Spring cleaning time is upon us, both for our homes and our bodies. Now is the time health and daily living magazines feature the latest cleansing tonic and exercise routine.
After months of winter’s culinary indulgences, your body needs lighter dining fare. Foods with warmer properties are no longer necessary, yet the summer time’s sumptuous, luscious melons are not yet in season. During this time, changing food habits is like rotating your wardrobe; you may begin phasing out rich foods that are like a warm coat to favoring foods that are more like a light, long-sleeved shirt.
Yet a few of us still desire hearty root vegetables, potatoes, baked sweets, buttery breads and stews. Not that there’s anything wrong with enjoying the foods you love! However, it will do your body good to lighten its digestive load. Here are a few foods and cooking methods that can help you transition to cooler foods for the coming warmer temps:
Steamed or roasted veggies
You can love your cruciferous broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts steamed and seasoned with a no sodium blend of your choice. If you have a hankering for roots such as beets, parsnips and carrots, you can cut them into medium sized chunks and toss them in olive oil, then roast them to desired tenderness in the oven. If you’re a salt-aholic, try dialing back on the salt shaker a bit since the extra sodium taxes your kidneys.
Citrus fruit
Mother Nature knows what she’s doing for citrus to be in season at this time of the year. We are not out of the woods for colds and other immunity-attacking illnesses to be present, keeping our kids out of school and parents out of work. Enzymes in citrus fruit, especially grapefruit have energizing qualities and serve to help flush the sludge from your gallbladder, the little organ responsible for handling dietary fats before they go to your liver. You can still see plenty of our local citrus fruits growing on trees all over the city. Nothing is more refreshing and satisfying than the juice from a locally grown fruit nurtured by the Arizona sun! While newly-squeezed juice is nutritious, you can enjoy the entire fruit and benefit from its fiber for colon health.
Light sugar
In this case, I don’t mean synthetic sugar substitutes. Enjoy subtle sweet flavors and use just a little bit of honey in place of some sugar in recipes. It gives your pancreas a break when you lighten your sugar load, sparing you from type 2 diabetes.
Sautee for crunch
If your digestive tract doesn’t do well with raw vegetables, try sautéing them in a tablespoon or two of olive oil to crisp them just a taste. This method reduces calories and fat from your diet significantly and endorses heart, liver and gallbladder health.
These are a few simple changes you can make on your own, but for more delicious, healthy delights on your dinner table, I’m only too happy to meet your needs! Contact me to discuss your dietary goals and benefit from having your meals prepared with personal care just for you!
