Day 315 of 365 - Seasonal Eating
Most cultures have periodic dietary changes. Usually, these are seasonally related to food availability. In the ancestral times of the hunter/gatherer cultures, it was common to have alternating periods of feast and famine. In later agricultural cultures, where people primarily stayed in one location, food availability became more weather and seasonal related. Even in our modern North American culture, where we can get almost any food year round, we do have seasonal eating habits, very much influenced by the abundance of locally available produce.
It turns out that an important aspect of the evolution of the human body is our ability to adapt to dietary changes. What science is now understanding about this is, that the adaptation occurs first in the microbiome, the ecosystem in our gut. Changes in hormonal responses and metabolism follow that. This is where the signal to use up or store energy happens.
For example, in patterns of ancestral eating, during the cold seasons more meat and animal fat was consumed because it could be kept. The body tended also to store more fat for energy reserves at that time. In the warmer months, more fruits and vegetables were abundant and were eaten freely. During those times, the body adapted to a quicker energy turn over from the higher glucose content of those foods. In this example, humans were likely more fat burners in the winter and glucose burners in the summer. The body is able to adapt to both.
We still retain those abilities today as they are inherent in our genetic makeup. What nutrition and gut healing experts are finding is that if we engage in variations of cyclical eating, we can reboot our metabolism and jump start healing of digestive and metabolic issues.
Just about any diet of good quality, healthy food will work, for a time. That's why there is so much controversy about the 'right' diet. But, the body always adapts over time and creates a certain set point in metabolism. If we want that set point to change, for example to lose some weight, we need to create variety in our intake to do that.
So, it actually becomes a very good practice for our health to eat seasonally different foods and also to have cycles of eating more followed by eating less.
This summer, I have been enjoying a delicious salad from time to time which consists of the seasonal items of strawberries, grape tomatoes, fresh basil and avocado with a balsamic vinegar reduction and olive oil dressing and topping of toasted nuts. It can be eaten on its own or I like to use it as a topping over salad greens. On a hot day this makes a complete meal.
Now that we are later in the season, we have had a few cooler evenings. Summer is not over by any means, but when it is cooler, I prefer heartier foods. A recipe I made one evening this week was a healthier version of shepherd's pie. The ingredients in it were ground turkey, onion, garlic, celery, zucchini and carrots with a topping of mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. It is delicious and satisfying.
Since it seems that our bodies are designed for variety and adaptations, feel free to follow your internal promptings to change up your menu seasonally, with the caveat to mainly keep it healthy of course.
It turns out that an important aspect of the evolution of the human body is our ability to adapt to dietary changes. What science is now understanding about this is, that the adaptation occurs first in the microbiome, the ecosystem in our gut. Changes in hormonal responses and metabolism follow that. This is where the signal to use up or store energy happens.
For example, in patterns of ancestral eating, during the cold seasons more meat and animal fat was consumed because it could be kept. The body tended also to store more fat for energy reserves at that time. In the warmer months, more fruits and vegetables were abundant and were eaten freely. During those times, the body adapted to a quicker energy turn over from the higher glucose content of those foods. In this example, humans were likely more fat burners in the winter and glucose burners in the summer. The body is able to adapt to both.
We still retain those abilities today as they are inherent in our genetic makeup. What nutrition and gut healing experts are finding is that if we engage in variations of cyclical eating, we can reboot our metabolism and jump start healing of digestive and metabolic issues.
Just about any diet of good quality, healthy food will work, for a time. That's why there is so much controversy about the 'right' diet. But, the body always adapts over time and creates a certain set point in metabolism. If we want that set point to change, for example to lose some weight, we need to create variety in our intake to do that.
So, it actually becomes a very good practice for our health to eat seasonally different foods and also to have cycles of eating more followed by eating less.
This summer, I have been enjoying a delicious salad from time to time which consists of the seasonal items of strawberries, grape tomatoes, fresh basil and avocado with a balsamic vinegar reduction and olive oil dressing and topping of toasted nuts. It can be eaten on its own or I like to use it as a topping over salad greens. On a hot day this makes a complete meal.
Now that we are later in the season, we have had a few cooler evenings. Summer is not over by any means, but when it is cooler, I prefer heartier foods. A recipe I made one evening this week was a healthier version of shepherd's pie. The ingredients in it were ground turkey, onion, garlic, celery, zucchini and carrots with a topping of mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. It is delicious and satisfying.
Since it seems that our bodies are designed for variety and adaptations, feel free to follow your internal promptings to change up your menu seasonally, with the caveat to mainly keep it healthy of course.
Comments
Post a Comment