Seasonal eating

Fonzy melon

It is clear to most of us living  in this part of the world that we choose our foods very much based on the seasons. Of course, it is possible to find out of season produce in mid-winter but finding food of the fresh variety is dependent on the season.

There is a fascinating, if unproven principle of nutrition that is based on temperature. It says that temperature can have a considerable impact our health: The actual temperature of food, the hot or cold energy ascribed to it by Eastern culture, the temperature of the environment, and the law of the pendulum, which turns everything into its opposite. Traditional healing systems have always recognized temperature as one of the major influences on our health

In Chinese medicine, external temperatures are seen as having not only a temporary effect, but heat and cold are thought to be trapped inside the body, causing continued disturbances. Ayurvedic medicine of India holds that one of the main properties of food is the ability to warm or cool the body.

While nutrition is rife with controversies about what foods are good for us and what foods are harmful, holistic nutrition does have some incontrovertible truths: that balance is essential (a food that is considered good becomes bad in the wrong proportions) and that each of us is individual (the idea that one person’s food is another’s poison). Most of the time, one person cannot tell how another person will react after eating a particular food. Therefore, some very subtle effects of food can only be noted by careful self-observation. Keeping this in mind, the following list of warming and cooling foods may contain some foods that you disagree with. But the point is that you should recognize the validity of the concept and learn to work with it, finding out what foods are warming and cooling for you.

Cooling

• Raw fruits
• Raw vegetables
• Cucumbers
• Summer squashes
• Citrus fruits
• Raw tomatoes
• Papaya
• Leafy vegetables
• Soybeans
• Tofu
• Mung beans
• Sea vegetables
• Bulgur
• Corn on the cob
• Rice
• Ice cream
• Yogurt
• Milk
• Sprouts
• Egg white
• Shellfish
• Pork
• Coffee

Warming

• Cooked and dried foods
• Cooked vegetables
• Cabbage
• Winter squash
• Coconut
• Tomato sauce
• Avocado
• Root vegetables
• Tempeh
• Lentils
• Kidney beans
• Potatoes
• Yams
• Oats
• Barley
• Cornmeal
• Butter
• Cream
• Aged cheese
• Nuts and seeds
• Egg yolk
• Fish
• Poultry
• Beef
• Organ meats
• Chocolate

Flavourings, herbs and spices have warming and cooling qualities and will affect the foods with which they are used accordingly.

Cooling

• Curry
• Turmeric
• Dill
• Parsley
• Hot peppers
• Coriander
• Pickles
• Tamari
• Sugar
• Salt

Warming

• Garlic
• Ginger
• Cumin
• Caraway
• Basil
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Bay leaf
• Black pepper
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Vanilla
• Miso
• Brown sugar
• Salt (holds heat and cold)

If some of these items seems counter-intuitive, they can be explained by the concept of the pendulum swing: one thing turning into its opposite, which is supported by what modern science tells us: that the final effect of hot spices is in fact cooling. When you consider that things like curry and hot peppers grow in a hot climate, it makes sense. They feel initially hot to the taste because they expand the capillaries, allowing the blood to rush to the surface of the skin provoking perspiration. When the perspiration evaporates, the effect on the body is cooling. Ginger, although spicy, helps hold the heat because it is a root and is more contractive. Hot peppers on the other hand, are expansive and disperse the heat.

Returning to the concept of balance, when we get too expanded from the summer heat, and eating expansive foods, we may require a drastic cooling food like a frozen dessert or a chilled drink to contract toward balance again. (The Chinese do not believe in drastic changes like the Nordic practice of jumping into ice cold water and then getting into a hot tub. Nor do they drink very cold or very hot drinks, but prefer their drinks at room temperature.) Following the logic of maintaining balance – without using drastic measures – if we eat only moderately expansive foods in the summer, we won’t become too expanded and therefore won’t require the chilled dessert.

Sugar and salt are both warming and cooling because their crystalline structure hold the temperature applied to them and intensifies it. Soups become hotter when salted and ice cream made with ice and salt work best for cooling. Cold foods taste best when sweet or sour, hot foods when salty or spicy. Cooking techniques for cooling in summer include steaming, stir-frying and pickling. Warming techniques include boiling, sautéeing, frying, baking and dry roasting. Then of course, there is always the option to eat food raw.

It’s a good idea to learn to use foods and cooking methods to regulate body temperature and to counterbalance the weather of the season. As mentioned, the sensation of body temperature is highly subjective, so you are encouraged to explore your own reactions to what you eat. Enjoy eating moderately expansive, cooling foods this summer and enjoy your good health!