Eating for Health in Winter
Dietary Tips for a healthy Winter
The organs associated with Winter are the Kidney and Urinary Bladder; it is the season of the Water element. It is a time for peaceful contemplation and a time to spend with close friends and family. Winter is a time for regeneration and renewal; a time for building your base line energy so you are ready to spring into action.
Strong kidneys are associated with longevity; as we grow older taking care of your kidney energy assumes greater importance; they are responsible for our bones, teeth, hearing and memory. Menopausal symptoms and a lack of sexual potency relate to insufficiency of the kidney system in Chinese Medicine.
A healthy kidney system is essential for our reproductive system too; infertility is closely associated with the energy of the kidney system.
To counteract the cold of winter, the focus is on eating warming and slow cooked foods that build your baseline energy. Hearty soups made from slow growing vegetables e.g. carrots, beetroot, potato, pumpkin; stews made from pulses, beans, fish and meat cooked on the bone.
To counteract the cold of winter, add warming spices and herbs to your food e.g. cinnamon, cloves to fruit deserts, rosemary, thyme, ginger, pepper to savoury dishes. Avoid eating salads, raw and cold foods and drinks.
Your body contracts with the cold, restricting the flows of fluids e.g. blood to tissues and bones. When this happens, the tissues and bones in our body are not properly nourished. It can cause pain and aches in our back, muscles and joints. Tendons become more brittle and more prone to injury.
Weakness in your baseline energy shows up as either too much water e.g. incontinence, oedema, bloating or too little water e.g. constipation, dryness e.g. mouth, throat, hair To build your baseline energy in winter eat walnuts, chestnuts, and pinenuts. If you are prone to dryness include salty foods in your diet e.g. seafoods, anchovies, pork, soy sauce, millet, barley, seaweed; salt holds moisture inside the body.
Weakness in your kidney system can also affect your emotions as fear and insecurity. Fear blocks love. Stressed kidneys become waterlogged; to try and rebalance the kidney system, they off load the excess to the heart which is often at the root of heart disease and hypertension.
