Eat In Harmony With The Fall And Winter Seasons - Macrobiotics And Chinese 5-Element
Eat In Harmony With The Fall And Winter Seasons
How do we eat in harmony with the fall and winter seasons? In my ongoing series about Chinese Five-Elements Theory, and how to apply it to your life, I first begin with this article, in which I discussed the best foods to emphasize during the spring ~ the season associated with the wood element, the liver and gallbladder paired organ systems, and the upward and outward movement characterized by new shoots breaking free from beneath the soil, to reach for the light.
Now that we are a few weeks into autumn, with a cold blast hitting some areas of the United States, I realized it was time to write about how to eat in harmony with the fall and winter seasons. Yes, I apologize, I inadvertently skipped summer. Since that ship has sailed, at least for 2023, let's move right into everyone's favorite season for pumpkin spice, and everything nice, and warming that is.
Eat in Harmony with the Fall and Winter Seasons
If you are one of those people that looks forward to the autumn to indulge in all your favorite pumpkin spiced hot drinks, hot apple cider, and/or pumpkin or apple filled pancakes, pies, muffins, breads and other baked goodies (a lot of local orchards here in Michigan serve up pumpkin or apple donuts) ~ then give yourself a gold star, or rather an orange pumpkin sticker. You are intuitively drawn to more warming spices, and slightly sweet, sometimes sour foods that keep you feeling warm, as the energy of the fall and winter draws our focus downward, like the falling leaves, and inward as we withdraw into our 'dens' to 'hibernate.'
In order to stay healthy during seasonal transitions, it's recommended in macrobiotics and Chinese food therapy to eat seasonal foods and use spices and cooking methods to counter-balance the predominant climatic conditions. Depending upon what region, country or hemisphere you reside, the fall season tends to fluctuate, with cooler evenings and mornings, and a mix of day time temps ranging from summer like warmth, to cool breezy days.
Eat in Harmony with the Fall Season - Dealing with Dryness
The fall season is typically associated with dryness. The element associated with the fall is metal, like minerals found in the Earth; the associated organs are the lungs and large intestine, the color related to the metal element is white, West is the direction, the flavor is pungent, and the emotion is grief.
Since the lungs prefer to be moist, and they are most active during the fall season which is typically dry (although that certainly isn't the case here in Southeastern Michigan just yet!), then the foods should help balance the dryness of the season.
If you tend to have dry skin, dry, frizzy hair, and/or are constipated with dry, lumpy, hard, or difficult to evacuate stools, this would indicate that there is too much dryness. Generally speaking, nuts and seeds provide lubrication, and are often used in Chinese herbal medicine to treat constipation with dry stools. Black sesame seeds have many health benefits, and are especially favored in Chinese food therapy.
According to Chinese Foods for Longevity, by Henry C. Lu, black sesame seeds can:
"Correct physical weakness, make the internal organs stronger, increase body energy, build muscles, restore marrow in the brain, strengthen bones, improve hearing, sharpen vision, check hunger, and quench thirst."
Black Sesame Seed Power!
Black sesame seeds have a sweet taste, and "improves the blood." This is referring to the Chinese medicine Blood Deficiency syndrome, marked by pale signs, with white nail beds, white under the lower eye lids, pale complexion, fatigue, difficult / dry bowel movements, dry skin, premature gray hair, light menstrual flow, and possible dizziness and other symptoms. The ancient classics often referred to the emperors of old taking black sesame seeds daily to retain their black hair, and their position as emperor!
Other foods that help moisten dryness includes tomatoes, spinach, brown sugar, and more.
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| Beautiful Autumn Colored Soup ~ Butternut Squash + Orange, Low-Acid Tomatoes from our garden |
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| Late summer, early fall farmer's market haul |
Round-shaped vegetables provide a good balance of energy this time of year as well. They have a naturally sweet flavor, especially when roasted or prepared in stews. Think cabbages, onions, cauliflower, turnips and all those awesome winter squash.
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| Cauliflower & Barley Soup |
Millet, buckwheat, red winter wheat, and shorter grain brown rice are good grains to emphasize during the fall and winter.
According to Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook, Cooking in Harmony with Nature, by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko:
"In the autumn, we serve richer and heartier dishes than in summer, with an emphasis on bean stews, sautéed or deep-fried vegetables, creamy grain stews, sweet rice and mochi, hot amazaki, puréed squash soup, squash pies, and others. Vegetables can be more thoroughly cooked in the fall: methods such as nishime, or waterless cooking, and longer-time sautéing go well with the season, as do dishes like Kimpira Carrots and Burdock. Your sea dishes can take on a rich, hearty flavor when prepared with tempeh, dried tofu, soybeans, carrots, parsnips, or onions. Autumn dishes are generally seasoned with a little more salt and oil than are summer dishes, and in autumn we use fewer raw foods, frequently serving lightly boiled salads and a variety of greens instead. Our approach to cutting vegetables also changes in the fall. Larger-sized chunks and rounds can be used more often."
Dealing with Dampness / Edema - Barley to the Rescue!
Contrarily, for those with a damp condition, with edema, excess phlegm, puffiness under the eyes, or swollen feet,
barley, or specifically Job's Tears is taken as part of Chinese food therapy. Job's Tears are a tad more expensive and harder to find, but
they are really good if you can find some near you, or find them here.
To clear excess dampness, cook barley with lots of celery, onion, and
some (white) daikon radish.
