Time for a lil seasonal post. With the holidays comes food (REALLY good food), and you probably say screw it, eat whatever you want, and by the time New Years rolls around you’re on a green smoothie diet. I’m here to tell you that you’re thinking about it ALL wrong, but not necessarily in the way you’d think. You see, your circadian rhythm changes with the seasons. If you think about it, humans are the only species that don’t change their habits in the winter vs. summer. Birds fly south, bears hibernate, and we just…well we throw on a jacket and keep on going because we have such fast paced lives. Let me break it down for ya:
In the WINTER
Our bodies=cold & dry so…we need=warm & moist
In the SUMMER
Our bodies=hot & wet so…we need=dry & crisp
Basically, our bodies have to change to match the weather outside in order for us to survive as warm-blooded human beings. That being said, when our body is cold and dry in the winter we need to fuel it with warm and moist foods like sweet potatoes and soups, instead of trying to diet on New Years with crisp salads and cold smoothies. We also need more sugar, not to say we should pig out on Aunt Sheryll’s entire pumpkin pie by ourself, but we should be more aware of our cravings. When you become more in tune with your body, you begin to realize when it needs certain nutrients. Hence the infamous phrase — “Listen to your body!”
By forcing down crunchy, cold, leafy greens when our body is already cold, we are actually using more energy and it is harder for our body to digest these types of foods. This also means that in the summer when our bodies are hot, we need foods that cool us down like those salads and smoothies, because our bodies will fight the hot, moist foods!
Here’s a list of some of my favorite seasonal foods you could give a try!
Winter Hot & Moist Foods
Sweet Potatoes
Soups (vegetable soup is one of my favs!!)
Spaghetti or hot pasta
Chili
Summer Cold & Crisp Foods
Salads (Casear & Spicy Thai Chicken from Panera are my favs!)
Salsa
Smoothies
Potato or Pasta Salad
spread smiles,
Rach
