A Wake up for the Liver for Spring

A Wake up for the Liver for Spring

Recipes

As Spring light grows brighter, it shows the dusty corners and the cobwebs that have gathered over winter it’s time to spring clean.  So why not treat your body just like your house and clear out a sluggish liver. In Western and Chinese Medicine the Liver is the organ and meridian system for detox and regeneration, clearing out and metabolise fats that have been stored during the winter and the liver is the organ to do this.

With its detoxifying abilities, it’s important that we make sure this organ wakes up with Spring so that we don’t suffer from stiff joints, high cholesterol, painful periods and even erectile dysfunction.

Blood has to flow smoothly through the body and if the liver can’t get rid of waste efficiently, the body will become painful and toxic. Emotionally, in Chinese Medicine, this leads to anger and frustration rather than flexible, clear-headed problem-solving.

    It’s easy to fix though.  Here are a few tips:
    1. Try not to eat after 6 pm or before 9 am.  After all, breakfast means breaking of a fast so try not to have snacks after dinner or grazing between meals.
    2. Cutting out milk, cheese, ice-cream and buttery spreads, replacing with olive oil or coconut milk in stews and curries, will ease the congestion on the liver.
    3. As the variety of fresh fruit and vegetable increase, try more salads and raw foods at the table.  Thinly slice courgettes, grate carrots and toss through with lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt as an alternative to the hot, cooked dishes that got us through the winter.  These sour flavour dishes stimulate the liver and the raw element helps with the production of enzymes to digest and metabolize foods with ease.

    A favourite recipe of mine from my Good Food: Better Sex Cookbook, replaces heavy, refined carbohydrate pasta with light luscious courgettes.  You don’t have to have a spiraliser for this recipe you can use a potato peeler to shave thin slices then roughly chop lengthways.  Green is the colour for the liver in Chinese Medicine, it helps stimulate the gall bladder to produce bile to further help the liver break down a fatty rich diet.  So keep it clean, keep it green.

    Black Olive and Lemon Courgetti (serves 2)
    2 Spiralized Courgettes

    Dressing
    100g Black Olives
    80g Basil Leaves
    80-120g Flat Leaf Parsley
    1 tbsp thyme leaves
    5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    Juice of 1 Lemon

    Method
    Spiralize the courgettes whilst popping all the other ingredients into a blender and blitzing for 30 seconds so that the olives are still chunky.  When ready toss the tangy, zesty dressing through the courgetti with a fork.

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    Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.

    Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.  The information provided should not be considered medical advice.

    “Where energy goes, blood flows”

    “Where energy goes, blood flows”

    Powerful Points and Meridian Flows

    With points on the body, Kidney 1 a good place to start. It’s literally our connection to source – it touches the earth with every step we take. Kidney source is our very essence, the energy we are born with all our inherited patterns and impulses. We can’t build upon this but we can certainly take care of it by grounding with the great source of energy, the earth. Press your thumb into the hollow on the ball of your foot and hold it there firmly for at least 10 seconds, release and press again, repeat this four or five times. Another way to enhance this energy and really improve posture and strength in the lower back is to stand barefoot on the earth with your knees slightly bent, shoulders down from ears, palms facing forward and breathe, imagine energy entering the body through Kidney 1; flowing in and up along the front of your body on the in breath and down your back returning to Kidney 1 on the out breath. Repeat in cycles for about 30 seconds each.

    My favourite way to connect to Kidney 1 is by   linking it to the Heart/Small Intestine Makko-ho stretch. This stretch is promotes flow and building of blood in the body. Pain often occurs when blood becomes stuck and its flow is impeded for example headaches, angina, and menstrual cramps.

    Stimulating Kidney 1 will ground the body enabling the shen/consciousness to settle in the blood, which is its home, whilst the makko-ho stretch will encourage softness, love and flow in the body.