Attacking your skin from the inside is something I am also talking about with my patients. Most of us notice that coming out of Winter, our skin can tend to look lacklustre, our hair dry and nails brittle and we are baffled as to why. It could be that the foods that attune us to the dry, cold weather – hearty soups and stews; sweet, root vegetables; warming/moistening grains; red meats – are all warming and sustaining and perfect for winter. But they are also acid and mucus-forming foods that require a little spring cleaning once winter bids farewell.
The lovely thing about Spring is that it invites us to lighten up and allow our body to do a thorough seasonal cleaning job by looking at the foods that we now need to add into our diet.
Spring greens and sprouts are alkalising and detoxifying. They are low in fat and full of revitalising, rejuvenating life force energy. They are also packed with vitamins, minerals, fibre, antioxidants and other phyto-nutrients. They break up excesses accumulated over the long winter season by reducing mucus and expelling toxins as the body seeks to do its natural spring cleaning chores.
Spring greens also help detoxify the liver, the major organ associated with Spring. The liver serves many functions in the body; one of its most important is to filter and breakdown toxins that can result from general overeating, as well as from alcohol, drugs, oily and fried foods, heavy meats, pesticides, and chemicals. A liver overwhelmed by winter eating and drinking habits can be revitalised by the alive, chlorophyll-rich foods offered by Spring. If it’s green, it’s good!
To assist the liver and the body as a whole in Spring, we need lighter, cooling foods that are generally bitter and pungent (to dispel mucus); pungent (to move energy); and sour (to assist the liver, break up heavy fats, and relieve indigestion and stagnation).
Sour - the colour green, the liver/gall bladder, and the emotion anger are all associated with Spring according to Chinese Five Phase Theory. A liver overwhelmed by heavy foods and toxins can stagnate energy (“Qi”), leading to anger, depression and mood swings, and the inability to plan and make decisions. The sour flavour is cooling; has a drying, astringent effect; and acts on the liver to relieve congestion. Lemon tea, simply lemon and hot water, is a good example of a fitting antidote to a heavy meal. Fruits and berries that are sour and cooling —grapefruit, lemons, apples, mango, pears, and strawberries — also assist the liver and fit a Spring diet.
Bitter – bitter foods are cooling and draining. They help rid the body of excess fluid and damp conditions that can lead to Spring colds, asthma, allergies and congestion. Spring gives us plenty of these light, bitter foods through the plethora of leafy Spring greens and vegetables like asparagus. Also good are vegetables in the cabbage family such as bitter brussels sprouts, kale, and broccoli rabe (rapini).
Pungent – pungent foods, such as onions, garlic, ginger, watercress, radishes, and turnips are also fitting for Spring. Pungent foods help clear the lungs and large intestine, stimulate digestion, and move Qi to relieve stagnation. Pungent foods also move energy upward and outward and help the body break up and dispel mucus, particularly from mucus-forming foods like dairy.
Spring foods to focus on.
In Spring, people who are generally balanced will want to eat foods from all five flavours — sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty — but with less emphasis on the sweet, salty sustaining foods of Winter and more upon the bitter, pungent, and sour detoxifying foods of Spring. At this time of year, it is best to try to limit red meat and dairy, which are mucus-forming. Also try to rotate from wheat and oats to the more drying bitter/sour grains such as rye and amaranth, as well as buckwheat, corn, millet, and quinoa, all of which are drying and cleansing compared to oats and wheat. Because wheat allergies can result from heavy reliance on wheat throughout the year and from poor food combining when proteins are eaten with wheat (e.g., sandwiches, pizza), consider rotating in Spring to more seasonally-appropriate, non-gluten grains such as quinoa, millet, and buckwheat.
Note: A devoted rotation to Spring bitter and raw foods will not generally work well for people who suffer a deficient immune system, have cold conditions, and/or weak digestion. Cooked foods and foods that are sweet in flavour are more strengthening and tonifying and may be appropriate throughout the year for some individuals with cold and/or deficient conditions. In the same spirit, it may make sense for someone with heavy congestion and excess heat conditions to eat cooling, cleansing raw foods and bitter greens throughout the year. A person’s physical profile should always take precedence over seasonal food considerations.
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