Welcoming liver and gallbladder season
*Note: this support can also apply to the winter season when the temperature fluctuates from freezing to thawing, the liver gets confused and kicks into how it would respond in the spring season.
All winter long, you've sipped warm mugs of hot tea and roasted vegetables and spooned up endless amounts of savory soups and stews, but we're here to tell you—spring is finally here! And with the arrival of spring, green and other bright colors must be brought back onto your plate. Thank goodness, right?
The liver is a mysterious organ in our bodies. Western medicine has no idea what to do with it or how to treat symptoms connected to the liver. According to Chinese Medicine, spring is liver and gallbladder season. Eating according to the seasons will naturally assist your body to do what it already wants to do.
Common symptoms during spring
There are a couple of common symptoms many people experience during this season. You should be aware that all of these symptoms are connected to how well your liver functions this time of year. Have you experienced any of these this spring?
Frontal headache—a headache located in your forehead
Back of the head headache—usually only on one side of the head
Digestive difficulties—feeling bloated or constipated
Eyesight differences—temporary changes in vision
Irritability—according to Chinese medicine, anger is the emotion stored in our liver.
If you find yourself experiencing any of these symptoms, take a minute to think about how you might best support your liver. One way you can help your body do what it already wants is to eat according to the seasons. Let's talk about what that means.
Dr. Brad's Spring Eating Tips + Liver Cleanse
In spring, your plate should hold foods like:
apples
beets
onions
garlic
carrots
Colorful root vegetables and leafy greens are especially helpful to the liver this time of year. Juicing your greens is another great way to get that extra kick of veggies.
Springtime is the ideal time to cleanse the liver. Here's a great trick for cleansing the liver: take one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and drink it with a 12 oz glass of apple juice. Watch out; it might be a little tart! But if your body needs it, it won’t taste too bad.
See us at the clinic if you or someone in your family might need extra liver support this spring. Watch our short video to learn more about your liver needs during spring.