As the wind begins to blow, the temperatures start to drop and the leaves fall we know the seasons have officially changed. Gone are the long lazy days of Summer, and in are the harder, cold days of Winter. This changing of the seasons is a cue to us, that we must also change. If we don't change, we will find our health and overall well being greatly diminished.
Balance
Balance is an important concept in achieving the greatest levels of health and well being. When we are out of balance we don't experience as much peace, we feel anxious and overwhelmed, we indulge in behaviors that are not healthy such as overeating, eating too much sugar or drinking alcohol. These behaviors only further pull us out of balance and soon both our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health are all effected. When we are in balance, we feel content, at peace, our body is healthy and strong, we experience great levels of energy and creativity, our weight remains perfectly balanced and we eat mindfully, exactly what we need when we need it.
The world around us is constantly changing. If we do not change along with it, we become out of balance. We are very much a part of the world we live in. What effects the world, effects us. One of the greatest changes the external world experiences is the changing of the seasons. As the seasons change we notice our health also begins to change. As the winds bluster, we suddenly become susceptible to illnesses in our respiratory system, colds and flus most notably. We can tend to feel less energetic and more wanting to lay around, cuddled up.This is a natural balance to the very active lives we tend to live in the warmer months. The changing of the seasons is a prime time for your health and well being to go out of balance. Changing along with the seasons is one of the ways to stay in balance. Eating with the seasons is one of the most important ways to change with the seasons.
Eating with the Seasons
Eating with the seasons is the most natural way to eat in fact. It allows you to eat the largest variety of foods, ones that change dramatically and vibrantly with the changing of the seasons. It also creates balance in the external world by not placing unnatural demands on the environment for out of season foods. 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. We have become desensitized to commercial farming methods who make pineapples and strawberries available throughout the coldest months of the year, and hearty root vegetables available in the hottest summer months. If you take the time to notice, though, this does seem a bit odd and out of place. 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. For instance, circadian rhythms are clear patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration and other physical, mental and behavioral changes that correspond with the Earth's light, dark and sometimes temperature cycles. 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 best natural source of diversity. The changing of the seasons is essential for the balancing of the planet’s resources. We could not go long with a hot Summer that lasted forever, without soon running out of fresh water. We likewise could not live too long under a hard freeze of Winter, without the glorious warmth of the Sun’s rays to grow foods and give us energy. Eating with the seasons is beneficial to the health of the body because it allows the body to go through the various changes it need to stay balanced internally. Eating with the seasons 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. Proving this, researchers in Japan found a three-fold difference in the vitamin C content of spinach harvested in Summer, versus Winter. Not only is the nutritional and flavor content highest when in season, foods are also most affordable. Eating locally grown foods will give you a great place to start in knowing what is in seasons when in your area.
The Growing Seasons
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 to help keep the plant alive once the Sun has gone, the leaves have died and the Earth is cold and dark. 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. In October 1996 the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed 70% or more of the studies on these vegetables found a strong link between the vegetables and protection from cancer. The cancer prevention properties come through specific phytonutrients in these Winter vegetables. 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 deep dark pigments of berries tells just how phytonutrient dense they are. The darker the color, the more antioxidant and phytonutrient dense a food is. Berries come in a wide variety of deep colors, from midnight blues, to blood reds, to velvet purples. These luscious colors give you a vast variety of nutrients and beneficial plant chemical compounds.
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. All are in-season and plentiful in the Summer months. 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. Summer produce is no less nutrient dense, but foods are lighter and faster digesting, in part due to their high water content. In Summer, as with the other seasons, there is a wide variety of colors to chose from, which means a wide variety of nutrients, antioxidants and phytonutrients for your body. The antioxidant rich red tomatoes and purple eggplant, to the orange and yellows found in 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, so even when the temperature are scorching outside, your beauty need not suffer.
Seasonal Produce Guide
| 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 best ways to remain balanced and healthy. It also supports eating naturally and sustain-ably.
Candice Marley
Holistic Health Practitioner, Holistic Nutritionist, Master Herbalist & Wellness Coach
www.alignholistichealth.com
www.rawvitalitycleanse.com
Holistic Health Practitioner, Holistic Nutritionist, Master Herbalist & Wellness Coach
www.alignholistichealth.com
www.rawvitalitycleanse.com
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