Liver Cleanse Salad With Artichoke, Garlic, Radish, & Red Wine Vinegar

CONSTITUTIONAL MEDICINE INSIGHTS

The fresh, mild bitterness of artichoke hearts, enlivening radishes, and spicy raw garlic all shine in a red wine vinegar base. Olive oil grounds the lightness of the vegetables, while lemon zest gives it a sunny brightness, elevating the taste.

Artichoke hearts, radishes, red wine and garlic are all strong cholagogue, flushing a congested spring liver. As the temperature increases steadily throughout March, congestion builds in the body which must be released.

Aromatics such as lemon zest and raw garlic serve to dilate blood vessels, flushing lymphatic and circulation stagnation as well.

Artichokes are the key player in this recipe: Artichokes are members of the thistle family, and similarly to others in this plant family - think milk thistle- they are hepatoprotective, which simply means that they protect your liver and prevent damage.

Additionally, artichoke hearts are cholagogue, meaning they stimulate the release of bile from your liver and gallbladder, causing your liver to flush and cleanse. This also makes artichoke hearts a digestive and a laxative as your natural bile can help to soften stool.

Their action on bile, the liver and the gallbladder doesn't stop here though! Artichokes also increase the production of bile, as they are choleretic, while also increasing the intensity of the bile itself. This means that it is able to significantly move sluggish digestion and eliminate lipids from your blood, as bile is composed of phospholipids and cholesterol. As artichokes are also high in fiber, they facilitate the movement of lipid rich bile through the digestive system to be excreted, lowering cholesterol and fat soluble toxins in your body such as pesticides and heavy metals. This cleansing superfood is a must have when losing weight, to protect your gallbladder and liver, as well as during the spring when your body naturally sheds its layer of subcutaneous fat, accumulated during the cold months.

Artichokes, in and of themselves, make for a fine spring cleanse, but adding the pungency of radishes and garlic helps with digestion as well as circulation, increasing the benefits of artichokes. The hot, sour pungency of red wine vinegar moves your blood and moistens the entire digestive tract, as it is a sialogogue. Red wine vinegar, radishes, and olive oil are all cholagogues and help to increase the liver cleansing effect.

Additionally, olive oil is anti-inflammatory. The burning sensation that you get in the back of your throat when eating olive oil, much like over the counter liquid ibuprofen, is testimony to the anti-inflammatory action. This back-of-the throat pungency is due to the anti-inflammatory phenolic compound oleocanthal, which can only be felt in the pharynx vs the oral cavity as in other pungent foods like peppers. You can judge the quality of the olive oil by the intensity of this specific burning sensation, and olive oil enthusiasts consider a "two cough" olive oil to be superior to an oil that only causes one cough or a simple clearing of the throat.

This whole dish is brightened with a bit of lemon zest that acts as an aromatic bitter, stimulating the appetite, and alleviating GI stagnation - and you guessed it, lemon zest is also a cholagogue and causes the release of bile from the liver and gallbladder.
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