The temperatures are rising, and with climate change our bodies are going to need to adapt to hotter summers. What we always do, changing out our clothing, putting on more sunscreen and spending more time outdoors is no longer enough. While we change over our wardrobes for the change of seasons very few of us think to change over our what foods we stock in our kitchens.
Ellen Goldsmith, author, culinary medicine expert, faculty member of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, National University of Natural Medicine and nationally board certified, licensed acupuncturist, can teach your audience how they can help their bodies adjust from the inside out by eating certain foods and avoiding others during the summer months.
What to eat? Guess what, it’s not Ice Cream! We need hydrating, cooling foods that don’t cause our bodies to heat up when they work to digest the food. And we need balance. Include foods such as:
- Avocado, celery, cucumber
- Banana, watermelon, berries, lemon and coconut or coconut water
- Raw leafy green veggies like spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, and cabbage are all very high in water content
- Mint – This cooling herb contains menthol which triggers protein sensory receptors in your mouth. In essence, it’s like the coolness of ice cream without the heat raising properties.
When it is hot, we need to be able to adjust our internal temperature so warm or room temperature liquids can be helpful.
What you want to avoid are foods that will heat you up such as:
- Excess use of warming or hot spices like dried ginger, hot pepper
- An excess of grilled meats – you don’t have to give up the BBQ completely, but adding some citrus to the meat helps make it easier to digest.
- Pickles – eating a lot of foods high in sodium can add to dehydration
Learn more in an interview with Ellen.
Ellen Goldsmith is a nationally board certified, licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist, educator, health and wellness consultant, and author of the book Nutritional Healing with Chinese Medicine: + 175 Recipes for Optimal Health. She co-founded Pearl Natural Health, in 2001 an integrative naturopathic and Chinese medicine out of Portland, Oregon. She is on faculty at the National University of Natural Medicine’s College of Classical Chinese Medicine, where she teaches graduate students in the study of Chinese Dietetics and its clinical application. She is also on faculty with the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine teaching integrative medical fellows on the Energetics of Food. She created the podcast Health Currents Radio to motivate, educate and inspire people to improve their health. She later hosted Healthwatch on Pacifica Radio, a popular weekly show.
