Winter is Coming

Or winter is here rather, and I have found myself in a quandary.  What do I eat in the morning?  I don't want to eat bread, and I tend to steer clear of dairy and eggs, so what to eat?  My lovely roommate Charli makes green smoothies for herself every morning, and while I was loving them in the summer, I found that it is too cold for me in the morning in the winter.  This would make sense from a Chinese Medicine standpoint.  Summer is the Yang season, and is fire, so cooling foods would serve the body well.  However, winter is Yin, and our bodies need warming foods to  keep our internal yang strong and for our bodies to function properly.  So, I have been having a hard time with this, until my friend Rachel suggested I add some warming spices to my smoothie such as ginger or cardamom.   I thought this sounded like a good idea, and so I tried it, and low and behold I felt much better.  I was feeling pretty proud of myself, then I went to theory........ According to Chinese medicine theory, your body does not like raw in winter, and over time eating a bunch of raw food will cause Phlegm, which no one wants.  SO, again I was stumped.  I decided this rule sounded a little stringent, and honestly felt a little offended for my beloved green smoothie, I felt that I needed to defend it's virtue and get to the bottom of this, could my green smoothie really cause Phlegm?  I should add physical manifestations of Phlegm are no fun, they include cysts, goiters, sluggishness, lethargy, weight retention to name a few.  Well I have consulted some admirable sources (one of my professors and my acupuncturist, both of whom are brilliant) and this is what I have come up with.

During winter we want to avoid raw food. We want to feed ourselves warm nourishing meals, including warming spices into our diets such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, garlic and I would throw tumeric in there because I think it is a magical root.  However, the everything in moderation rule will apply, so if you have one raw green smoothie in the am, it is not going to give you goiters :) It is however, a good idea to amend your smoothie for the winter weather. It makes sense that the same smoothie that serves you in the summer, would not be the best in the winter.  Fortify your green smoothie with warming spices and add some fat to it, such as coconut milk in order to help and feed your body in the winter.  Other than that, drink ginger tea to help your stomach fire, and have the rest of your meals be cooked, nourishing meals.   :)

The End...... For Now.