Last night was the That’s PRD Food and Drink Awards ceremony, and I celebrated Social&Co’s Restaurant of the Year win with a few too many drinks. Today, I’m thinking about what I could be doing better to take the strain off my liver.
The modern Western lifestyle can be quite hard on your liver and the Guangzhou expat’s lifestyle even more so. That’s because the main things that push your liver out of balance are stress, alcohol, greasy food and inadequate exercise.
In Chinese medicine, your liver has two main functions. Firstly, it maintains the smooth flow of qi through your whole body. When your liver qi stagnates it can cause a wide range of symptoms, like irritability, stomach or chest pain, insomnia, muscle tension or irregular periods – the list goes on.
Secondly, your liver overseas the storage and release of blood, ensuring that all your other organs and tissues each receive a Goldilocks share. Not too much, and not too little – just right. Not enough and some areas will become dry, malnourished or cold, leading to skin disorders like eczema, fertility problems or unstable emotions. Too much and you could develop fixed stabbing pain or lumps and masses that shouldn’t be there.
Get away from your desk and off the couch more. Your liver doesn’t need long or strenuous exercise sessions to be healthy.
Advice for a healthy liver is simple: drink less, avoid fatty food, manage your stress and move more. You don’t have to join a convent, but you can’t party like a rock star and expect your liver to keep up with you.
Everyone’s limits are different, but assuming you have no pre-existing liver disharmonies you should be able to have one or two drinks, four or five times a week. Remember: a Vesper counts as four drinks. An occasional snack of french fries is ok, but most of the time you should avoid deep-fried and other oily food.
Make sure you eat lots of dark green veggies and sour or bitter foods because these are beneficial to your liver. Incorporate 10 to 15 minutes of dedicated stress-reduction techniques most days of the week.
Get away from your desk and off the couch more. Your liver doesn’t need long or strenuous exercise sessions to be healthy. Just 30 minutes of brisk walking or a similar activity three to five times a week will do. Dancing on the bar counts, but you’ll have to increase the time quota to compensate for your drunkenness.
If you’ve read this far and still think you can’t manage to live a moderate lifestyle that supports good liver function, then just do whatever you want and come see me every week to fix you up. Acupuncture and herbal medicine won’t get you drunk, but it can help bring your liver back into balance.
> Jon Hanlon is a Chinese medical practitioner, raised in the US, trained in Australia, now healing the sick in Guangzhou. You can contact him for a booking on 185 0202 5594 or jon@guangzhouacupuncture.com
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