
With the colder months now upon us, my taste for fresh, crisp, cool salads, icy cold juices and fresh fruits has given way to a hankering for warm soups, curries and whole grains.
If your desire for belly warming foods has kicked in, you may have noticed a change in your digestive function.
I say this from experience. For me, everything slows down as I make the transition into winter eating. I tend to eat more in one sitting, and I get a sense of an extra burden on my digestive fire. If your diet is starting to include more stodge, you may find that your food is spending more time hanging around in your belly than it was in previous months.
There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, as already mentioned, cooler weather tends to lend itself to eating larger meals less regularly. If this isn't the case for you, I'd love to hear from you. But I must say, I do hear this from people often. My theory is that we tend to prepare more hot meals during the cooler months, so we are unlikely to do this several times a day in small quantities. Eating larger quantities less regularly is much tougher on our digestion than eating smaller meals more frequently.
Another factor is that cooked food, although often easier to digest, does lack the vibrancy, and generally the nutritional value of raw foods. I am referring to vegetables mostly here. We also tend to cook in bulk, and consume more reheated leftovers, in the cooler months. Reheating further zaps the life from our food.
So, what can we do to help beat the digestive stodge?
I have a few simple hints that will help your digestion transition into the change of season with greater ease.
Often it is tempting to reduce fibre content in our winter diets. Make sure that all hot meals such as soups, curries, casseroles and pastas contain plenty of fresh vegetables thrown in. I often adapt recipes by simply adding in an extra cup of green vegetables.
We are less tempted to swig on the water bottle as the temperature drops, but be aware that we still require a daily water intake of at least one litre per day. I love soups for their water content. Sipping on herbal teas throughout the day helps keep the fluids up also, and has a wonderful belly warming effect. Choose a herbal tea that is good for digestion, like peppermint.
This can be tricky, as mentioned above, but there are plenty of simple, quick recipes out there that are full of nutrition and belly warming goodness. Get familiar with what you can prepare simply and quickly.
We generally sit around more in the winter months, and this does not do our digestion any favours. Healthy digestion requires adequate blood flow and nutrient and waste exchange via circulation, so keeping on the move really helps. How about getting into the habit of going for a gentle 10 minute walk after each meal?