Eating In The Season Choosing the Right Foods for the Time of Day or Time of Year
by Trevor Sexton, ND, Compass Health Clinic Chinese medicine emphasizes eating in season, according to the weather within yourself and without. Such as, are you feeling hot or feeling cold? Do you need more heating foods or cooling foods? Local food is a good choice as well because it is most likely in season. Burgers and hot dogs on the 4th of July are actually the worst thing you can eat that day, and watermelon is probably the best thing to eat when the temperature is in the 90’s. This also means you should not be having a leafy green salad and a fruit smoothie on a cold February day. Dr. Letitia Dick-Kronenberg said, “our body adapts to the climate in which we are located within minutes to hours of being there.” Meaning, we do better eating what is local and in season and our tongue will tell us so. ‘Why does that pineapple taste so good in Hawaii, but back home you eat the same pineapple and it just does not taste the same? It’s because our body has adapted to the new climate and so our taste buds tell us whether something is out of place or not, by not tasting as good, or tasting absolutely amazing. Isn’t that amazing? According to Dr. John Douillard in his book, Eat Wheat, the digestive acids in our stomach change with the sea6 The Maverick Magazine
June 2022 Issue
sons of the year. In late spring and summer, our acids are weak and need easy-to-digest foods like fruits and veggies, leafy greens etc. As fall and winter come, we should be eating wheat and other grains. A healthy person’s stomach acid will increase in acidity in the winter, allowing for the digestion of more protein from grains, such as gluten, and will also aid in the digestion of meat. As a nation we’ve moved far from eating in season because we can eat anything we want whenever we want it. If I want watermelon in January I can find some shipped from Brazil, but really, I shouldn’t do that. And, the excess amounts of meat available any time allows me to foolishly eat meat between two wheat buns on those hot July days, and then feel even more miserable from the heat. Some cultures have been advocating seasonal eating for centuries. Chinese medicine advises eating in the season and matching your foods to the climate around you. For example, pears are to be eaten in the wintertime because of their cooling effect on the lungs. With respiratory diseases rampant during these months, foods that will nourish the lungs are very important. Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farms in Virginia, proposes that there is, in fact, a proper season to consume meat. In a 2007 article he wrote for Mother Earth News, he shared the following: Tremendous money and effort is expended maintaining production anti-seasonally, but meat is best in certain seasons, just as produce is. When are the deer fattest in your area? Going into winter. Forage-fattened beef is also best in the fall. Once the frost has killed flies and sweetened the grass, cows are more comfortable than at any other time of the year.
They naturally ramp up their forage intake and back fat in fall to get through the lean, hard winter. On the other hand, spring is when chickens lay enough eggs so there will be extra for raising broilers. Seasonally speaking, it makes sense to eat chicken in the summer and beef in winter. Our modern day agricultural practices have all but eliminated the restraints of growing seasons. We get our tomatoes from halfway around the world. Meat is shipped to grocery stores from around the globe. Strawberries can be enjoyed in Summer, Spring, Winter and Fall. Perhaps there is more wisdom than meets the eye to the Ecclesiastical proclamation of: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;" Adapted and excerpted from Please Bless The Refreshments: How to Really Nourish and Strengthen Your Body by Dr. Alan Bradford, ND & Dr. Trevor Sexton, ND Dr. Trevor Sexton is a Naturopathic Physician and owner of Compass Naturopathic Health Clinic in Show Low, AZ. Visit www.compasshealthclinic. com for more details and information. For appointments or questions call (928) 985-0242.
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Dr. Trevor Sexton, ND For appointments and questions call: (928) 242-8644 Celebrating 20 years “on the Mountain”
