The leaves have turned their colors, storm windows have replaced screens, and an extra blanket has been added to the bed. In other words, everything and everyone around has started preparing. Preparing for what? For winter and its holidays, cold weather, family visits and illnesses. It’s hard not to resign yourself to thinking that with all of the changes this upcoming season brings that you’ll most likely catch a cold or other “holiday” sickness. It’s as if “the holidays” are the fifth season—six weeks wedged in between sweet fall and stark winter. But the approach of this weary and beloved season doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to anything, much less getting sick.

Having a strong, healthy spirit and body is the trick to not just surviving this time of the year but truly celebrating the holidays. There is no one magic key that unlocks the mystery of your health’s vibrancy, rather there are many keys that help keep it all in balance. One of the more neglected keys is the liver. You may hear practitioners of various health modalities say, “It all goes back to the liver,” when talking about any number of health issues. If they aren’t saying that, then they should! The liver has hundreds of vital functions that support health. I won’t begin to list them all, as it would take up this entire magazine! But to name a few relevant to staying healthy during this fifth season, I will mention these: healthier skin, clearer eyes, better attitude and more balanced weight.

Think of the images of fall: leaves turning color, plants hovering nearer to the earth, and bees staying closer to the hive. This is the time of year to root yourself down as well. It makes sense, then, that there are so many roots that come into season this time of year that are beneficial to one of the body’s root organs: the liver. Garlic, ginger, onions, burdock, yellow dock and dandelion are a few. Even nourishing root foods like carrots, turnips and beets are beneficial to include in your diet now. Confucius reportedly refused to eat any meal that did not include ginger in some form!

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, the liver grounds us by storing the body’s blood and working with the heart to distribute it throughout the body. The medicinal herbs mentioned above assist the liver in digesting fat, breaking down excess hormones, and producing enzymes. Sour and bitter flavors are elemental in liver health, so you’ll find that a lot of beneficial herbs will have one of these main flavors. Drinking a glass of water with lemon, for example, stimulates saliva and sends a signal to the gall bladder and liver to enhance the digestion process. The bitter flavors of after-dinner aperitifs are also excellent in helping the liver. However, overindulgence in bitters is not advised, as they are supplied in alcohol. Beginning your meals or your morning with digestive bitters (some are alcohol-free; my personal favorite is Flora’s Swedish Bitters), a liver tea (see article recipe), or a simple glass of lemon water is a good start and can help out your hardworking organ.

Preparing your liver for holiday eating habits can also give you a head start on curbing weight gain. Including a teaspoon a day of pure flax or fish oil in the morning gives your liver the healthy fats it depends on and will help your body avoid taking on the bad fats in a lot of foods during the day.

In TCM, disharmony in the liver can affect the peripheral nervous system, which regulates muscular activity and tension. Also, in TCM, the inability to relax is considered to be caused by a stagnant liver. TCM relates different organs to different emotions, i.e. the kidneys relate to fear, the colon to guilt, the heart to joy, and the liver to anger. An obstruction of liver energy can intensify feelings of frustration and anger, not the energy you want to overflow during Thanksgiving dinner!

A stagnant liver also makes it harder for your immune system to function and keep sickness at bay. The immune system is dependent on the liver to function properly and filter out foreign proteins like mold and dust, but it can’t do this if excessive fats, hormones and toxins slow it down.

A friend of mine always takes her liver tea and liver herbs at night. She says that because the herbs activate her liver, she “releases the anger” that her liver stores while she is asleep to avoid hurting someone’s feelings if she releases it during the day. What a considerate friend! So, drink up to a happy, healthy holiday!

Fifth Season Tea
Ingredients:
Equal parts dandelion root,
burdock root, Oregon grape root
and yellow dock root
1/2 part slippery elm bark
1/2 part licorice root
1/4 part cinnamon bark

Instructions:
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the 4 roots and slippery elm bark. Simmer on low for at least 1 hour. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and leave overnight. In the morning, add one more cup of water and slowly bring it up to a high simmer but not boil. Add the licorice and cinnamon. Take off heat. Pour a cup and strain the rest into a large Mason jar and store in the refrigerator. You can reheat the rest of the tea by boiling 1 cup of fresh water and adding that to 1/2 cup of the strained tea. Add agave nectar or honey to slightly sweeten.

Quick Tip
Keeping your lower back warm during the winter helps your liver and kidneys. Wrap a long piece of silk or light wool around your waist (a scarf works perfectly) and safely pin it to stay in place. Wear this as your first or second layer of clothing. It keeps your kidneys and liver warm and happy!

Christa Joy Hamilton has been the supplements and body care department manager at Greenlife Grocery in Asheville for the past four years. She is also a certified herbalist under Rosemary Gladstar’s herbal school and a photographer and artist. Visit her blog at www.christademayo.blogspot.com.

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