Welcome to Winter! ❄️❄️❄️
Have you started to notice any shifts in your food choices?
Maybe you have started selecting soups over salads, teas over spritzers? 🫖
Temperatures are dropping and your body is craving the opposite, it wants to heat up. It’s Vata / Kapha season, it’s COLD, DRY, WINDY, LIGHT. Intuition is kicking in and we find ourselves gravitating towards all those opposite qualities – HOT, HEAVY, NOURISHING. Makes sense, right? 💡
Just as we choose our clothes depending on the season, in the same way we need to be conscious of choosing foods based on the time of year. Selecting local produce that is grown and harvested in alignment with the season can help support and ground us during these depleting months.
A little tip for you, a great way to eat seasonally is to visit your local farmer’s market or grocery store. They will be selling what’s currently growing. It’s a great way to #SupportLocal whilst also consuming all the potency, value and nourishment mother nature has to offer.
For a complete list of what to EAT to BEAT the WINTER BLUES download the below shopping list. 🥕🍆🥔🫑
Happy Shopping, Happy Hibernating, Happy Thriving X
Ayurvedic Shopping
List for Winter
— Eat more foods that are Sweet, Sour, Salty / Heavy, Oily, Moist, Hot: such as soups, stews, steamed veggies, and more fat and protein.
— Eat less foods that are Pungent (Spicy), Bitter, Astringent / Light, Cold, Dry: such as salads, smoothies, cold foods and beverages, crackers, chips and salsa.
— Curious about a food not on this list? Taste it. If it has 2 of the 3 winter tastes (sweet, sour and salty), it is balancing. Prepare it in a way that is moist, oily, heavy and/or warm.
Choose Organic and non-GMO when possible. Eat more of your favorite foods from this list.
*An asterisk means that this food is a Winter Superfood. If you like it, eat more of it.
| Vegetables | Fruit | Legumes |
|---|---|---|
| Cook all vegetables and add a healthy oil, such as ghee, and warming spices. Favor root vegetables: Artichokes, hearts *Avocadoes *Beets *Brussels Sprouts *Carrots *Chilies Corn Fennel Eggplant, cooked *Garlic Ginger Hot Peppers Leeks Okra Onions Parsley Potatoes, mashed *Pumpkins Seaweed, cooked Squash, Acorn *Squash, Winter *Sweet Potatoes *Tomatoes Turnips |
Favor sweet, sour or heavy fruits. Eat fruit separately from other foods. Serve warm: Apples, cooked Apricots *Bananas Blueberries Cantaloupe, with lemon Cherries Coconuts, ripe Cranberries, cooked *Dates *Figs *Grapefruit *Grapes Guava *Lemons *Limes *Mangoes Nectarines *Oranges *Papayas Peaches Pears, ripe *Persimmons Pineapples Plums Strawberries *Tangerines |
Mung – split, yellow Tofu |
| Herb Teas | Beverages | Sweetners |
|---|---|---|
| Choose warming and/or calming teas, such as: *Cardamom *Chamomile *Cinnamon *Cloves *Ginger *Orange Peel |
Favor warm-hot drinks that are low in caffeine and alcohol: Alcohol (moderation) Black Tea (moderation) Coffee (moderation) Water (warm or hot) |
Most natural whole foods sweeteners, in moderation: Honey – Raw *Maple Syrup *Molasses Sugar, Raw *Rice Syrup |
| Condiments | Nuts & Seeds | Oils |
|---|---|---|
| Favor sweet, sour and salty tastes: Carob Dulse Fermented foods Lemon or Lime Mayonnaise Pickles *Salt Vinegar |
Most nuts and seeds are good: *Almonds *Brazil Nuts *Cashews Coconuts *Filberts *Flax Lotus Seed *Macadamias *Peanuts, raw *Pecans *Pinons *Pistachios Sunflower *Walnuts |
Most Unrefined oils: Vata: *Ghee *Unadulterated EV olive *High Oleic Sunflower *Unrefined Sesame Pitta: *Ghee *Unadulterated EV olive *High Oleic Sunflower *Coconut Kapha: reduce all oils: *Unrefined corn * Mustard *Flax, in small amounts |
| Meat & Fish | Spices | Dairy | Whole Grains |
|---|---|---|---|
| All meat, eggs and fish are good: *Beef *Chicken *Crabs *Duck *Eggs *Fish, freshwater & ocean *Lamb *Lobster *Oysters *Pork *Shrimp *Turkey *Venison |
Most spices and herbs are good: *Anise *Asafetida *Basil Bay Leaf *Black Pepper Caraway *Cardamom Cayenne Chamomile *Cinnamon Clove Coriander *Cumin Dill *Fennel Fenugreek Garlic *Ginger Horseradish Marjoram Mustard Nutmeg Oregano Peppermint Poppy Seeds Rosemary *Saffron Sage Spearmint Tarragon Thyme *Turmeric |
All dairy is good, ideally at room temperature or warm (such as boiled milk). Favor raw or vat-pasteurized. *Butter *Buttermilk *Cheese *Cottage cheese *Cream *Ghee *Kefir Milk, not cold Non-Dairy substitutes Sour Cream Yogurt |
Most grains are good. Best eaten warm, moist and with a healthy oil: *Amaranth Buckwheat (moderation) Millet (moderation) *Oats *Quinoa Rice *Rice, Brown Rye (moderation) *Wheat |