As the weather in Wisconsin starts to get cold, it is time to shift to warmer winter foods. Food is more than just nutrients and calories. Food makes us feel good and helps our bodies adjust to the weather. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) looks at how foods affect the way we function. One piece of advice is to not eat frozen fruit smoothies in the winter.
Tropical fruits contain a lot of good nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants and other chemical components that should be in a healthy diet. Tropical fruits and berries are appropriate in the heat of summer. In the dead of winter a hot cocoa or apple cider spiced with cinnamon, and cloves is what most people crave and need. Chinese medicine identifies this as the inherent temperature of food and is not specific to the serving temperature (Coffee for instance is considered “cooling” even if served hot). A food or herb that is inherently “hot” in nature will be used to treat a person who feels cold, and vice versa. Tropical fruits are not appropriate food for living at the north pole, just as whale meat and cold water fish may be too heavy a meal when living in the tropics.
Many people are convinced that a frozen fruit smoothie for breakfast will make them healthier. Often these people are sluggish and suffer frequent colds as their body struggles to start the day with a big work load of food that must be thawed and digested at a time of the day when they have the least amount of energy to do it. Following this with a lunch of a salad and diet beverage likewise does not help to provide the body with the energy it needs to function.
The frozen fruit smoothie is too cold, both in way of inherent and actual temperature to be a central food on which to base a healthy winter diet. They can be a great treat when you are feeling hot, but there are better ways to balance your diet for better health. Start the day with hot cinnamon oatmeal, simple grains or eggs, nuts or fruits that are in season. Eat a variety of foods that are appropriate for the season, and balance the amounts of food based on what you need. You will feel better, adjust more quickly to the weather and stay healthier through out the cold winter.
For more articles on seasonal food advice check out some of my columns from last winter or subscribe to this column with the links at the top of the page.
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