’t a very well-known herb these days. But before citrus fruits became a staple in Europe, this perennial herb was regularly added to dishes to give them a dash of sour flavor. 

Becoming popular once again, Sheep Sorrel, which grows wild in the U.S., is packed with cell-purifying chlorophyll. It also provides nutritional support to the immune system with nutrients like vitamins A, C, magnesium, iron, potassium, manganese, copper, and B vitamins. 

A wonderful herb that supports the cleansing processes in the body, sheep sorrel contains one of the most potent antioxidants, called protocatechuic acid (PCA). Also found in green tea, PCA is a type of phenolic acid that protects cells from damage. (6) 

Sheep sorrel is also believed to promote a healthy liver, the organ responsible for cleansing and replenishing the blood. It acts as a gentle diuretic, promoting the flow of urine so waste products can be easily flushed away. (7)

4. Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable native to Asia known for its tart edible stalks that find their way into pies every spring. Used medicinally in China for over 5 thousand years, it has long been used to support well-being and cell cleansing.

Rhubarb is rich in nutrients and powerful antioxidants, including anthraquinones and polyphenols, which can protect cells from free-radical damage, support gut health, and feed our microbiome, which makes up 70% of our immune system. (8, 9)

Anthraquinones are beneficial for cleansing the body as they support liver function and gently promote regularity. (10) 

Rhubarb is also often used as a remedy to ease bloating and indigestion.

5. Slippery Elm Bark

Slippery elm bark is a scraping from the inner bark of the red elm tree. Native Americans have been using it as an herbal remedy for centuries, and is commonly used as a folk remedy for sore throats, stomach ulcers, and skin conditions. 

Rich in a beneficial substance called ‘mucilage’, slippery elm is a sticky substance soothing to irritated tissues and supports cleansing in the body. (11) 

Today, you can find it in a variety of supplements and products designed to reduce irritation in the digestive tract, which works to draw out impurities and waste products. 

Slippery elm also acts as a mild diuretic, encouraging waste products to be pushed out of the body. (12)

6. Watercress

Considered a “superfood,” watercress is a peppery and nutritious cruciferous leafy green often eaten and juiced for its powerful cleansing properties. On several food scoring models, it’s been rated one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables on earth.

Watercress contains over 50 vital vitamins, including vitamins A, B1, B6, beta-carotene, and magnesium, and antioxidants, including lutein and zeaxanthin. Gram for gram watercress has more calcium than milk and more Vitamin C than oranges. (13)

Often eaten and juiced to support cleansing, watercress contains phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC). This compound can help convert fat-soluble wastes stored in the body into water-soluble wastes so they can be easily expelled out of the body through urine and sweat. (14, 15)

7. Blessed Thistle

Native to the Mediterranean and used for 2000 years as a “cure-all” herb to treat various conditions, Blessed Thistle was famously used during the Middle Ages to treat bubonic plague.

Today, many herbalists prize Blessed Thistle for its liver supporting and cleansing properties.

Blessed Thistle has traditionally been used for digestive health and it’s because it contains a compound found in many bitter herbs called cnicin. Cnicin is believed to aid in the production of stomach acid, which can support good digestion and liver health. (16)

Blessed Thistle is often prepared in teas, capsules, and tinctures.

8. Turkey Tail Mushrooms

You may not think of mushrooms as “herbs,” but natural practitioners recommend taking mushrooms to take advantage of their powerful ability to support gut health and the immune system. 

You won’t find Turkey Tail—an inedible mushroom that can be found growing on stumps and dead trees throughout the world—in your local supermarket, though.  

This mushroom, which resembles the fanned-out tail of a turkey, is one of the most well-studied medicinal mushrooms to date. And it goes by many names, including Coriolus versicolor, Trametes versicolor, and Yun Zhi.

Turkey tail contains a variety of active beneficial compounds including antioxidants, polysaccharide peptide (PSP), and polysaccharide krestin (PSK), which are being researched in modern medicine for their ability to support immunity and cleansing (17, 18, 19).

These compounds in Turkey Tail can also support liver function. (20)

Today, Turkey Tail and its extracts can usually be taken in capsules, tinctures, and teas

9. Kelp

Kelp, a type of seaweed found in nutrient-rich coastal waters worldwide is used to make a savory umami Japanese-style broth called dashi. But it’s also packed with unique compounds that can help support cleansing both internally and externally. 

Growing mainly in shallow waters along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California, kelp is 48% protein by weight and provides a variety of nutrients like vitamins A, C, E, folate, iron, and magnesium. It’s especially high in vitamin K, which is needed for healthy blood clotting, and iodine, a mineral that supports thyroid function and metabolism. (21)

Antioxidants in kelp include carotenoids and zinc, which neutralize free radicals, while its high content of the green plant pigment chlorophyll not only binds to heavy metals but also supports healthy circulation and liver function so they can easily be flushed away. (22)

For a Simple Way to Cleanse Your Body, Try Flor-Essence Tea Blend

For an easy and gentle way to do a daily body cleanse that combines the benefits of these herbs in one product, we recommend Flor-Essence Tea. 

Flor•Essence is a traditional antioxidant-rich herbal tonic made up of 8 certified organic nourishing beneficial herbs, including:

• Burdock root
• Rhubarb
• Sheep sorrel
• Slippery elm bark
• Watercress
• Blessed thistle
• Red clover
• Kelp

Inspired by a traditional Native American Ojibwa formula, many of the benefits of the herbs in Flor-Essence are fully supported by research. 

Together, the herbs in this tea act as cellular “cleansers” pushing toxins out more efficiently than the body would do on its own. 

Made with 97% organic ingredients, these herbs work together to:

• Cleanse at the cellular level
• Reduce excess fluid
• Support digestion and reduce gas and bloating.
• Support the immune system
• Nourish the body with vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds
• Protect cells from free radical damage

Gentle enough for every day while being super effective in eliminating waste buildup, Flor•Essence Tea encourages our bodies to work the way nature intended.

For the same 8 herb Flor•Essence formula blend with extra strength immune support, also try Flor•Essence® Made with Organic Turkey Tail & Turmeric.

This formula combines turkey tail mushrooms, with the same 8 safe, healthy, and effective certified organic herbs found in their famous Flor•Essence® formula, but with the addition of immune-supporting turkey tail mushrooms and turmeric. 

Well-studied and mentioned in over 12,500 peer-reviewed scientific articles  and journals, turmeric is one of the most powerful antioxidant-rich superfoods on earth. 

Each daily dose of Flor-Essence Made with Organic Turkey Tail & Turmeric  tonic provides about 3.5 grams (3500 mg) of turkey tail mushroom.

Note: Both formulas are Vegan, Gluten-free +Non-GMO

How to Take Flor•Essence and Flor•Essence Made with Organic Turkey Tail & Turmeric

Add 2 ounces of the Flor•Essence to hot water or the tea of your choice. Sip on an empty stomach and enjoy about 30 minutes before eating breakfast or lunch. 

Take it just before bedtime to support body cleansing while you sleep. 

For a more intensive cleanse, you can take it 3 times per day. The flavor is very mild, pleasant, and herbal.

For best results, stick with Flor•Essence and Flor•Essence Made with Organic Turkey Tail & Turmeric for several weeks.

*When starting any supplement, consult with your doctor or healthcare provider and start slowly.

Want to Try An Herbal Cleanse?

Visit FloraHealth.com to order Flor•Essence and Flor•Essence Made with Organic Turkey Tail & Turmeric.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.