Spring is the glorious time of the Wood element in Chinese Medicine and it is critically important for optimal health. The Wood element is made up of the Liver and the Gallbladder and it is the bridge to absorbing the outside world (the food and nutrients you take in) and assimilating them into the body (properly and efficiently utilizing that fuel). Imagine this element as the center vortex of the body. When working properly, it lets the good in and flushes the bad out.
You may not have heard about this connection, but the Wood element, through the production of bile, is responsible for cleaning and feeding the brain. If the liver and gallbladder are not functioning optimally, your brain can’t function properly. You can think of bile as the soap that cleans the brain, and our whole body depends on the production of this bile! It is important to point out that this process of making bile can get interrupted by heavy metals, microbes, stress, and negative emotions.
Fun Facts About the Wood Element
- The Gallbladder is highly connected to hunger, metabolism, impulse control, and all desires. If you are an emotional eater, chances are your gallbladder is not happy. You are likely low in zinc, copper, and the acetylcholine neurotransmitter.
- The Gallbladder, together with the liver, is the manufacturing center for hormone production and both are very involved in weight issues.
- An unhappy gallbladder not only causes a person to have communication problems, but it can also make them bitter and prone to complaining about everything.
- The Gallbladder is a very narrow tube that is easy to become blocked. If it does get blocked by heavy metals and toxins, bile will back up into the brain.
- Sleep is very important for the Wood element because it does all of its work while you sleep (11 pm – 1 am is when the gallbladder is working its hardest and 1 am – 3 am is when the liver is working its hardest). If you have trouble getting to sleep during this time or consistently wake up during this time it may be a sign of trouble in these areas. Night time is when the body attempts to dump all of the toxins that it builds up during the day. If you are not sleeping, you are not able to efficiently dump those toxins!
Things You Can Do To Help Your Wood Element
- Do not eat at night. Give your body the break that it needs while you are sleeping so that it can dump toxins.
- Take in fiber during the evening using Fiber supplements. I recommend this product.
- Be sure that you can have a good bowel movement in the morning to fully rid the toxins.
- Drinking ginger tea with caster oil is a good spring practice.
- A Gallbladder/Liver detox is great to do every spring. I recommend this product.
- Avoid gluten because it can glue up the gallbladder.
- Be sure to take a vitamin B complex because B vitamins run the liver and gallbladder.
- Squeeze a lemon into a glass of water and drink it first thing in the morning.
- Eat a piece of pineapple before meals.
- Try to increase your intake of sulfur (turmeric is a great choice) and zinc
