Spring Meals

Photo by coniferconifer (CC BY 2.0)

Now that Spring is in full bloom, have you felt any inklings to make diet changes?

I often notice with the changes in season that my food desires also change. Some of this has to do with food memory, like craving pumpkin pie and green chili stew in the fall. But if you check in on a more subtle level, there is inherent body wisdom in these changes as well. Our animal selves are tuned into the cycles and rhythms of nature, even if we are unaware of it. And studies on circadian rhythms show that the more aware we are of this connection with nature (time outside, exposure to natural light, and eating with the seasons), the healthier we are likely to be.

Eating with the seasons generally means we eat more of what is in season, or what can be grown and harvested at the time.
f we take it a step further into some deeper science, we can also eat seasonally to consciously replenish stores of vitamins and minerals that will help us maintain nutrient balance throughout the year.

When I think of Spring, I think of new growth, green grasses, flowers and trees blooming, bees are starting to hum and rain is washing everything clear and waking up all the seeds that have been dormant underground.

Bitter greens are typically the first to arrive and can tolerate the swinging temperatures of Spring from nice warm days to frosty mornings. Bulbs and rhizomes are sending out new shoots and greenery. Spring is the time to start eating some raw vegetables again, especially greens. It is a great time to incorporate more salads into your meal plans.

Try these greens for a spicy, and powerfully detoxifying Spring salad:

• Arugula
• Dandelion greens
  (if it’s your first try of these add a minimal amount to other salad greens as these can be quite bitter)
• Watercress
  (probably the top superfood available to us – this delicious, spicy green is packed with nutrients and just what the body needs after a long winter)
• Parsley
  Fresh parsley is a powerful tonic and can be added fresh to salads for some more flavor, incorporated into vegetable medleys, or even added to drinking water for a refreshing taste and detoxifying power.

In addition to greens, this can also be a time to capitalize on the body’s natural inclination to cleanse after a long winter.
Winter is typically, in nature, a time of slower activity and reserving energy. I often feel a bit sluggish in very early Spring, which is my own sign that it is time to start changing up my activity level and diet because winter is over! As soon as I do that I feel my own energy shift and increase in alignment with the bigger changes in the environment. Incorporating more lemon into your diet and beverages adds a boost for natural and easy detoxing. In addition to lemon, apple cider vinegar is also a helpful and gentle ingredient to incorporate more and can be a guard against Spring ailments.

Try them this way:

• Lemons Squeeze fresh lemon juice over salads, then drizzle with olive oil and top with salt and pepper for a tasty fresh and cleansing dressing.
• Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)Place a teaspoon of ACV in hot water with honey for a soothing, immune supporting tea. In the morning this will activate your metabolism and give you a natural boost of energy, consider having it before any caffeine as a way to gently support your system during the Spring changes.
• Put lemon juice and ACV together with Olive Oil and ginger and salt for another delicious salad dressing option!

If we look to nature as a guide, we can find some helpful tips.As it warms up and the days lengthen we naturally are pulled to more activity and outdoors time. After spending much of our time indoors all winter, we may naturally be depleted in essential Vitamin D. The best way to get Vitamin D is from direct sun exposure. Try spending about 15 minutes outdoors with some skin exposed. No sunscreen! If you just give yourself daily exposures you will be able to convert that sunlight into important Vitamin D and build tolerance back up in your skin from being covered up all winter. Reserve that sunscreen use for prolonged exposures that will be too much for your skin type and tolerance.

Some foods to incorporate as well for their Vitamin D content are:

• Pasture-raised egg
  Hard-boiled eggs are in season! Spring is the season for eggs, enjoy them how you like them, but hard-boiled can be a delicious addition to those salads we suggested above (just make sure you eat the vitamin rich yolk!)
• Cold water fish
  Salmon, mackerel, herring these are some great Vitamin D rich fish sources and also contain essential Omega-3 fatty acids (a great boost for your brain)
• Lard
  Believe it or not, lard is a great source of Vitamin D, just make sure it is organic, pastured pigs. You can use lard or bacon fat as a cooking fat to saute vegetables so that Vitamin D rich fat is added to the nutrients of your veggies for a nutrient dense meal.
• Dried shiitake mushrooms
  A superfood that can be added to homemade salad dressings, or stir fry dinners and is a powerhouse for immune support as well.

I hope you enjoy these suggestions and they boost your own creativity for this new season and making those simple, yet nutritionally powerful, changes that support your ongoing wellness.

Giving my body and my brain the best choices I can always makes me smile and feel good! So get out, get moving, and get cooking and eating some delicious Spring meals! And just like April showers bring May flowers, stay hydrated and drink plenty of water!