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Chinese Nutrition Guide
© 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Within the Five Phases view of nature, spring is related to the liver. The color associated with spring is green; the flavor association is sour.
Spring diets should focus on nourishing the Liver system while preventing its energies from stagnating. Given the Liver’s somewhat volatile nature, we should avoid both excess buildup of its energies through overeating and overstrain through the consumption of fatty, greasy, and processed foods. Eat less, and especially avoid snacking between 11 PM and 3 AM. Foods that are either energetically very cold or very hot are best avoided. Alcohol and coffee should also be taken in moderation.
Seasonal vegetables, fresh sprouts, and foods that are green in color are especially beneficial. Lean toward sour, sweet, and slightly spicy foods (like onions and garlic).
Recommended foods for specific conditions include:
Liver Qi or Blood Stagnation
Ambergris, basil, bay leaf, beets, black-eyed pea, beef, bird's nest, broccoli, brown sugar, brussels sprouts, Budha Hand Citron, butterfish, button mushroom, cabbage, caraway seed, cardamom seed, cherry, chestnut, chicken, chive, coconut meat, cumin, date, dill seed, fennel seed, garlic, ginger, goose meat, grapefruit, green onion, hawthorn berry, jackfruit, kumquat, lemon, lime, lotus stem, lychee nut, malt, mango leaf, marjoram, mustard seed, mustard greens, mutton, oregano, rapeseed, red bean, rice (steamed or sweet), saffron, shiitake mushroom, spearmint, sprouts, strawberry, string bean, squash, sweet potato, tangerine, taro root, tofu, turmeric
Liver Yin or Blood Deficiency
Beef (esp. liver), black sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, chlorophyll-rich foods, cucumber, eggs, grape, liver, mulberry, mushrooms, mussel, mung beans, perch, plumb, raspberry, radish, seaweeds, spinach, strawberry,
Liver Heat
aloe vera, blackstrap molasses, blackberries, chlorophyll rich foods, cucumber, dark grapes, evening primrose, huckleberries, millet, mung beans, plum, raspberries, seaweed, tofu, watercress
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