Eating with the seasons is the most natural way you can eat, and it also allows you to eat a variety of foods that change dramatically and vibrantly with the changing of the seasons. For centuries, humans ate what was grown, when it was grown. It wasn’t until recent years, with the advent of our commercialized growing and shipping methods, that we began eating out of tune with the natural rhythms of our planet. Over thousands of years of human existence, our bodies have become naturally in tune with the seasons of our Earth. Internal body processes naturally align with changes in the external environment. We are naturally in sync with the innate rhythms of the Earth, including the food cycles that change with the seasons. Ecologists consider the changing of the seasons, the natural source of diversity.
Eating seasonal is beneficial to the health of the body because it allows the body to go through various needed changes that balance our internal environment. Eating seasonally is also how to get the most flavor, nutritional value, variety and affordable selection of food. Foods hold their highest nutritional content at the peak of their ripeness, and the peak of ripeness only occurs within a food's natural, traditional growing season. When we eat in tune with the natural rhythms external to us, our internal body systems naturally balance. Eating with the seasons is a great tool in balancing and improving digestion.
There are typically three recognized farming growing seasons most notably recognized - Spring, Summer and Winter. These three types of crops vary widely in look, taste and nutritional value, giving your body exactly what it needs, to be in balance with the changing external environment. In the Winter, the weather is cold and the foods available to eat are warming, grounding and packed with immune system supporting nutrients. From hearty root vegetables to bright sweet citrus fruits, the Winter months have many nutritious foods to offer. The warm, grounding root vegetables like beets, sweet potatoes, turnips and rutabagas help you stay in balance with the external environment that is cold and blustery, while high doses of antioxidants and phytonutrients found in citrus fruits, onions, ginger and kale, help to ward off colds and flu’s. Root vegetables grow deep within the dark of the Earth, a darkness akin to the depth of Winter. Growing deep within the ground, they are able to absorb high amounts of minerals and nutrients from the soil. These vegetables are loaded with vitamins C, Beta Carotene, phytonutrients and are an excellent source of protein and complex carbohydrates. Roots hold and store energy. This stored energy is exactly the same kind of long, sustained energy your body needs during the dark, chilly winter months. The cruciferous vegetables including kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, have gained their notoriety for being a top class cancer preventer. Apart from that, cruciferous vegetables are rich in vitamins A, C, folic acid and calcium. Citrus fruits bring vibrancy, and color to the dark Winter months. They are loaded with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants especially vitamin C, which helps to strengthen the immune system and shorten the duration and severity of the common cold and flu, which both come calling in the Winter months. A single orange contains more than 60 flavanois and 170 different phytonutrients! The bright color and sweet taste of citrus fruits help to brighten the dreary months of Winter.
In Spring, as fresh green plants start to peek out through the cold hard ground, the focus turns to cleansing and light, fast moving, high energy foods. During the Winter, energy is conserved to help keep the internal organs warm, but this causes fluids to slow and stagnate. Spring brings the opposite, which is much needed, with detoxifying and alkalizing greens and nutrient dense berries, all of which move quickly, flushing the tissues and organs. Greens such as arugala, baby lettuce and spinach are most sweet, tender and crisp in the Spring. The green color signifies a high concentration of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll closely resembles hemoglobin in molecular composition. When you eat these green foods, its almost as if you are giving yourself a pure, clean blood transfusion, cleaning your blood of the old and bringing in the highly oxygenated new! In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spring is the season of the liver, and the focus is on internal cleansing. Dandelion greens and asparagus are both mild diuretics that help flush the kidneys of excess fluids and wastes, and come in-season in the Spring. Toxins stored in the body tissues and fluids are highly acidic, which can throw your internal pH out of balance as they are released into the blood to be cleansed. As you begin flushing toxins in the Spring, you also want to be eating alkalizing foods to help balance the acidity of the toxins being released. Greens are the most alkalizing foods you can eat. Once your body is flushed and cleansed, its time to bring in nutrient dense foods to revitalize and replenish. Mid-Spring, colorful berries including strawberries, raspberries and boysenberries come into season. Berries top the chart in antioxidant activity and are rich in vitamins, phytochemicals and fiber. The darker the color, the more antioxidant and phytonutrient dense a food is.
