How to Nourish the Liver

Colored fall leaves.
Traditional Chinese medicine offers tips to support the liver and ensure well-being. (Image: Xiaojun Deng via Flickr)

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the liver is closely related to the circulation of blood and energy, mood swings, and joint movements. It is vital to your wellbeing, yet it can fail to work as a result of your bad habits.

Bad habits that harm the liver

Keeping late hours

Staying up late is common among modern people. It is also the habit that harms the liver the most. The biological rest time for the liver to restore itself is between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. It is best if you can go to bed before 11 p.m. for the organ to recover from a day’s work.

Getting angry or losing one’s temper

When you get angry, the energy flow reverts upward, which makes the blood follow. If you do not stop the upward flow in time, the pent-up liver is deprived of the necessary blood and energy to perform its proper function and is harmed as a result.

Reading or working on the computer for too long

At work, we stare at the computer. At home, we stare at our smartphones. The overuse of our eyes hurts the liver and in turn, we get dry eyes, red eyes, or even inflamed eyes.

Overuse of the eyes hurts the liver.
Overuse of the eyes hurts the liver. (Image: via Pixabay)

Overeating or drinking excessively

Eating foods that are high in fat and protein and drinking alcohol can lower the effectiveness of your metabolism. These habits can make you prone to chronic diseases, such as gout, fatty liver, and obesity.

How to nourish the liver in daily life

Take regular rest to minimize energy depletion

Rest is the key. It is equally important to both liver disease sufferers and normal people. This allows the it time and energy to restore and reset itself.

Stay calm and at ease

Keeping the emotions at a steady level eases up the liver’s workload and prolongs its life. So take a deep breath or do meditation to calm down your hot temper.

Control the diet and drink more tea

Don’t overeat. Eating to about 70 percent full is optimal. Food with preservatives and artificial colors should be minimized or avoided because they burden the liver, which has to detoxify the unwanted toxic substances.

Consume more green tea or chrysanthemum tea, which is good for the liver. It is good to make chrysanthemum tea with some sugar. It is a really nice drink, but don’t drink this if you are cold or prone to catching the flu. It is recommended that you drink chrysanthemum tea if you eat heavy, rich food and also in the hot summer.

Consume more green tea or chrysanthemum tea, which is good for the liver.
Consume more green tea or chrysanthemum tea, which is good for the liver. (Image: via Pixabay)

Another suggested tea is the Japanese honeysuckle flower tea. This tea is good to get rid of toxic substances in your body. Your red eyes will slowly get better. This herbal tea has no side effects. It is not an everyday drink, but only if you have red eyes or some breakouts on the face after eating too much fried food. And though it is a pleasant drink for adults, it should not be given to young children.

Exercise

Exercise promotes body mechanics, soothes the liver, and brings a happy mood. Take a stroll, jog, or do Tai Chi, which are all good activities suitable for most people.

Tap on the liver meridian

You can tap back and forth on your inner thigh and leg along the trouser seams every morning. Tap longer on places that are painful when tapped because those are the points where toxins are accumulated.

The writer of this story is not a medical professional, and the information that is in this story has been collected from reliable sources — every precaution has been taken to ensure its accuracy. The information provided is for general information purposes only, and should not be substituted for professional health care.

Translated by Cecilia, edited by Helen, with added points by Mona

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