Food IS Medicine
Part 1: The First 5 Ingredients I’m Using to Support My Liver, Hormones & PCOS
I’ve spent the better part of my adult life living inside a body that felt like it was always running uphill: fatigue that wouldn’t quit, inflammation that I couldn’t even articulate, breakouts outs in my 30’s, a vanishing period, PCOS symptoms that felt louder than my own thoughts, endometriosis flares, insulin resistance, and that familiar heavy feeling under my ribs that was trying to tell me, “HEY! Your liver is tired.”
I won’t sit here and tell you I am healed, but I AM healing.
And as a chef, the place I always come back to is the kitchen.
Food has been my comfort, my creativity, and now, my medicine cabinet.
The more I learn about the body; especially hormones, liver function, digestion, and blood sugar, the more it becomes clear that food matters SO. MUCH. MORE than I think most of us ever realized. Not in a restrictive way. Not in a “perfect wellness girl” way. But in a small, gentle, powerful way: the right foods, used consistently, can help the body do what it’s been trying to do all along.
So I’ve been diving into research, Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutritional science, hormone health, lymphatic support, and my own lived experience to find out which foods actually move the needle. Which ingredients support the liver. Which calm inflammation. Which help with blood sugar. Which feel grounding instead of bloating. Which leave me clearer, calmer, and more stable than the day before.
And I’m cooking with them! Not perfectly, not as a cleanse, not as a “new personality,” but as a woman rebuilding her health one meal at a time.
This series is simply what I’m learning and what I’m applying.
No magic claims, no overnight fixes, just the ingredients I keep returning to because my body responds to them.
And the first five have already reshaped the way I think about food and healing.
A gentle note:
Nothing here is medical advice. I’m not a doctor or practitioner. I’m a chef and a woman navigating PCOS, endometriosis, insulin resistance, and liver dysfunction — and I’m sharing the foods I’m learning about and using to support my own healing. Always check in with your healthcare provider before making major changes.
1. Mung Beans
When I started digging into foods that truly “lighten the load” on the liver, mung beans kept popping up like they were following me around.
Mung beans keep coming up everywhere! In TCM texts, liver healing literature, PCOS discussions, gut health studies, and even anxiety research. They’re tiny, green, unassuming little things, but they’re ridiculously powerful. I dreaded this, as a Pho lover who could never bring myself to eat mung bean sprouts (despite my maintained claim that I am NOT picky).
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, mung beans are considered cooling, clearing, and damp-draining. Meaning: they help reduce inflammation, calm heat in the liver, support detox pathways, ease bloating, and gently move water through the body.
Modern research backs that up: mung beans have compounds that help regulate blood sugar, support the microbiome, and reduce inflammatory markers. They’re also easier to digest than most American beans.
What mung beans can support:
liver heat + inflammation
insulin spikes
anxiety + cortisol sensitivity
bloating + water retention
gut microbiome balance
lymphatic stagnation
acne or heat-related skin flares
How I actually use them:
Not. As. Spouts. Absolutely not.
The whole cooked beans are nothing like that crunchy nightmare. They’re soft and cozy, like a cross between lentils and split peas. I simmer them in broth with garlic, onion, ginger, and turmeric. Sometimes I stir in a splash of coconut milk (ALWAYS at the end) to make it creamy. It tastes like comfort food that just happens to be medicinal.
2. Adzuki Beans
If mung beans are the cooling, calming friend, adzuki beans are the warm, grounding one who shows up with soup when you’re overwhelmed.
Asian cultures have used adzuki beans for centuries for kidney health, blood sugar support, and gentle detox, and wouldn’t you know it… these little red beans keep showing up in both modern nutrition and TCM for hormone balance, lymphatic drainage, and liver support.
In TCM, adzuki beans are considered sweet, warming, and diuretic. They help move stagnant water, reduce puffiness, support the spleen, and calm the digestive system without contributing to “dampness.”
What adzuki beans can support:
lymphatic drainage
hormone clearance
puffiness + water retention
blood sugar stability
fatigue after meals
spleen support (bloating, heaviness, sluggish digestion)
How I actually use them:
These are the beans used in sweet red bean paste (think mochi), so they’re naturally more neutral and dessert-friendly. I love them in chili, soups, and stews — but they’re also incredible mashed with a little vanilla and maple for a cozy, nourishing treat (or breakfast, if you’re a lover of a sweeter American style breakfast). They digest easier than black or pinto beans.
