The weather has been warming up and it’s the time of year that many people start craving lighter meals. A lot of us turn to salads and smoothies when it’s warm out. Salads and smoothies are great for a variety of reasons. For me, the ability to be creative with ingredients is the best part!
HOWEVER, as delicious as they are, for better digestion, it's actually best not to consume salads and smoothies every single day.
TCM Nutrition View of Fruits and Veggies
According to TCM, raw veggies and fruits are typically cold (energetically speaking). Furthermore when we’re talking about smoothies, we’re sometimes using cold milk, cold yogurt, ice or frozen fruit which are all very cold ingredients.
Why is cold a bad thing you might be wondering? It’s not necessarily that it’s bad but we have to think about what happens to cold things/during cold weather in nature. Cold naturally congeals/slows things down. Heat makes things move. Cold foods (whether literally cold or energetically cold) slow down our digestion. And in contrast, when we cook our foods at least partially, they are easier to digest. If we slow down our digestion with cold foods, our body has to work harder and spend more time on the digestive process taking away resources that could otherwise be used for other important processes in the body. If we do this often, it can lead to digestive problems such as bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea and contribute to other health issues as well. Good digestion is a pillar of health so if we are messing with that process, we're not doing our bodies any favors.
Does this mean you have to completely avoid salads and smoothies? For most people, the answer is no. Moderation is key. Having a typical raw veggie salad or cold smoothie a couple days a week as part of a balanced diet is probably ok for most people. If you want to have salads or smoothies more often, you can actually warm them up with a few easy additions.
How to warm up a salad:
-Add cooked quinoa
-Add sautéed asparagus or sautéed Brussel sprouts
-Add roasted sweet potatoes
-Add roasted chickpeas or freshly reheated/cooked beans
-Add red onions (they are energetically warm)
-Add a warm home-made tahini dressing
How to warm up a smoothie:
-Add a small piece of fresh ginger or a 1/8 tsp of cinnamon
-very lightly sauté greens before adding them to the smoothie
-Add room temp coconut or almond milk (shelf stable packs that haven’t been in the fridge)
-Avoid adding ice, ice cream and cold milk
-Add warm water
Who should Avoid Salads and Smoothies
There are some times of year and certain symptoms that should signal that it's a good idea to avoid cold smoothies and raw vegetables all together.
Who should AVOID raw salads and cold smoothies:
-In the coldest days of winter, pretty much everyone should be avoiding eating raw vegetables. I would say it's ok to continue eating raw fruits-the fiber and nutrients are super important but you can occasionally mix it up by cooking fruits too. It might be fun to try some cooked cinnamon apples on top of your morning oats or make a delicious Asian pear soup. The recipes for these are numerous and easy to find with a quick Google search.
-Anyone who already has ongoing digestive issues such as bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation should absolutely be cooking their vegetables. Some delicious options are steamed, lightly sautéed with your favorite seasonings and topped with sunflower seeds or roasted with a touch of Olive Oil, sea salt, turmeric and pepper.
-Anyone who is struggling with fertility or who has sharp painful cramps before or during menses should be avoiding cold foods, as well as letting their feet or abdomen become cold. More to come later on how to keep the uterus warm while trying to concieve!
