By Leona West-Fox
When you decide to eat with the seasons, you make a conscious choice to only pick those foods that the season naturally produces. Fruits and vegetables are at their peak, both in flavor and in availability. This may mean sweet gourds in the fall, hearty greens in the winter, watermelon, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers in Summer and berries, asparagus, fresh peas, avocados and sweet onions in the Spring!
Nutritional medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and Chinese medicine all tell us that we can prevent disease before it begins by using seasonal foods to balance the body.
Common imbalances and ailments that can occur in the Spring are:
Allergies
Sinus infections
Migraines
Spring is also the perfect time to do some gentle body cleansing to prevent these and other ailments from even occurring by increasing plants and teas while temporarily removing the insulating foods we can sometimes overdo during winter such as; grains, sugar, meats. Spring is a great time to eat lighter and more plant dense to give the body a rest and reset from the indulgences of winter.
Optimal Spring foods to look out for in the Spring to help prevent and heal these common ailments include:
-Berries (antioxidant, cleansing)
-Asparagus (kidney support, glutathione)
-Artichoke (liver cleansing)
-Sweet Onions like Vidalia Onions (natural anti-histamine, cleansing) these are so uniquely delicious, a must try!
-Fresh peas (great source of vitamin C, cleansing)
-Avocado (plant source of beneficial fats while taking a break from animal fats)
-Watercress (cleansing, Iron)
-Spinach (cleansing, magnesium)
These foods happen to be rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, Quercetin
and Glutathione, all key to supporting the immune system, reducing
histamines and inflammation and supporting nasal and respiratory
passageways. Spring is an excellent time to cleanse when there are
fewer extremes in weather, Winter is too cold, summer is too hot and
Spring is just right!
Asparagus is a master kidney cleanser, Artichoke a master liver
cleanser and all the fresh spring greens of spring are all great foods
as medicine to cleanse the body.
Leona West Fox is a functional medicine nutritionist. She can be reached at her website: leonawest.com or by email at leonanutrition@yahoo.com.