HEALTH & HEALING
OCTOBER IS THE MONTH of the year when I see the highest incidence of IBS, digestion and allergy complaints in clinic. Do you suffer any of the following nine symptoms in spring? • stomach pain • acid regurgitation • bloating • passing wind to excess • diarrhoea • increased sensitivity or allergy to trigger foods
• skin discolouration, dark spots, flakiness, or circles
• tiredness and chronic fatigue • allergy symptoms e.g. chest congestion, sneezing, running nose, itching eyes If so, read on. Your liver may be in need of some serious loving!
HOW TO find out if you
Fatigue, food sensitivities and farts. Early spring is the time of year when we are most susceptible to liver sluggishness. Know what signs and symptoms to look out for and what you can do about them.
by Casey Conroy need a liver detox
Why the liver? In short, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) explains this phenomenon better than any other paradigm I’ve come across in my Western medical career. Let me say right now that although I’m a qualified dietitian and nutritionist, I’m not a Chinese medicine practitioner. However, being half Chinese, I can attest to the power of TCM. As a child my mum used to feed my brother and I sweet, nutritive, herb-packed broths throughout winter and forced us to down her mystery bitter concoctions in early spring. We very rarely got sick and had so much energy we drove her half crazy! The five element theory in TCM
can help us to understand why so many people experience irritable bowels during spring, and why we may wake up one sunny spring morning with a runny nose. This theory is based on the
observation of the natural cycles and inter-relationships in the environment and within ourselves. For example, there are five environmental elements – fire, earth, metal, water, and wood - each corresponding to certain body organs or systems. Spring is associated with the wood element, which governs the liver and gall bladder. Both organs work as blood cleansers, and since they’ve been working hard all winter
24 AUGUST 2015
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