Spring: Eat more liver-nourishing and spleen-strengthening foods
Spring: Eat more liver-nourishing and spleen-strengthening foods
In spring, dietary principles emphasize balanced nourishment, focusing on liver nourishment and spleen strengthening. This season corresponds to the liver, whose physiological nature resembles the growth of trees in spring—promoting the upward movement of vital energy throughout the body. If liver function is impaired, it disrupts overall blood and qi circulation, affecting other organs and causing illness. Since sour taste enters the liver—the liver’s natural flavor—excessive sour intake during spring, when the liver is already active, may lead to excessive liver energy, thereby harming the spleen (as liver overacts on spleen). The spleen closely relates to the stomach; thus, spleen weakness impairs digestion and absorption by the stomach and spleen. Sweet taste enters the spleen and best supports spleen energy. A strong spleen further supports liver qi. Therefore, spring tonification should follow the advice of Tang Dynasty centenarian physician Sun Simiao: “Reduce sour, increase sweet, to nourish spleen qi.” Meaning: eat less sour and more sweet foods to nourish both liver and spleen, greatly benefiting disease prevention and health maintenance.
Warm and sweet foods are preferred: cereals such as glutinous rice, black rice, sorghum, millet, and oats; fruits and vegetables like yard-long beans, pumpkin, flat beans, red dates, longan, walnuts, chestnuts; meats and fish such as beef, pork stomach, crucian carp, mandarin fish, sea bass, grass carp, and eel. Consuming these foods provides abundant nutrients, synergistically supporting liver and spleen health.
Secondly, follow the rising energy of spring by eating more warming foods to boost yang energy. Especially in early spring, lingering cold weather calls for foods like leeks, garlic, onions, konjac, turnip, mustard greens, coriander, ginger, and scallions. These vegetables are warm and pungent, helping dispel wind-cold and suppress pathogens thriving in damp environments.
Thirdly, spring warmth or sudden late-spring heat can trigger internal heat and liver fire or cause fluid loss. It is advisable to consume cooling, sweet-tasting foods to clear internal heat and nourish the liver, such as buckwheat, coix seed, shepherd’s purse, spinach, water spinach, celery, chrysanthemum sprouts, asparagus, eggplant, water chestnut, cucumber, and mushrooms. These foods are cool and sweet, effectively clearing internal heat and moisturizing the liver to improve vision.
As for fresh fruits, although they clear heat and generate fluids, most are sour and not suitable for excessive consumption in spring. To relieve internal heat, opt for sweet-cool fruits like bananas, pears, sugarcane, or dried persimmon cakes.