All Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine therapies are performed by a Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner. We complete a full intake and diagnosis according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, providing individualized treatment plans to help optimize your overall health and wellness.
Author: Jasmine Sufi R.TCMP
Entering into the new year I figured I would touch upon the emotion of courage, what it means, how we can achieve it and more importantly how we can all access our own inner courage to the best of our ability. Did you know that emotions according to Chinese medicine is considered a physiological condition, something that is determined by the health of our organs and meridians? This means that our bodies have the ability to strengthen and attain courage, make better decisions and be more decisive.
Chinese Medicine considers the gallbladder meridian (energy pathway) to be the organ that gives a person courage and initiative. If a person’s gall bladder is deficient (under acting) this individual will be indecisive, timid and easily discouraged. I felt this topic was appropriate in the light of the new year and new year’s resolutions. We often take the new year as an opportunity to set our goals and ambitions for the year ahead, now how successful we will be on achieving them will rely heavily on our courage, initiative and ability to NOT be discouraged! Hence the need to take good care of our gallbladder! An organ we don’t really pay much attention to.
The gallbladder’s physical function is to store and release bile (an enzyme used to break down fats) it’s located right under the liver and aids the liver, stomach and spleen’s ability to digest fats and foods. An essential organ for our overall wellbeing and according to Chinese medicine an organ essential to helping you achieve your goals whether it’s new years resolutions or decisions for work, relations and life.
How do you know if you have a strained Gallbladder? If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you can benefit from taking the steps we’ve outlined below:
- Pain or headaches over the eyes
- Bitter taste in the mouth
- Gas and bloating
- Sticky coat on the tongue
- Pain along the IT band
- Digestive discomfort increases with the consumption of fatty foods.
We all want to be positive, be able to make better decisions, and take initiative. Here are some simple things you can do to help you strengthen this meridian. Encouraging you to make the changes you need in your life.
- Decrease fat rich foods. Monitoring the amount of fat you ingest will ease the stress on your gallbladder. Fat is important in your diet so by no means am I saying to eliminate fats. But improving diet to ensure that your diet is clean (non-processed) and includes healthy fat foods would be easier to digest and more nutritional. Keeping the fries and burgesr to once in a while is suggested.
- Lemon water. Having a cup of warm lemon water first thing every morning helps detox your system, stimulate digestive enzymes in the stomach as well as bile production.
- Replacing your cooking oil with coconut oil. Coconut oil is composed of smaller sized fatty acids that are easier for the gallbladder to digest. Putting less stress on the gallbladder.
- Avoid alcohol, vegetable oils, soda, sugary fruit juices and processed foods.
- Eating foods rich in sulfur. Garlic, onions, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower will provide you with nutrients necessary in the digestive process.
We wish you the best in achieving all your new year’s resolutions. Incorporating 1 or 2 of the suggestive gallbladder tonics can definitely help to give you the initiative and decisiveness necessary to achieve your goals.
