We know that stress can exacerbate almost any symptom or disorder, but if we dig deeper and actually identify and move through specific emotions, they can provide us a roadmap back to health and balance.
Today’s Food as Medicine focuses on five specific emotions and how to move through them and while using food to recover from the damage they may have caused.
Emotions are considered the major internal causes of disease in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
A wide range of emotional activity is a regular part of day-to-day life and a natural internal, physiological response to stimuli from our external environment.
Within reasonable limits, emotions cause no disease or weakness in the body.
However, when emotions become so powerful that they become uncontrollable and overwhelming for a prolonged period, they can cause real injury to the internal organs and open the door to disease.
Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that excess, prolonged emotional activity can cause blockages in our meridian system, which is a system in TCM that explains the path through which life-energy or “qi” flows.
Once an intense, uncomfortable emotion is moved through, the “root cause” is removed, but there can still be physical effects it leaves in its wake that require repair. That’s where the food as medicine comes in. 🙂
5 Emotions That Affect Your Organs:
1: ANGER
Anger affects the liver more than any other organ.
Symptoms to look for:
- Headaches
- Itchy skin
- Skin conditions
- Easily irritated
- Sluggish
- Low energy
In a 2007 entry in the journal Psychosomatics, Virginia researchers examined anger among Hepatitis C patients and found patients experienced moderate anger during treatment, and that increased anger lowered quality of life.
Before the Food
We must find healthy outlets to deal with the stress and emotions of life. Suppressed anger does damage and eventually turns into depression so find healthy ways to get it out of your body.
Scream in your car at the top of your lungs or into your pillow, punch your pillow, write it out and then burn it or tear it up.
Foods that Support the Liver
- Dandelion greens
- Swiss chard
- Grass-fed beef liver or supplementing with desiccated liver
- Castor oil packs (This is a very old video, but one I like that shows you how to do a castor oil pack)
2: GRIEF
Grief is stored in the lungs and when prolonged, can result in:
- Tightness in chest
- Recurring bronchitis
- Asthma
- Pain in the chest shoulder and back
- Cough
- Dry mouth and throat
- Hoarseness
- Weight loss
Before the Food
Talk to a therapist and caring friends. Heavy loads need to be shared. Write it out; cry it out, allow yourself to “be” with sadness versus stuffing it or ignoring it. Giving it space will eventually help it dissipate.
Foods that Support the Lungs
- Organic Apples
- Lotus root (found at Asian markets. These are delicious sliced and fried in coconut oil. They taste like potatoes.)
- Grapefruit
- Kiwi
“A British study found that even after controlling for other factors, people who reported eating two to five apples a week had a 32% lower risk of asthma than people who ate less.”
New research by British scientists at the Division of Respiratory Medicine, University of Nottingham, shows that vitamin C protects the lungs. Kiwis are extremely high in vitamin C.
3: WORRY
The stomach shoulders the long-term effects of worry, weakening digestive fire. This lowers hydrochloric acid production and can cause bloating, gas, and changes in bowel habits while thinning gut lining
Before the Food
Worrying list praying for things we don’t want so develop a way to focus on positive outcomes instead of negative ones. I love the Rumi quote “Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”
Feed what you do want, and eventually, you’ll train yourself naturally think that way.
The emotional freedom technique is an effective method in changing and releasing ingrained thought patterns.
Foods that Support the Stomach
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Ginger root
- Okra
- Nopal cactus (easily found in Mexican markets)
4: STRESS
Stress makes everything worse, but it really targets the heart and brain, leading to anxiety disorders, heart palpitations, insomnia, muscle cramps, and brain fog
Before the Food
Learn new methods of breath work (deep breathing works wonders!), do short daily meditations, take up running, jogging, or hot vinyasa/flow yoga to release excess energy, so it doesn’t continue to circulate unproductively throughout your body.
Foods that Support the Heart and Brain
- High magnesium foods like raw green pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and cashews support our nervous system
- Choline/Inositol found in egg yolks helps replenish the chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters
- Green tea contains a calming amino acid called l-theanine brain to calm excitatory neurotransmitters
5: FEAR
Fear lives in the kidneys and can manifest as chronic adrenal fatigue with the never-ending tired-but-wired feeling, frequent urination, urinary tract infections, back pain, and insomnia due to the inability to “let go” from not feeling safe.
