Times and Seasons... in Nutrition
We are daily surrounded by the many wonders of the world. We can video chat with someone across the world using a powerful computer we keep in our pockets. We can hop in a metal tube and cross an ocean in hours. We can enjoy a delicious bottle of water, shipped to us from Fiji, for just a few dollars.
It’s no wonder to me that with all of these technological advances, our eating habits have changed. We can enjoy fresh clams & lobster even when we live hundreds of miles from an ocean, even avocados in February. But at what cost?
Our bodies have adapted over millennia to survive and even thrive in a variety of climates. The human body can handle a broad range of climates and dietary inputs, and over time these habits form a local cuisine that incorporates the best of the local food and spices. One of the wonders of the modern world is that we can ‘borrow’ from these cuisines whenever we like. If you live anywhere close to a city, you can find foods and dishes from all over the world, regardless of the local climate or the current season. This is something unprecedented in the history of the world and something that our bodies are ill-adapted to.
When facing difficulty with ‘new’ problems, it is sometimes useful to consider ancient wisdom.
There is a whole field of study, initially popularized in Japan over the last hundred years, called macrobiotic diet therapy. This field focuses on eating foods grown locally and in the proper season, in addition to considerations for the ‘energy’ of the foods.
I would never advocate turning our backs completely on the many advancements of Western medicine, but if you find yourself struggling with your health, it is never bad to cast a wider net and consider wisdom both old and new, both West and East.
Confucius advocated for us to “only eat what is in season”. Let’s consider why that could be good advice. While a hothouse-grown tomato can be delicious in the middle of winter, it’s worth considering the cost to produce such a vegetable ‘out of season’. Besides the energy cost to heat the plant, we have the likely use of chemical fertilizers, artificial lights to replace the sun, and the delay between harvest and consumption since this sort of production is often centralized, leading to longer transport times. All of these costs are avoided if we eat foods grown locally in accordance with local seasons.
There is an interesting old saying regarding the seasonal diet: “Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer and you won’t need medicine from a doctor”. Seems pretty similar to the old “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. It is a reminder though that our bodies are built to consume a seasonal diet.
Put differently, I’m offering you the idea of choosing to eat the way that our bodies ate by default for literally thousands of years. Sounds a little wild, I know…that’s how much the world has changed in just a few generations.
Here at ForMyHealth, we promote something we call Open Eating. Put simply, we teach people how to listen to their bodies again, and then feed the body the nutrients that it is asking for. Far too often when we work with clients we find that through the convenience of the modern economy, they have adopted a high-calorie / low-nutrient diet. The health outcomes of such a diet are almost universally poor.
Open Eating isn’t a diet, it’s the knowledge that can be used by anyone, like a toolbox, to apply to their situation on an individual basis. I know my audience is spread across the US and beyond into the wide world. Some of you have the money and time to travel the world and enjoy the succulent luxuries of faraway exotic lands. Others are struggling to make ends meet. May I offer a simple suggestion?
Open yourself to the idea that your body (and your wallet) will appreciate a simplification of your diet and the incorporation of more nutrient-dense foods. We are at the very beginning of spring, and in the coming weeks take the time to visit a local farmer’s market. Look at the quality and color of the products that you see there. Consider incorporating some of these into your diet and then listen to your body as it tells you if it liked it or not.
You may be pleasantly surprised. Let me know how it goes!