Andreas, thank you for your informative answer. I was very pleased to see that both of your books that you recommended to me are available at 1stbooks.com as ebooks, which means that I can have them in my hands as soon as I can print them out...wonderful! I have my work cut out for me, I can see that.
I agree with you in that I do not want to just mask the symptoms, I want to find the cause for them and change my lifestyle. I have been on a wonderfully rejuvinating raw food diet for several months now (all fruits and vegs and some nuts and seeds) and so have not had any cholesterol or animal products or animal fats. I had severe rheumatoid arthritis which I "cured" by cleansing and going raw, but because of that, for 4 years I was on prednisone, which is probably how all of the liver and cholesterol problems started in the first place. I threw away my pills when I went raw. I will start cleansing as soon as I read your books. My liver, colon, and kidneys aren't going to know what hit 'em ;) Thanks again.