3. Daikon Radish
Daikon is one of those ingredients you meet once and immediately think, “Where have you been all my life?” It’s subtle but wildly effective.
This is the sleeper ingredient nobody talks about — and should.
Daikon is basically a detox tool disguised as a vegetable. In TCM, daikon “breaks up phlegm,” moves lymph, clears heat, and helps process fats. Modern studies show it supports digestion by producing enzymes that help break down starches and fats, which is VERY useful when you don’t have a gallbladder.
What daikon can support:
bloating after fats
lymphatic sluggishness
chest/ribcage tightness
mucus congestion (yes, even digestive “phlegm”)
liver processing
post-meal heaviness
fatty food intolerance
How I actually use it:
I grate it raw into broths, slice it into soups, roast it like potatoes, or pickle it quickly with a little vinegar. It has zero heaviness. It makes my whole torso feel clearer, less tight, less congested. It’s one of the most surprising foods I’ve ever added to my kitchen.
4. Dandelion Greens
Dandelion greens are the food equivalent of someone gently tapping your liver on the shoulder and saying, “Hey sweetie, let’s wake up and move a little.”
Every time I research liver support, dandelion greens show up. Every time I look into PCOS or estrogen metabolism, they show up again. Every time I read about digestion, bile flow, fatty liver, insulin resistance… there they are.
They’re bitter, and welcome to the world that is discovering bitterness is the flavor that stimulates the liver.
TCM says they “clear heat” and “drain dampness.”
Modern nutrition says they boost bile production and support detox pathways.
What dandelion greens can support:
sluggish liver detox
estrogen dominance
gallbladder-free digestion
acne + inflammation
constipation or irregularity
blood sugar and carb handling
period timing + PMS
How I actually use them:
I sauté them with garlic, coconut oil, crushed red pepper, and lemon. They taste like a slightly sassier version of spinach. I don’t measure anything with any tool other than my heart… I just cook them down until they’re soft and bright and a little tangy. It feels like I’m feeding my liver exactly what it’s been begging for.
5. Ginger
Ginger is the quiet overachiever — simple, familiar, but somehow always exactly what your stomach, hormones, and nerves needed.
Ginger is one of those ingredients that sounds too simple to matter, but it does. It warms the digestive system, stimulates circulation, moves qi, reduces nausea, supports gut motility, lowers inflammation, and helps with insulin regulation.
In TCM, ginger strengthens the spleen (huge for PCOS bloating), supports digestion, and moves dampness out of the body. In modern research, it’s linked to reduced inflammation markers and better blood sugar response.
What ginger can support:
nausea, queasiness, indigestion
bloating + slow digestion
inflammation
insulin resistance
painful periods
cold hands/feet or poor circulation
tension in the torso from “stuck” liver qi
How I actually use it:
Everywhere. In broths, in stir-fries, in bean soups, in tea, grated over bowls, simmered with lemon. Fresh ginger feels like a reset button for my whole torso.
Closing Thoughts
I’m still at the beginning of this journey, but these ingredients (and the research to prove that food is medicine) have already changed the way I think about food, healing, and what “supporting my body” actually looks like. Not perfection. Not restriction. Not being afraid of certain ingredients or chasing trends. Just paying attention. Listening. Learning. Feeding myself foods that help me feel a little lighter, a little clearer, a little more grounded than I did the week before.
Adding these five foods into my kitchen has been one of the gentlest ways I’ve supported my liver, hormones, and digestion. And honestly, it’s made eating feel… hopeful? And certainly helpful!
If you try any of these, or if you already use them in your kitchen, I’d genuinely love to hear how your body responds. There’s so much wisdom in the way our bodies communicate when we slow down enough to listen.
What’s Coming in Part 2
In the next five ingredients, we’re getting into foods that support:
deeper liver detox
lymphatic flow
insulin resistance
inflammation
estrogen metabolism
and gentle, everyday hormone support
Some of these you’ve definitely heard of… and some might surprise you.
Part 2 will drop soon — and I think it’s going to be just as eye-opening as this first set.
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Healing is so much easier when the information is easy to come back to.