Before the Food
Breathwork can work wonders when in a fear-based state. Also using nature as your co-pilot is very helpful. Walk outside barefoot on the grass or beach grounding and visualize yourself giving fear back to the earth so it can transmute it into love. Practice slow, deep relaxing stretches like yin yoga or restorative yoga.
Foods that Support the Kidneys
- Cabbage (mitochondrial production for cells)
- Parsley
- Strawberries
Does this information resonate with you? Which emotions are you currently working to move through and what have been the best tools for you?
We’d like to know in the comments below.
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17478591
Thanks for finally writing about > Which Emotions Affect Which Organs | The Whole Journey < Loved it!
Great article! I find all of this so fascinating and can’t wait to try some of the techniques.
I recently began having kidney pain and first searched to see which foods were helpful or harmful. Then it occurred to me to see what emotions might be having an effect and found this page – wow! Not only did this information resonate, but as soon as I recognized the truth of it my pain decreased by almost 75%. Thank you!!! <3
Issues with kidney is a birth defect. Appeared that surgery helped for years. Now constant discomfort around the bladder worries. Can this be also connected to fear emotion?
Just diagnosed with kidney function problem. Absolutely has to do with fear. 54 years old, 2 teenagers divorced low paying job, uncertain of future.
Try http://www.divorcecare.org, in addition to the food
How we can get rid of these kind of situatins i need mentally training
Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce Meyer
Very interesting and helpful. Thank you. Thank you thank you.
You’re welcome, Nathalie!
How does the blood type diet play into healing. If the foods that are suppose to help is food that does not agree with your physical body ?
Hi Dj! Thank’s for your post. Check out today’s Food as Medicine blog on the #1 most life-changing nutrition concepts for every body. You’ll find a link for more info on eating for your blood type in the article as well: https://thewholejourney.com/blog/
Food for your blood type os not accurate. Many other people have diet based on body shape that indicate hormone imbalances. These difference require different changes in your diet. Check out Dr Mercola or Dr Berg to check this out.
Good info what emotions r lodged in the right arm
.the feet.the gums.
This information was very helpful. Currently I am an emotional mess. The chart for healthy change is helpful.
Hi Sherri, We’re glad to hear it was helpful. Have a wonderful day!
How can igo off coffee finding it hard to do
HiGina, Kicking a coffee habit isn’t easy, but you can do it. Please follow this link to watch Christa’s video segment on the smartest ways to drink coffee and switching over to tea as alternative. https://thewholejourney.com/the-smartest-ways-to-drink-coffee-and-tea-video/.
Crista,
Do you one on one with clients?
Hi BB, Christa no longer sees clients one-on-one. Please follow this link to check out who she recommends. Here is the link:
http://thewholejourney.com/referral-practitioners
~Stacey, TWJ Team Member
Wondering –regarding green tea? I have heard so many benefits to drinking this, but regarding caffeine is this ok to do everyday or just once and awhile?
Hi Maria, Green tea is ok to drink everyday. Here is a great article that discusses it’s health benefits:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/health-benefits-of-green-tea
But I thought on Gut Thrive program we were to avoid caffiene. After we have completed the program – do we get to have caffiene?
Good Morning, Maria.
While you are on Gut Thrive you are to avoid coffee not necessarily caffeine. Green tea and Mate both have caffeine but are permitted on the program. If you are a current Gut Thriver please write to us at [email protected] and I will be able to give you a detailed explanation. 🙂
You are a LIFESAVER, Christa! Keep rockin’! With love, Lia
Thanks Lia! ❤️
Wow.. Totally resonates with me. I believe that worry pushed my husband over the edge into leaky gut (BTW, we tried your Gut Thrive in 5 when it first came out, and greatly benefited from it!) I can see how the other emotions are affecting me and other members of my family. Thank you so much for all you do to get information out there!!
I’m so glad to hear it’s helpful for you, Kerry. And way to go with Gut Thrive and having your hubby do it with you. I love that! ?
You guys are so much fun!!!!
Thanks Em!
Thank you Christa for all you do!! I’m so glad you are touching on emotional health. Truthfully all but grief are out of balance in me.Keep up the great work congrats on your engagement
Thank you, Gale. I hope that you can get everything in balance and be gentle with yourself in the process.
This information is a fantastic resource, a food guide to helping and understanding yourself and loved ones. To bookmark and return to.
Thank you.
Glad it’s helpful Madame LaFarge 🙂