"Behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."  (Song of Solomon 2:11,12)  This verse comes to my mind at this time... and I thought it was a beautiful way to start this letter :-)  Oh, yeah, the winter indeed is past and the spring has begun.  I love spring.  I love the spring air and the birds singing.  New life is starting everywhere!  It is so refreshing.  So wow! 

Although we might live in different parts of the world, there are things that we all have in common when the spring starts.  I would like to share with You some Chinese medicine's wisdom about spring-time.  Our family gave up going to traditional medicine practitioners long ago... instead we call our family doctor the top doctor in Estonia when it comes to Chinese medicine.  Many of our friends have also visited Dr.Toomas Tiik... after unsuccessful treatments by other doctors and they have found help and health.  I have learned a lot from dr. Tiik and hereby I would like to share with You some of those things... things that traditional doctors do not tell us, but which are vital to our health and wellbeing. 

A lot of us know that liver is the organ that neutralizes poisons in our bodies... but most of us do not know that liver also helps to neutralize emotional poisons.  Liver is most active during Spring-time.  All nature is being renewed.  A new cycle of life begins.  This affects our livers, causing most grown ups, especially in the western busy world to have overburdened livers.  Overburdened liver is also called "over-heated" liver.  As heat moves upward, it causes problems in the head section: dry skin, dry hair, hair loss, migraines, headaches, high blood pressure, and very often also indigestion.   Emotional problems that occur due to congested liver are: irritation, anger, mood swings etch.

Huge number of diseases have their roots in unhealthy liver.  Most people who have developed heart problems, have had an extended period of overburdening their livers.  People in western world are constantly so busy, not taking enough time to calm and be at peace emotionally.  Too many ambitions harm liver.  Great desire for power, wealth, fame, money... also emotions of anger, hate, un-forgiveness all cause stress that puts too great pressure on liver.  I believe this is one of the main reasons the Bible tells us that we need to take one day a week for rest..  Not taking time for emotional and physical rest is the cause of many health problems.

Exodus 34:21 reminds us "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath]."

Our bodies are not designed to work 7 days a week... which is something we often do.  It might not be our paid job but we have other "important" to-do items that we leave for Sundays.  But the truth is, our bodies were designed to have at least one day a week for resting - physical and emotional rest and spiritual recuperation.  If we do not take this quiet time, our livers get seriously damaged, causing a myriad of health problems.  We then visit a doctor who prescribes synthetic drugs for us, causing even greater damage to our livers.  Sick liver in turn causes other organs to malfunction... and again we "need" a doctor.  This is a vicious cycle.

Although it is not possible to heal the liver only with food and supplements (without resting), there are things we can do to calm and heal our livers.  An important thing to remember is to eat the lightest foods in Spring.  Our bodies are in need of a good Spring-clean, so, we need to feed our bodies with light foods that are easy to digest. 

We have to cut out (hopefully for forever) all white flour products, white sugar products, unhealthy fats, and alcohol.  We can substitute white flour with corn four or other whole flours, white sugar with unrefined raw sugar, honey, molasses or rice syrup, and unhealthy fats with pure butter, extra virgin olive oil or other cold pressed (preferably certified organic) oils.  We should reduce the consumption of meat, cheese, eggs, and salt.

Very important Spring-time supplements are seaweeds.  We can find good seaweed products like Spirulina, Chlorella, Wild Blue-Green and others from our local health food stores.  Seaweeds help heal liver.  One of the very best supplements available on the market is our certified organic In-Liven probiotic with 13 bacteria, seaweed and many green nutrients that are so vital for our body's wellbeing.  Omega-3-fatty acids should become a part of our Spring diet.  Unrefined goat milk and lamb milk are very beneficial.  Spring foods that help calm liver are rice, buckwheat, sprouts, beans, lentils, seeds, fresh vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables and fresh fruits, especially apricots.  Herbs that are beneficial are: basil, balm, cardamon, ginger, black pepper, mints, laurel, horseradish and especially dandelion. 

A good cleanser for the body is comprised of 1 tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar or brown rice vinegar and 1 tablespoonful of raw honey, mixed in 1 glass of water.  Drink it before a meal.

I wish You all a beautiful Spring and a calm liver!

If this article was helpful to You and You would like to share it with someone else, You are more than welcome to copy it.  But You are requested to add my name - Eve Juurik - and my website address - http://www.TheSpringOfLife.net - to the article.  All the material is copyrighted.  Thank You!

Many blessings & success to You,