Eating for the Seasons

SPRING: New beginning

Chinese Organ Systems: liver and gallbladder                       Chinese Element: Wood

A healthy liver establishes smooth and soothing flow of energy through entire body and mind.

• Eat less or fast to cleanse body of fats and heavy foods of winter
• Diet should be the lightest of the year and contain foods which emphasize the yang, ascending, and expansive qualities of spring: young plants, fresh greens, sprouts, cereal grasses, raw foods
• Simple food preparation
• Use sweet and pungent flavored foods
• Pungent: basil, fennel, marjoram, tumeric, cardamom, cumin, ginger, black pepper, horseradish, rosemary, caraway, dill, bay leaf, garlic, onion, watercress, mustard greens
• Sweet: grains, legumes, seeds, young beets, carrots, starchy vegetables, minimally-processed sugars (honey, stevia root, unrefined cane-juice granules, whole sugar cane, licorice root, barley malt, date sugar, molasses, rice syrup)
• To move stagnation: beets, taro root, sweet rice, strawberry, peach, cherry, chestnut, pine nut, cabbage, turnip root, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, VINEGAR
• To detoxify the liver: mung beans and sprouts, celery, seaweed, lettuce, cucumber, watercress, tofu, millet, plum, mushrooms, rhubarb root, radish, daikon radish
• Limit salty foods, which have a sinking energy, and heavy/fatty foods, which clog the liver

SUMMER: Luxurious Growth
Chinese Organ Systems: Heart and Small Intestine               Chinese Element: Fire

Heart not only regulates blood circulation but also controls consciousness, spirit, sleep, memory, and houses the mind.  A calm heart will bring clarity and peace to the entire body.

• Avoid highly warming substances: coffee, tobacco, alcohol
• Bitter foods cleanse the physical heart and arteries, cool the heart, and create a centering action in the body.
• Magnesium, especially in green foods, is healing to the physical and emotional heart.
• Calm the mind: whole wheat, brown rice, oats, mushrooms, high silica foods (barley, cucumber, celery, lettuce), mulberries, lemon, schisandra berries, jujube seeds, dill, basil, chamomile, catnip, scullcap, valerian
• Cool the heart: fresh wheat germ, wheat berries, mung beans

LATE SUMMER: Interchange of All Seasons

Chinese Organ Systems: Spleen and Stomach                       Chinese Element: Earth

The spleen-pancreas and stomach are responsible for digestion and distribution of food and nutrients.

• Prepare food simply with a minimum of seasonings and mild taste
• Moderate cooking time and temperature
• Chew food well and eat small, frequent meals
• Choose foods that are harmonizing and represent the center: mildly sweet foods, yellow or golden foods, round foods; millet, corn, carrots, cabbage,  garbanzo beans, soybeans, squash, potatoes, string beans, yams, tofu, sweet potatoes, sweet rice, rice, amaranth, peas, chestnuts, filberts, apricots, cantaloupe
• Tonify spleen-pancreas:
• Grains: well-cooked rice, oats, spelt, sweet rice
• carbohydrate-rich vegetables: winter squash, carrot, rutabaga, parsnip, turnip, garbanzo beans, black beans, peas, sweet potato, yam, pumpkin
• pungent vegetables and spices: onion, leek, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, garlic, nutmeg
• sweet foods: rice syrup, barely malt, molasses, cherry, dates
• If there is deficiency, avoid excessive amounts of raw and cooling foods, large meals, rich foods, of mucus-forming foods

FALL: Season of Harvest

Chinese Organ Systems: Lung and Large Intestine   Chinese Element: Metal

Lungs receive the vital qi of the air and mix with the qi extracted from the food to distribute qi over the body.

• Choose more astringent foods to represent the contracting, inward motion of nature
• Heartier foods and flavors
• Cooking methods should use more focused preparation to supply the greater energy needed in a cooler season.  Cook with less water, at lower heat, for longer periods of time to internalize your focus during cooking.
• Stimulate the appetite with smells- baking, sautéing
• Add more sour flavored foods to focus the scattered energy of summer: sourdough bread, sauerkraut, olives, pickles, leeks, aduki beans, salt plums, rose hip tea, vinegar, cheese, yogurt, lemons, limes, grapefruit, sour apples/plums/grapes
• Pungent foods to clear toxins: hot peppers, chilies, onions, garlic, turnip, ginger, horseradish, cabbage, radish, daikon radish
• Clear old mucus deposits and line surfaces with clean, moist coat: seaweeds, marshmallow root, flaxseed, fenugreek
• Protect surface/boost immunity (foods rich in Vitamin A): carrot, winter squash, pumpkin, broccoli, parsley, kale, turnip and mustard greens, watercress, wheat or barley grass, algaes, mullein leaf, nettles
• Fiber to cleanse the colon: apples, cherries, carrots, oats
• Start to add bitter and salty foods to move energy inward and downward

WINTER: End of All Seasons, Time for Rest

Chinese Organ Systems: Kidney and Bladder                       Chinese Element: Water

Kidneys rule water metabolism, govern sexual and reproductive function, provide warmth and energy, and serve as the root and foundation of the body.

• Warm hearty soups, whole grains, roasted nuts
• Cook foods longer, at lower temperatures, and with less water
• Salty and bitter foods have a sinking/centering quality, which increases the capacity for storage of energy
• Salty foods: miso, soy sauce, seaweeds, salt, millet, barley (care not to overuse salt)
• Bitter foods: lettuce, watercress, endive, escarole, turnip, celery, asparagus, alfalfa, carrot top, rye oats, quinoa, amaranth, chicory root, burdock root, horsetail, chaparral
• Fortify the kidneys: dried foods, small dark beans, seaweeds, and steamed winter greens

Source: Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. Third Edition.