Unlike a century ago, today you can eat any type of food you want at any time of the year. At any restaurant or grocery store, you can buy any vegetable or fruit out of season, even during the middle of winter. But is this actually healthy? Does eating the right foods for each season make us healthier.
Eating the right foods for each season can be healthy, but many of us eat the same foods all year without considering the season and then wonder why we don’t feel very good. Ayurvedic and macrobiotics along with our instincts tell us which healthy foods to eat for each season.
Why Eating the Right Foods for Each Season is Healthy
There are certain foods that are healthy and right for each season, especially if you live in a temperate climate where there are four seasons. In the more tropical regions, you might eat the same foods all year.
Most of us live in a temperate region or colder northern hemisphere regions. Why foods are healthier during certain times of the year has to do with the growing seasons.
Eating the right foods for each season is a way for us to be healthy and stay in balance with nature. Eating locally grown foods in season can also keep us in balance and healthy.
Each growing season has its own characteristics that can show us what to eat for optimal health during the seasons.
Each growing season has its own characteristics that can show us what to eat for optimal health during the seasons.
Eating the right foods for each season can be healthy, but many of us eat the same foods all year and do not consider the season and then wonder why we don’t feel very good. Ayurvedic, macrobiotics and our instincts tell us which healthy foods to eat for each season.
In this modernized world, we are used to having any kind of food at any time of year because of shipping and exporting any and all foods from around the world.
We have become accustomed to going to the store or restaurant and buying whatever food we feel like, even if it is not healthy for that time of season. But in many parts of the world, people eat instinctively for each season. With macrobiotics, this is balancing yin and yang of the seasons with the right healthy foods.
In this modernized world, we are used to having any kind of food at any time of year because of shipping and exporting any and all foods from around the world.
We have become accustomed to going to the store or restaurant and buying whatever food we feel like, even if it is not healthy for that time of season. But in many parts of the world, people eat instinctively for each season. With macrobiotics, this is balancing yin and yang of the seasons with the right healthy foods.
Basic Healthy Eating Rules for the Hot Season
During hot months you should eat lighter animal protein like fish or just eat less animal foods. Eat more raw salads, fruits and raw vegetables. During the summer you should avoid eating large portions of food, hot cooked meals, and too much fat and excessive amounts of animal protein.
Basic Healthy Eating Rules for the Cold Season
Eat plenty of root vegetables, soups, stews, beans, winter squash, fermented foods like miso and sauerkraut and more protein. During the winter, you should avoid eating too many raw salads, fruits and raw vegetables. You should also limit or avoid other cold foods like ice cream.
The Right Foods for the Spring Season
Spring officially starts around March 21st, but in many parts of the northern hemisphere, it feels like it is still mid winter. When you feel spring has started at your location, that is the time to start eating the right foods for spring.
Spring is a time when the sun is out longer, the trees start to bloom and the seeds sprout. Spring is a time for renewal and revitalization.
And your food should match the season. Ayurvedic and macrobiotics teaches us to eat these following foods during the spring season. A time to start eating lighter as the season changes to a warmer climate.
The summer season is an expanding season with everything growing, in full bloom and hot. Macrobiotics teaches us that summer is yang and to balance our health, we need to eat light, which is considered yin.
Whole wheat, oat, rye, broccoli, snow peas, fennel, rhubarb, spring lettuces, chives, mustard greens and other greens, watercress, avocados, strawberries, spinach, kale, carrots, shitake mushrooms, green lentils, mung and lima beans.
The Right Foods for the Summer Season
The summer season is an expanding season with everything growing, in full bloom and hot. Macrobiotics teaches us that summer is yang and to balance our health, we need to eat light, which is considered yin.
Even though summer is the time for BBQ’s, hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks, consider eating less of the animal protein and adding a lot of cooling salads, vegetables and fruits to your meals.
These foods will include apricots, bananas, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, endive, okra, corn or maize, quinoa, red lentils, chickpeas, peaches, zucchini and other summer squash, green beans, cherries, blueberries, raspberries and bell peppers. Spices like chili, coriander, turmeric, curry and other hot peppers are also cooling.
Fall is a distinct changing of the seasons. The days grow shorter and there is an abundance of all vegetables and fruits that were grown during the summer.
These foods will include apricots, bananas, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, endive, okra, corn or maize, quinoa, red lentils, chickpeas, peaches, zucchini and other summer squash, green beans, cherries, blueberries, raspberries and bell peppers. Spices like chili, coriander, turmeric, curry and other hot peppers are also cooling.
The Right Foods for the Fall Season
Fall is a distinct changing of the seasons. The days grow shorter and there is an abundance of all vegetables and fruits that were grown during the summer.
This is the time of year to eat all of those vegetables that were grown during the late summer and to start adding a little more protein like Atlantic salmon and tuna.
Foods for the fall season include figs, pumpkin, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, olives, cauliflower, cranberries, apples and winter squash like butternut, Hubbard, acorn and spaghetti squash later in the fall.
Foods for the fall season include figs, pumpkin, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, olives, cauliflower, cranberries, apples and winter squash like butternut, Hubbard, acorn and spaghetti squash later in the fall.
Sweeteners include molasses, barley malt and maple syrup. Herbs like horseradish, fennel, ginger, dill and cayenne.
The Right Foods for the Winter Season
During the winter, our body heat stays closer to our organs and digestive system to keep us warm. This is why our toes, fingers, hands, legs and arms can feel so cold.
During the winter season, we need to eat heavier warming foods since our body heat is closer to the inner part of our body and digestion, this will warm us.
It just doesn’t make sense naturally to have a big cold salad for dinner and a slice of cold watermelon for desert when it is below zero and snowing.
The right foods for the winter season should include buckwheat, barley, black beans, black lentils, adzuki beans, chestnuts, winter squash, sweet potato, wakame and kombu seaweed, miso and umboshi pickles and roots vegetables like carrots, radishes, Daikon and onions.
The right foods for the winter season should include buckwheat, barley, black beans, black lentils, adzuki beans, chestnuts, winter squash, sweet potato, wakame and kombu seaweed, miso and umboshi pickles and roots vegetables like carrots, radishes, Daikon and onions.
You should eat more stews and soups. For a good root vegetable soup recipe, you can read Low Sodium Vegetable Soup Recipe. A healthy Lentil Stew is great for winter.
I have some reservations about the raw foods diets when strictly followed during the winter. People who are strict with a raw food diet during the cold winter months might feel cold all of the time because of their diet and should eat more protein and learn which foods to eat for the winter season.
Raw Food Diets during the Winter Season
I have some reservations about the raw foods diets when strictly followed during the winter. People who are strict with a raw food diet during the cold winter months might feel cold all of the time because of their diet and should eat more protein and learn which foods to eat for the winter season.
For example, eating buckwheat is warming and recommended for the winter season. For vegans, quinoa and beans are a great source of protein. You can read more about protein for vegetarians in the article, Plant-Based Essential Nutrients.
Eating too many cold or raw foods during the winter can certainly make you colder. During the summer, heavier meals can make you overly hot and dragging.
Eating the Right Food for Each Season Conclusion
Eating too many cold or raw foods during the winter can certainly make you colder. During the summer, heavier meals can make you overly hot and dragging.
If you feel yourself out of balance or not in the best of health, you should consider eating the right foods for each season.
About the Author
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Copyright © 2011-2019 Sam Montana
About the Author
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Copyright © 2011-2019 Sam Montana
