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Martina Trenier

DIGESTIVE HEALTH IN WINTER

Updated: Jan 9



Let's be careful about cold and damp foods during the winter season. These foods can imbalance your digestive system and harm your Spleen and Stomach.


Cold foods are lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, celery, mango, tomato, grapes, watermelon and more.

Cold foods have cooling effect on your body and during the winter season they can harm your metabolism. Our body must work harder to digest and process these foods.


Damp foods are mostly dairy products, eggs, meat, salt and sugar, greasy foods.

Too much dampness in the body can be recognized as nasal discharge or phlegm, feeling too tired all the time, heaviness in the head, bloating, tumors,cysts and vaginal yeast infections.


Imagine this : It is winter, very cold outside, you go in the restaurant, where you sit on a cold chair. You are offered cold water with ice cubes and as a starter you eat cucumbers and tomatoes with lettuce. You notice you feel very cold inside your body and after you leave the restaurant you don't feel very good, you don't have much energy and feel tired. By making these choices you can harm your Kidney energy, that's why you can feel so low energetically. Your digestion is not thriving. You know you have to get something warm like tea to warm yourself up and get your body's "middle burner" into balance. And also the Bladder together with the Kidneys.


Your center likes to be warm for proper digestion. We have to learn how to support and give loving attention to our Stomach and Spleen. Eating too many cooling and damp foods can damage the relationship between these two precious organs. It can also take energy from your Kidneys. If the Kidneys are running low on energy, they have to ask the Spleen to borrow some.


Cold salads in winter?


To keep our Stomach happy is to keep it warm by consuming less cold and raw foods in winter. Consuming more foods that are slightly cooked is a better option. Slightly cooked foods for our healthy digestion, better sleep, better mood and more energy.


Our bodies are able to extract more nutrients from slightly cooked foods rather than raw foods. It is recommended to mix raw salads with slightly cooked vegetables, and add spices like ginger. Raw leafy greens are living foods, they have enzymes which are great for intestinal cleansing. Enzymes are biological molecules that speed up the rate of all of the chemical reactions that take place within our cells. They are vital for life and serve a rage of important functions in the body such as aiding in digestion and metabolism.

Don't eat the same raw salad every day, rather switch and blend different greens that are in season.


You can make your winter salad with: beets, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, warm apples, almonds, squash, parsnip, roasted potatoes, mushrooms, ginger, cardamon and more.


Juicing in winter?


We already talked about how cold can harm your metabolism. Taking cold juice from the fridge and drinking it, is not the best option. When you make your own juice at home, you can add some warming ingredients like fresh ginger. Also fresh lime of lemon juice can bring juice into balance.

Drink room temperature water and you will obtain a strong healthy digestion.

Avoid frozen drinks.


Are you juicing to lose weight? There is a healthier option for you in winter and it is.......


Soups


- help control weight gain

- boost immune system

- high in fiber, vitamin A, magnesium, iron, potassium,

- contain whole ingredients such as a whole carrot instead of carrot juice

- lower in sugar than juices

- deliver some protein and fat ( you can't have them in juicing much)

- can fill you up just as much as solid foods

- vegetables, herbs and meat cooked into soup retain more nutrients than baked or stir- fried

- add Chia seeds in your soup for more health benefits


Soups for better health, feeling great, more energy and other benefits? Yes, yes, yes.

Soups all year round? Yes, yes, yes.


Broth -based soups


I'm a very big fan of home-made bone broth. I make it once a week and use it for my cooking or just drinking in the morning instead of tea or coffee.


Bone broth has many benefits. It is rich in collagen and minerals, great for digestive health, skin, detoxifying the Liver, osteoarthritis and more.


You can use in in soups, stews, gravy, marinade, mashed potatoes, to steam or saute vegetables....

It goes well with ginger or lime


To learn more about bone broth you can read my article about bone broth on my web site ( the Journal section).


Broth -based soups are butternut squash soup (vitamin A and C, fiber, omega 3)

chicken noodle soup ( low in calories, contains protein, selenium, vitamin A , it is great for thyroid balance, but be careful - it is rich in sodium!)

italien minestrone ( lot of veggies in it)


Cream-based soups

Contain fewer calories and are usually high in fat and sodium. I recommend eating cream-based soups only from time to time. For example clam chowder can be wonderful soup for special occasions.


Canned soups from the store have usually high amount of sodium and BPA from the cans.


Eat moderately, always chew well and many times, don't eat greasy foods, try not to have a sedentary lifestyle and try to maintain the balance of the flavors to keep the harmony of your organs.


Flavors and organs:

heart - bitter

liver - sour

spleen- sweet

lung - spicy

kidney - salty




For more information please visit my Wellness studio in Uzes or write me an email with your questions. Private sessions are available to discuss your health, your body type, your natural element and recommendations for you.

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