Witnessed by: TCM
Chicken liver (Gallus gallus domesticus), of the Phasianidae (Aves) family. The domestic fowl; the liver two soft dark lobes lying against the gizzard; native range: the domestic fowl, kept worldwide; taken at slaughter. Globally recognized as ji gan (鶏肝) in Chinese, and chicken liver in English. The part used is the fresh liver. Soft, smooth, glossy and deep red-brown, two-lobed; sweet and faintly metallic and mineral on the tongue, cooking to a fine crumbling paste.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CHICKEN LIVER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- chicken liver
- Scientific name
- Gallus gallus domesticus
- Family
- Phasianidae (Aves)
Form
- Part used
- the fresh liver
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘)
Temperature
- TCM
- warm (温)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Kidney · Spleen
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- tonifies the liver and kidney, nourishes the blood and brightens the eyes, and augments the spleen
Cautions
- Contraindications
- damp-heat and phlegm-damp; liver fire or ascendant liver yang, which its warmth would feed; and unresolved exterior patterns
- Toxicity
- a food, non-toxic in ordinary use; the liver concentrates what the bird was fed, so a sustained course wants a clean source, and its vitamin-A load makes heavy continued eating unwise in pregnancy
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