What tea is most effective for clearing liver heat?

Mar 18, 2025 Source: Cainiu Health

Dr. Zhang Xiuhong

Introduction

Drinking moderate amounts of chrysanthemum tea, honeysuckle tea, mint tea, cassia seed tea, and gardenia tea can help relieve excessive liver heat (liver fire). These teas are generally cooling in nature and offer functions such as dispersing wind-heat, cooling the blood, promoting blood circulation, producing body fluids, relieving thirst, clearing the liver and improving vision, and clearing heat while detoxifying. They may help alleviate discomfort caused by excessive liver fire; however, the specific effects may vary from person to person.

Generally speaking, there is no specific tea that is considered the most effective for clearing liver fire. However, the following teas may be chosen to help alleviate liver fire: chrysanthemum tea, honeysuckle tea, mint tea, cassia seed tea, and gardenia tea. Detailed explanations are as follows:

1. Chrysanthemum Tea

Chrysanthemum has a pungent, sweet, and bitter taste, is slightly cold in nature, and enters the lung and liver meridians. It functions to疏散 wind-heat and to calm the liver and improve vision. Drinking chrysanthemum tea can help relieve discomfort caused by excessive liver fire, such as dizziness, redness, swelling, and pain in the eyes.

2. Honeysuckle Tea

Honeysuckle is cold in nature with a bitter and astringent taste. It enters the heart and stomach meridians and has the function of cooling the blood and promoting blood circulation. Drinking honeysuckle tea can help relieve discomfort caused by excessive internal heat, including heart fire and liver fire, and can alleviate symptoms such as sore throat and swollen gums.

3. Mint Tea

Mint tea is cool in nature, with a bitter and sweet taste, and enters the heart and lung meridians. It functions to clear heat, relieve summerheat, promote body fluid production, and quench thirst. It helps eliminate liver fire and relieve symptoms such as irritability, dry mouth, and thirst caused by excessive liver fire.

4. Cassia Seed Tea

Cassia seed tea is made from processed cassia seeds, which have a sweet and bitter taste and enter the liver and large intestine meridians. It functions to clear the liver, improve vision, moisten the intestines, and relieve constipation. Drinking cassia seed tea can help relieve symptoms such as dry, burning, and painful eyes caused by excessive liver fire.

5. Gardenia Tea

Gardenia is cold in nature, bitter in taste, and enters the heart, liver, and lung meridians. It functions to clear heat, cool the blood, relieve irritability, and detoxify. Drinking gardenia tea can help clear liver fire and relieve symptoms such as irritability, anger, insomnia, and frequent dreams.

It should be noted that the effectiveness of these teas in clearing liver fire may vary from person to person. It is recommended to observe the effects regularly during consumption. If the effects are unsatisfactory or cause other discomforts, use should be discontinued promptly.

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What to eat to quickly relieve liver fire

Generally speaking, there is no such thing as "eating certain foods to quickly relieve liver fire." To alleviate liver fire, one can consume foods such as chrysanthemum, bitter melon, pear, celery, and mung beans. Additionally, medications such as Longdan Xiegan Pills, Danzhi Xiaoyao Pills, Danggui Longhui Pills, Qiju Dihuang Pills, and Huanglian Shangqing Tablets may be taken under medical guidance for regulation. In daily life, it is also important to maintain a regular作息 (routine), avoid staying up late to prevent liver damage, and reduce the intake of spicy and greasy foods.