How to Best Nourish and Protect the Liver

Generally speaking, protecting and maintaining liver health can be achieved through a balanced diet, regular作息, moderate exercise, emotional management, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) regulation. The specific methods are as follows:

1. Balanced Diet: Maintain a balanced diet and ensure sufficient intake of proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Consume more foods rich in antioxidants, such as fresh fruits and vegetables (e.g., apples, kiwifruit, spinach), which help reduce oxidative stress and liver damage. Avoid excessive intake of high-fat, high-sugar, and processed foods such as fried dough sticks, cakes, and pickled foods to reduce the burden on the liver.

2. Regular作息: Ensure adequate sleep. The hours between 11 PM and 1 AM are crucial for liver detoxification, so it's best to be asleep during this period. Avoid staying up late and overexertion, as regular作息 helps liver repair and regeneration.

3. Moderate Exercise: Engage in moderate aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, or swimming, which can promote blood circulation and accelerate the elimination of toxins. Avoid strenuous exercise that could burden the liver. Exercise should be progressive and performed to the extent that fatigue is not felt.

4. Emotional Management: Maintain a positive and optimistic mindset and avoid significant emotional fluctuations. According to TCM, anger harms the liver, so it is important to learn emotional regulation and maintain emotional stability. Relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, or practicing Tai Chi can help relieve stress and contribute to liver health.

5. TCM Regulation: Under a physician's guidance, patients may use traditional Chinese herbs such as Lycium barbarum (goji berries), chrysanthemum flowers, and Bupleurum (Chai Hu) for regulation. These herbs can nourish liver yin, clear liver fire, and regulate liver qi.

Regular liver function tests are necessary to detect and treat liver diseases promptly. If there are risk factors such as long-term alcohol consumption, medication use, or chronic diseases, liver health should be monitored more closely, and more frequent medical checkups should be conducted as advised by a physician.