Or try my Barley Oat Porridge, or Barley and Beans Porridge, adding beans, celery, turnip, carrot or any other vegetables you like. Barley has a chewy bite which some people love. If all that chewiness isn't your thang ~ although it is good for the jaw muscles, and all, than cut barley with oats, brown rice, or rolled kamut or white whole wheat flakes.
Eat in Harmony with the Winter Season
The winter season is associated with the water element, the kidneys and
urinary bladder paired organ systems, the North direction, salt flavor, and the emotion of
fear.
In Chinese Five-Elements, dark blue ~ the color associated with deep blue water ~ or black colored foods are said to nourish the kidneys. During the winter, what do we put on our sidewalks and streets to thaw the ice? Salt. In Chinese medicine, salt 'softens hardness.' The kidneys help regulate the amount of salt and fluid in our systems.
Dark beans, like aduki (azuki, adzuki) beans, small black turtle beans, and small red or kidney beans ~ also shaped like the kidneys ~ are especially beneficial to consume to nourish the kidneys.
In Changing Seasons, Kushi writes, "We need warm strong food during the cold winter months. Our food provides us with the warmth and strength that we need to endure the extreme cold weather."
Winter macrobiotic cooking can highlight stronger seasoning, with more savory flavors, and dishes which use a little more oil and shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce) such as tempura, sautéed vegetables, and fried rice and noodle dishes.
Darker red miso or barley miso is favored for a stronger miso soup, along with more grain, bean, seitan, and vegetable stews.
Sweet brown rice and mochi are great during the winter. (Mochi are hard packed cakes made from pounding sweet brown rice, and possibly herbs which used to be available in health food stores once upon a time were great cut into squares and baked or sautéed and served with a dipping sauce, or placed in a waffle iron for the simplest one-ingredient waffles ever! I have a recipe in one of my previous macrobiotic cookbooks.)
The shorter brown rice grains, including sweet brown rice are considered more warming. Sweet brown rice is a real treat. It can be mixed half half with short grain brown rice, or one part sweet, two parts short grain. Buckwheat is another great warming, winter grain, shown above.
Generally speaking, when it is colder outside, warm up inside by eating more warming foods, cooked for longer periods. Pressure cooking, stewing, braising, and long slow roasting methods help generate heat in our bodies, and they warm up the kitchen while cooking!
Balance longer cooked foods with lighter cooked greens and vegetables, such as Quick Boiled (QB) Greens, pressed salads, or fermented vegetables. Or have some raw vegetables as part of the garnish, or enjoy a small raw salad along with some cooked greens, as opposed to having a big salad as the meal ~ unless where you live is warm this time of year.
Up your cinnamon, ginger and garlic game too. These and other pumpkin pie type spices will help you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, while it's cold outside!
Here are a few suggestions for maintaining the health of your kidneys:
- Don't drink iced drinks! It's easier on the digestive system to have tepid, warm, or hot beverages and foods, most of the time, unless it's very hot outside.
- Drink only according to thirst. Over consumption of liquid, even water, taxes the kidneys which have to filter all the fluids and blood. The cells within the kidneys can get water logged, like a sponge. I share how cutting back my fluid and water intake helped me in my own recent weight loss in My Amazing Macrobiotic Weight Loss, My Macrobiotic Health & Weight Loss Journey, and Macrobiotic and Plant-Based Diet Weight Loss Tips.
- Get adequate rest.
- Be mindful of your salt intake. Not too little, not too much. Excess salt will cause fluid retention, and has been associated with increased risk for edema, hypertension, stroke, and high blood pressure. Check out my article with my top recommended, healthiest salty condiments ~ especially for vegan macrobiotic and plant-based dieters.
- Get a good sweat, daily if possible ~ especially during the winter to improve circulation, and remove excess salts. Nothing like a good sweat to shake off any stress, anxiety, fear and doldrums that come when living in northern climates, with long periods of cold and darkness.
- Don't over consume protein.
- If you feel up to it, a salt bath is a great way to pull excess fluids out of the body, and is great for the kidneys. You want to buy the pure salt crystals used as a softener. They used to be only around $5 per 40 pound bag, and can usually be found on pallets at hardware and grocery stores. Add 4-6 cups per bath, half filled with comfortably hot water. You can also add a cup of baking soda, or essential oils. Light a couple candles, put on some relaxing music, and bliss out for 20 minutes or so. You'll feel amazing afterwards! Smooth skin too!
- Take bean broth: Pressure cook or simmer 1 cup of aduki (azuki) beans or small black beans in 4-5 cups of water along with a 2-3 inch piece of kombu seaweed, until very tender. I like adding a couple thin slices of ginger root as well. Once cooked, drink the broth. You can add thin sliced scallions, and 1/2-1 teaspoon of reduced sodium tamari, naturally brewed soy sauce, or a darker miso paste. Use the beans separately in a soup, or eat them if you like. Drink 1-2 cups daily for 1 week, more if you like.
- Tai Chi and Qi Gong have movements that help support the kidneys. Either use your loosely closed fists to rub the lower back area around the region of the kidneys, or stand with legs hips width apart, and gently twist from side to side. Let your arms swing freely so they can gently hit the back area.
Resources / References
How I Fixed Foot Swelling (Lower Limb Edema), by Don Matesz
Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook, Cooking in Harmony with Nature, by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko
Chinese Foods for Longevity, Henry C. Lu
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