Eating Seasonally for Wellness
By consuming food that’s in season, it becomes healing for Mother Earth and for our bodies. In-season produce can often be sourced locally, thus helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Since it is available in abundance during its peak season, it is rich in nutrients and natural occurring flavours. Another advantage is, that it’s often less expensive or on sale :-)
Seasonal foods also help provide the right type of fuel for our bodies to maintain balance, like grounding warming foods in the winter and lighter cooling foods in the summer. So what do our bodies need in the spring during the in-between time from the transition of cold to warm?
‘Tis the Season for Greens and Cleansing. YUM!
In holistic health philosophies, like Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, it is said that spring is when the snow melts and the grounds de-thaws, much like the fluids in our bodies as they undergo a similar process of movement for detoxification. Conveniently, Mother Nature provides us with an abundance of detoxifying foods in the spring to support our liver, one of our main detoxifying organs. Bitter foods (a taste our liver loves) such as dandelion, mustard greens and kale, are plentiful in the spring as well as other liver loving foods like asparagus, spinach, beets, radishes, spring onions and Swiss chard to name a few.
Being Good to our Liver is well Worth It This Spring
Our liver is responsible for hundreds of functions, including the neutralizing of toxins, like free-radicals, and the recycling of hormones. The liver, however, can only work so hard. When the liver gets overloaded with detoxification duties, toxins spill over from the liver into our blood and cause havoc in our body. Toxins can be anything that we ingest from processed foods, pesticides, additives, herbicides, pollutants, prescription drugs, alcohol and smoke, to even stress. The effects toxins have can result to symptoms of lethargy, low immunity, acne, premature aging and more.
Liver duties, like recycling hormones, get put on hold because detoxification is priority, and as a result our hormones fall out of balance. Hormones are responsible for regulating many systems in our body including our metabolism (aka our weight), sexual vitality, mood, digestion and more. When we are unable to recycle hormones we can experience a wide range of symptoms like PMS, difficulty losing weight (this is very common), mood swings and more. A toxic liver means it is more difficult to ignite our GLOW inside and out.
By consuming food that’s in season, it becomes healing for Mother Earth and for our bodies. In-season produce can often be sourced locally, thus helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Since it is available in abundance during its peak season, it is rich in nutrients and natural occurring flavours. Another advantage is, that it’s often less expensive or on sale :-)
Seasonal foods also help provide the right type of fuel for our bodies to maintain balance, like grounding warming foods in the winter and lighter cooling foods in the summer. So what do our bodies need in the spring during the in-between time from the transition of cold to warm?
‘Tis the Season for Greens and Cleansing. YUM!
In holistic health philosophies, like Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, it is said that spring is when the snow melts and the grounds de-thaws, much like the fluids in our bodies as they undergo a similar process of movement for detoxification. Conveniently, Mother Nature provides us with an abundance of detoxifying foods in the spring to support our liver, one of our main detoxifying organs. Bitter foods (a taste our liver loves) such as dandelion, mustard greens and kale, are plentiful in the spring as well as other liver loving foods like asparagus, spinach, beets, radishes, spring onions and Swiss chard to name a few.
Being Good to our Liver is well Worth It This Spring
Our liver is responsible for hundreds of functions, including the neutralizing of toxins, like free-radicals, and the recycling of hormones. The liver, however, can only work so hard. When the liver gets overloaded with detoxification duties, toxins spill over from the liver into our blood and cause havoc in our body. Toxins can be anything that we ingest from processed foods, pesticides, additives, herbicides, pollutants, prescription drugs, alcohol and smoke, to even stress. The effects toxins have can result to symptoms of lethargy, low immunity, acne, premature aging and more.
Liver duties, like recycling hormones, get put on hold because detoxification is priority, and as a result our hormones fall out of balance. Hormones are responsible for regulating many systems in our body including our metabolism (aka our weight), sexual vitality, mood, digestion and more. When we are unable to recycle hormones we can experience a wide range of symptoms like PMS, difficulty losing weight (this is very common), mood swings and more. A toxic liver means it is more difficult to ignite our GLOW inside and out.
julie@loveoffood.ca
~ Find Julie Beyer's For the Love of Food on Facebook and Twitter for regular tips on healthy eating, nutrition, recipes and more.
~ Find Julie Beyer's For the Love of Food on Facebook and Twitter for regular tips on healthy eating, nutrition, recipes and more.
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