Traditional Foods that Move the Liver Qi

According to my instructor, Liver Qi Stagnation is the most common problem we have in the USA.

Liver Qi stagnation is usually caused by improper food intake, such as eating pre-packaged foods, fast foods, fatty foods, cold, and/or raw foods, or foods that are wrecked (such as being transported long distances or grown with pesticides). In other words, the typical American diet.

The usual symptoms of stagnant liver Qi may include the following:

• Red face, feeling of heat
• Thirst
• Irritability, depression, moodiness, outbursts of anger
• Feeling a lump in the throat
• Hypochondrial/epigastric distention, pain in your sides
• Irregular/heavy periods (in women)
• Premenstrual tension & breast distension (PMS)

Traditional foods that can help move the Liver Qi and keep the Qi from getting stagnant are:

• HERBS AND SPICES (anise, basil, bay, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cilantro, curry, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, mint, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, parsley, vanilla)

• BEANS (navy, baby lima, cannellini, and other white beans)

• VEGETABLES (collard greens, green garlic, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, radishes of all types, turnips and their greens, watercress)

• FRUITS (grapefruit, lemon, lime, kumquat, plum, tangerine)

My instructors other recommendations are to eat REAL food. To do this, she recommends the following:

• Eat locally produced food. If it is not locally grown, then eat Organic.
• If not organic, then eat food from a family farm.
• If not from a family farm, then from a local business.
• If not from a local business, then from the region.
• Go to the Farmers Market before trying the Supermarket. Plan your meals around local ingredients you find at the Farmers Market.

Traditional Foods that Move the Liver Qi