Seasonal eating for Spring.
In the southern hemisphere we have fully blown into Spring. Over the long weekend, it was 29 degrees on the South Coast it felt like Summer and yesterday it dropped way down to feeling like 5 degrees overnight. A changeable in-between, but whole and perfect in it’s own right. Beautiful. With the cyclical shifting of seasons, how can we align our nutritional intake with our own unique body and the changes that are happening in the outside world? This blog will look at building your nutritional-needs awareness muscle, hydration, detoxification and cleansing, gut-health hacks and protein intake protien intake to nourish yourself this Spring. It’s another big one, so read it as you need to!
You may have observed that when the temp changes as the seasons revolve, your body has different needs, in the same way that you have different needs throughout the hormonal phases of the menstrual cycle. Your body responds to both the changes that happen inside you and within the environment that you live in. You can, with a little love, attention and knowledge, sync to the cycles around you, to optimise your wellness, alignment and flow.
Self-awareness.
Every female body is different physically and energetically and cycles in a beautifully unique way. Bringing awareness to your whole self as your move through your menstrual cycle, is key to unlocking your femm codes and to developing an understanding of your body’s particular needs. You might notice that around when you are ovulating, you are not as hungry, then come your premenstruum, you want to eat everything in sight. Or not. The point is that we are different individually and our needs change throughout the cycle. Your appetite and cravings are a gateway into knowing what is happening inside you and so just noticing and bringing attention to what your body is asking for, is a powerful practice.
Hint: Don’t confuse dysregulated blood-sugar levels with body-intuation- as in “but my body must really NEED that double, choc ice cream sunday with a double serve of caramel swirl!” It doesn’t quite work like that! But, maybe your energy needs are literally higher because you are just about to get your periods and you need a big cuddle! Noticing these cues is deeply empowering and paying attention will help you gather self-data and knowledge around how to truly care for you. Listen to your body, you will be astounded by the wisdom she contains! Download my free cycle guide and tracking chart at the bottom of this page if you are interested.
Hydration.
Staying hydrated when the weather warms up is important for keeping your mineral levels balanced. Young green coconut water or lemon water are both fantastic for replenishing electrolytes and are great first thing in the morning or anytime during the day. Including high quality salt, bananas, tahini, cacao, yoghurt, spinach, sea-vegetables and avocado, which are jam-packed with electrolytes, will support your mineral balance too. Foods with high water content such as watermelon, celery or watercress, will keep your body's fluid up and aid you through the Spring. Have some of these foods EVERYDAY.
Before you have caffeine or alcohol, EAT FIRST. Eating before your morning coffee or 6pm chilled sparkly will slow the release of glucose into your bloodstream and will help to regulate your blood-sugar levels throughout the day. Wonky blood-sugar levels equal immediate energy and mood rollercoasters and eventually insulin resistance and chronic hormone health conditions. Both coffee and alcohol are dehydrating despite being drinks, so up your fluid whenever you have either!
Detoxification and cleansing.
Detox and cleasing is a BIG, hype topic! Here what I am refering to here is aiding the the natural changes that happen within your body as we move from the cold and heaviness of Winter, to the lighter, fresher feeling of spring. You would easily notice your mind shifting with the return of the sun, do you notice your body too? Often we can feel as though our bodies have been hiberbnating and we want to shake that vibe off and move with the new season. We can use nutrition to support this process;
Eat local seasonal veg-
Our bodies love the foods that are growing around us. They will be potent with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients because they are fruiting naturally at their their peak. The foods that are in seasons are amaziningly aligned to what we crave and need during that time of year. In spring, greens and leaves are blooming in abundance, which beautifully supports the detoxification process. If you go to your local organic food store you will get a good idea of what is growing in your area and that is exactly what your body needs!
The fibre and nutrients in vegetables helps to cleanse and clear out your digestive system. Digestion starts in the mouth, where salivary enzymes begin to break down carbohydrates. Protein gets broken down in the stomach next, if your gut is acidic enough, then it passes through to the small intestine where bile from the gallbladder emulsifies fats and digestive enzymes further breakdown carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (fats). After your body has absorbed what it can from your food, through the lining of your intestines, the left-overs move downward into the colon or large intestine, where good-gut-bugs alchemise what they can. Then of course the rest is what your body can’t use or hasn’t been able to absorb and gets passed out through the anal canal, in your poo!
This process is seriously helped by the fibre in veges, that can’t be broken down. It creates a smooth passage for the digested foods and feeds those good-bugs! I can’t overemphasise how important fibre is for your digestion. It literally gets shit moving! If you don’t have enough fibre, the passage will be slow and sluggish, which can result in many health challenges, including inadequate absorbtion of nutritents. Blocked passages can also lead to excess circulating oestrogen, because the body will use what she can, then pass out what is no longer needed, through the colon. If the colon is blocked, oestrogen (and toxins that your body is trying to detox) will be re-absorbed into the bloodstream and hello heavy, painful preiods and PMS.
Eating a vegetable starter before a main meal, creates a fibrous mesh that lines parts of your gastrointestinal system, and also decelerates the absorption of glucose. Green vegetables for your appetiser are optimal, but really if you add any vegetables you will be supporting your hormones and nourishing your body with fibre, complex minerals and micronutrients. Do what is accessible and enjoyable to you. Green beans, asparagus or rocket go beautifully with good quality olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Check out what they have at your local organic grocery, your body will love it!
