As the seasons change, our body requires different types of food and lifestyle factors to stay balanced. If you get in tune with your body and mind you will find you naturally want to eat warm food as the temperature falls and salads as the temperature rises. Depending on your constitutional type you hate or adore typical winter food and spices. But you also adore or hate money, trading, sport, meetings, loud music, and many many more day to day things you've never thought about.
In Ayurveda we have ten constitutional types, but I will size them down to three for now:
Vata
Air element, ruled by the nervous system
In balance: creative, grasping, in flow, light, pleasant feelings.
Out of balance: dry skin, feeling cold, nervous, insomnia, constipated, gas, hates the cold.
Vata loves warm food, creativity, has lots of ideas, meeting with lots of people, dancing and inspiring projects!
Pitta
Fire element, ruled by the digestive system
In balance: dynamic, creative, leader, in shape, strong mind, very intelligent.
Out of balance: rashes, heart burn, jealous, head ache, migraine, reflux, diarrhea, judgemental.
Pitta loves sweet and cold food and drinks, money, jewelery, saving, spending, creating, leading, pioneering, being in the spotlight for a good cause!
Kapha
Earth element, ruled by bones, muscles, fat tissue
In balance: gentle, supportive, kind, active.
Out of balance: overweight, heaviness, lethargy, mucus, congestion, hates the cold.
Kapha loves pungent spices and heavy food, go with the flow lifestyle, loves listening and helping, be someones rock!
Looking at the characteristics of the three basic constitutional types you can see Vata and Kapha are the ones who are not fond of coldness and need heavy and warm food to stay grounded. The winter is predominantly a cold, wet and damp season. These conditions can affect both Vata and Kapha dominant people, leading to coughs & colds.
Pitta dominant individuals are less prone to problems in winter (they are more vulnerable in summer and autumn).
The digestive fire is much higher in winter due to the cold, so heavier foods are more digestible and we are meant to eat more and put on a little weight. This may appear contradictory but in cold weather the body retains heat around the core, where the digestive system lies. Eating seasonally makes good sense. It's better to eat more root vegetables in soups and stews than Vata aggravating food such as salads and raw food (dominant in air/ ether elements). This food contains just the right vitamins to survive the winter and therefore stay mentally in balance.
If too little food is eaten to keep the fires adequately stoked, there is a danger of the body’s digestive fire beginning to burn up the body’s plasma and lymph tissues. This in turn vitiates Vata dosha. So, although it’s good to eat more in winter, it must be the right foods to nurture the digestive system and minimise heaviness and congestion. The effect of the wrong food is feeling dull, sluggish, unclear thinking, restless mind, and everything else you don't want to feel like!
In order to stay well in winter favour a warming, nourishing diet which will pacify Vata without aggravating. Eat more foods that are sweet, sour, salty, heavy, oily, moist, hot, such as soups, stews, steamed veggies, warm herbal teas. Think of beets, avocadoes, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, bananas, dates, figs, tangerines, anise, basil, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, fennel, ginger, saffron, turmeric, butter, cheese, almonds, flags, pistachios, walnuts, brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, oats.
Eat less foods that are pungent (spicy), bitter, astringent, light, cold, dry such as salads, smoothies, cold foods and beverages, chips and salsa.
If you happen to catch a cold with heavy mucous: Avoid all dairy products, sweets, fried foods and yeasted bread as these will make congestion worse. Also don’t drink cold milk. Drink ginger tea as it is excellent for coughs and colds. Slice up ginger, steep in hot water for a few minutes, add lemon and take little sips. When the tea is cooled down to warm add some honey which will smoothen the throat.
One more winter recipe: pumpkin soup!
One small pumpkin; 1 medium size onion; fresh garlic to taste; 2 medium size potatoes; some fresh coriander to taste; black pepper to taste; 1/2 cube of vegetarian stock per 1 liter of water; inch of fresh ginger chopped; 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder. Lightly sweat onion in ghee (clarified butter).
Add the cumin seeds and stir them for 30 seconds.
Add pumpkin and potatoes (finely chopped) and the ginger and garlic.
Fry for a few minutes then add black pepper and half of coriander.
Cover with stock and simmer till vegetables are soft.
Add the turmeric powder and let it simmer for 5 more minutes.
Liquidise to a puree in a blender, return the content to the pan, add more stock if too thick.
Add rest of coriander (finely chopped) and serve.
For a more substantial meal, cook some barley and add it to the finished soup before serving!
Enjoy the winter and the best possible version of YOU!
