Eating Right for Every Season of Your Life

Cycling...

This past year I returned to a strict Vegetarian, 60% raw diet. I lost 20 lbs in 6 months and was feeling good, but a few months ago with nothing else changing I began to injure my self doing things I could do forever, nothing big, just a lot of "little itis's." So I examined how I exercise: my form, reps, minutes, etc., did a mental review and remembered no abuse, nothing more that a few over zealous bike rides (I couldn't help myself).  Then I considered my diet might be the culprit.

The fats/oils I was receiving from it were not adequate to nourish (moisten) my body, specifically my tendons. So I gave it some thought and decided to cycle back to a diet containing raw dairy - raw cultured cow butter and raw goat milk and I am again feeling supple, no longer like a dry branch ready to snap. 

This change is a reflection of my willingness to be flexible with my diet, always eating high quality foods, but not stiff about what foods, for how long and how they are prepared.

Seasonally...



Looking back at the history of human beings on this earth offers us much information concerning the natural way of living. How in the not so distant past we ate seasonally, these seasonal foods seemed to offer what we needed when we needed it. This contrasts how we live today. 

Our ability to grow food around the world and have it available in quantity and out of season year round has caused many of us to eat not only a limited variety of foods, but to eat them year round. This habitual, rather than intuitive and seasonal eating, manifested in many issues we experience today. Things that were not so prevalent in the past are creating many internal imbalances.


Out of Season...

What do foods out of season do to and for us? Lets look at what’s grown, when, and how it works with what we are experiencing at that time of year.


In summer things coming from the earth are plentiful and most are quite cooling. In the past, watermelon (the coldest food on earth from a Chinese medical perspective) was eaten exclusively in the summer. We think of picnics, closing a meal with a big slice or adding chunks to a salad.  This makes total sense as we are hot, the weather is hot and so we eat cool/wet foods.  

In winter we would consume stored, preserved foods and meats that do not really have a season. These for the most part are cooked, nourish blood and warm the body. Again, exactly what is needed for that time of the year. Examples are ubiquitous so I’ll not offer them for now.  If you become my patient, we will investigate it all one-on-one.

Food Allergies...

The first reason we began to become “allergic” to foods few have ever had allergies to in the past is because of two factors; one being the food itself. Eating the same food everyday no matter how “good for us” overloads us with food constituents that would usually not be an issue, but because of what they are and the quantity and frequency they are consumed, reach a tipping point and create problems.



The second is the state of our digestive system. When it is unhealthy because of a flesh-based, fiberless diet, peristalsis slows or stops. We have too few complete bowel movements, our intestines weaken, stretch and become porous resulting in remnants of food entering our abdomen outside the digestive tract (Leaky Gut Syndrome). This food is then seen as "foreign material" which prompts the body to produce antibodies to attack the very food we ate for nourishment. This then manifests as allergies.

Being Wise = Being Practical...

Eating a large variety of foods at different times of the year or eating what your body calls for is always wise. You will have to educate yourself so you will be able to self evaluate. If this is not something you feel comfortable doing then find a physician who works from a natural perspective. An Acupuncturist/Herbalist, Ayurvedic Physician or Naturopath will be able to help you to understand your constitution and what foods will best help you obtain balance AND STAY THERE. 
 



All the Best...Gi