Fermented foods-
Fermented food, as I’m sure you have heard, have amazing health benefits. They are defined as food or drinks that are produced through controlled microbial growth and enzyme action. Yep, good bugs that support your gut-microbiome and your ability to digest and absorb nutrients, as well contribute to whole body and brain health. The most common fermented foods are sauerkraut, kefir, coconut kefir, yoghurt, kombucha and pickles and can be a delicously nourishing addition to almost any meal.
Fermented foods offer a natural dose of probiotics, which add a diversity of microorganisms to your gut microbial community. Your gastrointestinal tract is teeming with trillions of bacteria, who, when in balance, hold major roles in digestive and hormone health. When they go out of whack, your intestinal wall can become weakened, which not only interferes with nutrient absorbtion but can also lead to leaky-gut and the many immune-related challenges that follow.
These superstar microbes, also help to break down the foods that enter your digestive system, which is what supports the detox process. They truly do cleanse out the system! A little bit every day is such a great addition to your spring diet. If you are not used to fermented foods, they can be strong on the body and so start with a small amount first and see how you go. Bring your awareness to how you feel immediately after and 2 hours later and then just generlly how you felt that day. Then modify as needed by your own observations. If for example, you have never had kombucha before and try to drink a litre a day, you might end up with some pretty severe bloating! Half a cup of kombucha a day is good for my body, you will see through balanced experimentation what works for you. Hell-yes to gathering self-data!
Diversity is key because we don’t want to re-colonise our gut-microbiome with only one strand of beneficial bacteria, which is what often happens when you but a jar of probiotic capsules. This can be very beneficial under supervision for specific conditions but is not necessarily ideal for everyday use. We all have indigenous bacteria that we need to protect and nurture and a variety of fermented foods contributes to this. So does eating a variety of fruits and veges (pre-biotics), because the different fibres they contain actually feed different bacteria. So if you eat only broccoli every dinner, then the broccoli fibre loving bacteria will probably be dominating your gut! Remember diversity and variety. Once again, your local organics store will have plenty of options.
If you are a menstruating person, then foods high in probiotics are best left out of the menstrual phase because the process can be too much for the body when she is needing to focus on other bio-chemical processes. After your bleed though, fermented food are great in the pre-ovulatory, ovulatory and pre-menstrual phases and are particulary helpful in keeping your oestrogen levels in check.
Liver lovers-
The liver is a critcal organ in the detox saga. Before any toxins even get to the colon to be excreted, they pass through the liver first and go through 2 stages before transforming and becoming waste products. The liver actually changes toxins into less harmful substances so that they can then pass through the large intestine (colon) and into your toilet. The tricky thing is, that these days life is pretty toxic; think plastics, refined sugars, pollution, overly processed foods, pesticides, food additives, excessive alcohol or coffee consumption, chemicals in make-up and skincare products and an unrelenting production of stress hormones from, well life. This means that the liver has a lot to process and can get back-logged if we are not on top of our diet and stress management. We don’t want harmful substances circulating through the bloodstream or accumulating in the body, so we can low-tox our life as much as possible and look after our superstar liver.
Phase 1 requires B vitamins, glutathione, carotenoids and antioxidants Vitamin C and E. These can be found in wholegrains like quinoa or brown rice (B vitamins), broccoli, spinach, oranges, cauliflower (glutathione), carrots (carotenoids), kiwi fruit, strawberries, tomatoes, capsicum (vitamin C) and fish, sunflower seeds, almonds, asparagus and avocados (vitamin E).
Phase 2 requires sulphur, selenium and amino acids taurine, glycine, cysteine and glutamine. Found in mainly high-protein foods meat, poultry, legumes (sulphur, taurine, glycine), brazil nuts (selenium), oats, egg yolk (cysteine), beef (glutamine).
Note: the liver loves lemon and cruciferous vegetables too!
Protein.
Lastly adding enough protein to your meals is important for so many reasons, one of them being that it helps to regulate your energy levels by balancing your blood-sugar. This is literally your ability to jump into life and do the things you want to do, because have enough fuel to do so or not. Eat clean, lean protein in EVERY meal. It’s a big ask I know but honestly your body and mind will thank you for it! Ideally for women, we want to have about 25g-30g of protein in each dish we have AND eat 3 big meals a day, rather than snacking or grazing all day. This equates to, wait for it, 4 eggs! Most people DO NOT eat enough anywhere near enough protein! Of course this changes from person to person but it is a good rough guide.
You may not feel as though you can eat that much in one sitting, it does take time for your body to adapt to big meals. If this is you, try a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water before your meals to help you digest and know that it can take about a month to make the switch to 3 big meals, without the snacks. A small amount of fermented foods can also really help to increase the acidity of your stomach and so help you to digest protein better. If you need something at 3pm because your energy is slumping, that’s ok please don’t deprive yourself! Just add something protein-rich, like nuts or tuna or protein powder.
Delicious protein to add to your 25g-30g serve; lentils, chickpeas, chicken, beef, cottage cheese, fish, beans or eggs.
I really hope that this spring eating guide is helpful for you and you are enjoying the beginning of this beautiful, vibrant season. As always please reach out with questions or comments and if you would like 1:1 nutrition support send me through a message to organise a free discovery session.
Sending love,
Keisha.