In the Summer, as the temperatures rise, your body isn't required to expend as much energy to stay warm, so light, cooling foods are most appropriate. Summer produce has an exceptionally high water content, which helps to cool the body and balance the internal temperature to the external environment. Cucumbers, tomatoes and peaches are delicious, light and help your body deal with the warm Summer days. Watermelon has been shown to lower body temperature, and the herb mint cools off any dish or drink. Vitamin D is plentiful during this time, so warming foods and spices should be avoided to prevent needlessly overheating your body. The refreshing light foods of Summer balance your internal environment perfectly. Antioxidant rich red tomatoes and purple eggplant, orange and yellow bell peppers, corn and summer squash, all hold within them a multitude of phytonutrients to keep your health radiant. The high water content of Summer foods also helps to nourish dry skin and hair.
Below you will find a table of what produce is in-season when. Use this table to help guide your food choices throughout the year. Produce selections varies by region. The more of a Locavore (consumer of local foods) you become, the more you will become familiar with your specific region's growing patterns and crops.
| Winter | Spring | Summer |
| Avocado | Apricots-through Summer | Apples |
| Beet | Artichokes | Apricots-through Spring |
| Broccoli - and Early Spring | Arugala | Asian Pear |
| Brussle Sprouts | Aspargus | Basil |
| Buttercup Squash | Baby Lettuce | Bell Peppers |
| Cabbage (the cooler the weather the sweeter) | Blueberries - through Summer | Blackberries |
| Cauliflower | Boysenberries-through Summer | Black Currants |
| Celery | Broccoli-early & Winter | Blueberries-and Spring |
| Chard-and Spring | Burdock | Boysenberries-and Spring |
| Clementine's | Carrots-and Late Summer | Butter Lettuce |
| Dates | Chard | Carrots - and Spring |
| Endive -and Summer | Cherries - and Summer | |
| Grapefruit | Chives | Corn |
| Jicama | Cleavers | Cucumbers |
| Kale | Dandelion Greens | Endive - and Winter |
| Kiwi | Fava Beans | Eggplant |
| Leeks | Garlic - and Summer | Figs |
| Lemons - and Spring | Garden Peas | Garlic - and Spring |
| Mandarins | Lemons - and Winter | Grapes |
| Onions | Mangoes - and Summer | Green Beans |
| Oranges | Mustard Greens | Key Limes |
| Parsnips | New Potatoes - through Summer | Lettuce |
| Passion Fruit - and Summer | Pineapple - and Summer | Lima Beans |
| Persimmons | Plums | Limes |
| Pomegranate | Radishes | Mangoes - and Spring |
| Potatoes | Raspberries - through Summer | Melons - Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Watermelon |
| Rutabaga | Rhubarb | Mint |
| Sweet Potatoes | Snow Peas | Mushrooms |
| Tangerines | Spinach | Nectarine |
| Turnips- and Spring | Strawberries - through Early Summer | New Potatoes - and Spring |
| Winter Squash | Stinging Nettle | Passion Fruit - and Winter |
| Sugar Snap Peas | Peaches | |
| Turnips- and Winter | Plums | |
| Raspberries - and Spring | ||
| Soy Beans | ||
| Strawberries - and Spring | ||
| Sugar Snap Peas | ||
| Summer Squash | ||
| Tomatoes | ||
| Tomatillo | ||
| Zucchini |
Eating with the Seasons is one of the components in an optimum diet. It is also one of the ways to eat naturally and sustainably.
Contact us today to learn more about the healing power of a natural, holistic diet and lifestyle.
Align Holistic Healthy & Well Being, LLC
www.alignholistichealth.com
720-277-9124
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