Liver Love by drinking Green Tea!
- Catrin Abrahamsson-Beynon
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
Liver often shows in many disease-related issues as being a problem, needing care and being in more harmony and balance. This is due to kinesiologist Helen Hansen (you can also find her here on InsightTimer).
The liver is a very important organ in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) because of its connection to our blood. When we cannot build, store, and release blood in an optimal way, it creates qi (energy) imbalances in the body/mind system. The liver and gallbladder are partners in the body/mind system. The liver is yin in nature; it runs deeper, while the gallbladder is yang and flows more on the surface of the body. We can follow the liver-gallbladder pathway via the liver and gallbladder meridian. It has many acupuncture points along its way from our big toes to the corners of our eyes.
The liver is a wood element organ. The wood element can be observed very clearly in how nature is growing, greening, and expanding in spring. If you look at the trees, the grass, and all that comes back to life and grows as nature awakens in spring, its an expression of the wood element.
What we can also observe is how even a big and steady, mature tree need the ability to flow and bend with the wind in order not to break. We need a similar ability in our lives by maintaining our flexibility and supporting it with the right movements. Liver-related stiffness can often show up as tensions and pains in our side bodies, shoulders, and neck.
The liver season is spring - where we are right now. Make sure you cover your neck with a scarf to protect yourself against the chilly winds that still can show up. Wood season is clearly connected to the color green, so the frequency of the green color harmonizes the liver system. It's also a great daily advice to spend a healthy outside time in the sun to soak in the vibrant green colors in nature, amplified by the sunlight. This is such a natural thing that we might not even consider it to be vital to our health.
The liver is active at night between 1-3 am, and the gallbladder is active just before that, from 11 pm to 1 am. So it's great advice to be deeply asleep during these hours to allow these vital organs to detoxify our whole system.
The sound related to the liver and gallbladder is “shouting.” So if you feel you have lots of suppressed shouts in you, find a secure way to let them out. Maybe you go deep into the forest and do a bit of letting go of deeply held emotions. Or shout along with some music in your car, shower, or somewhere where you do not disturb anyone. If we feel very irritated or angry, this can be an indication that our liver system needs some attention. Breathing exercises and yoga that are deeply connected to your breath are also excellent ways to release stuck energy.
The eyes are the sense organs of the liver, so problems with our vision can be another indication that our liver system need attention. This also relates to our inner vision, what we prefer to see or what we do not want to see.
Part of our liver system includes our tendons and ligaments. When they are flexible and strong, we are able to move smoothly. We want to keep them healthy by moving our bodies through yoga, qi gong, stretching, etc.
The liver system is closely connected to the balance in our bodies and mind. Good herbs for the liver and to calm our nervous system and promote balance are green tea, chamomile, lavender, and, as an aromatherapy, neroli.
The wood element taste quality is sour. This is also the inherent taste quality of green teas. So the tea most suitable for this time of the year—during the wood season—is green tea in all its wonderful forms. The green teas will help cool us down, and they contain plenty of the polyphenol (antioxidant) compound called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) that has been shown to be protective and healing for our liver. Below is a selection of some of the organic green teas that you are welcome to purchase from me.
Organic Long Jing - Dragons well - a classical, roasted, nutty Chinese green tea, where the leaves have been pressed/flattened. It comes in many quality levels, and the ones harvested in April before the spring rains are delicious and also the most expensive. Later harvests can also be very nice.
Green Jade Snail organically grown at the Dongzhai Garden in Yunnan, China. This is a powerful, early harvested green tea, carefully rolled into the form of snails that unfurl beautifully during steeping. An uplifting green tea, with lightly roasted flavours.
Organic Sencha, Asanoka, a sweet, well balanced Sencha, where the bushes have been shaded before harvest to develop the aromas further and increase the L-theanine levels. Crafted from the Asanoka cultivar in the Kagoshima prefecture on the most southern Island of Japan.
Organic Matcha Okumidori, from Kagoshima, Japan. The Okumidori tea cultivar is famous for its sweet, delicate, and rich flavor. It’s a vibrant green matcha from the spring harvest, with powerful qualities due to its high levels of catechin’s (antioxidants).
Organic Premium Genmaicha from the Watanabe Tea Garden. The high-quality Sencha and the skillfully selected and roasted rice create an unforgettable flavor experience. A great tea to combine with food.
When you have steeped your green tea several times in hot water (except for the matcha, where you consume the tea powder made from the carefully ground tea leaves in one go), you can, of course, use the tea leaves for a cold-steeped tea. Just put the leaves in a suitable jug, pour cold, fresh, great-tasting water over the leaves, and let them steep for several hours or overnight. Then strain out the leaves, and you have a perfect and healthy base for a delicious iced tea that you can flavor and garnish to your taste. More about iced tea in upcoming Weekly Elevenses.
For now you can check out my iced tea recipes on my website, both for cold and warm steeping
You can purchase several rare and exceptional Green Teas from my teacher Shana Zhang in China. All teas Shana provides have very strong Qi. They are harvested and produced carefully and with great skill. The tea bushes grow wild into big, old trees that develop in a biodiverse environment. These tea trees have much deeper roots than conventional garden tea bushes and therefore also a higher concentration of nutrients.
Take care of your self and your liver system! Until next time.
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