Qi~full Eating Tips for October

A Little Sweetness and Warmth

In this season you can start to add a little more sweet in your diet, not a lot but a little. Adding honey to your diet is a very healthful way to start getting a little more sweetness. Honey, especially locally produced honey, is very beneficial for your health and keeping your energy balanced.

Some people may be allergic to honey or have health conditions where honey might not be appropriate so always check with your physician if you’re not sure.

One easy way to get more honey in your diet is to add some honey to your morning and evening tea or coffee or just put some honey in some warm water. Chunyi has a tablespoon of honey every morning and evening.

Last month we focused on how beneficial pears are for you in this season of the year. Pears are very good for you in the fall. You can eat them raw or steamed. Pears help with the lungs and throat. They help with your tongue, help with thirst and help with any toxins in the lung and skin. If you eat 1 or 2 pears a day they can be very beneficial for your health this time of year.

For those who have lots of coughing, steamed pear with brown sugar to your taste can help even better to clear your coughing. Steamed pears are also good for relieving anxiety or frustration, and they can help with red eye or puffy eye. And they can be helpful in relieving constipation.

Lotus root and seeds, almonds, and of course walnuts, white beans very good for you in fall. This is also the time to start adding more yellow colored foods to your diet. Yellow color food is earth energy, which supports the metal energy of fall much better.

Sweet potatoes, corn, yellow peppers and yellow beans are examples of yellow foods.

Watermelons can still be available this time of year but in fall it’s better to cut back on watermelon.

Slow-cooked soup is a wonderful addition to your diet now. Slow-cooked soup with vegetables and beans is very nurturing to the lungs. If you don’t already eat bok choy try adding some to your slow-cooked soup. Slow cooking releases the energy of the food in a very beneficial form for this time of year and into winter. You can add a little meat as well if you would like.

Hot porridge cooked with walnuts or oatmeal to start your day is moisturizing and warming. All the foods harvested in Fall are very good for you this time of year like, bananas, grapes, figs, cranberries and the four ‘P’s’ ~ pears, pumpkin, pomegranate, persimmons are all wonderful fruits to eat this time of year.

Vegetables like beets, sweet peppers, Brussels sprouts, green and red cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, and carrots are high in antioxidants and help keep your immune system strong. You can add warmth with sesame, garlic and ginger, horseradish and leeks, and add spices like cinnamon or herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme, which are healing, medicinal and soothing to the body. Almonds help strengthen the lung energy and yin energy and so does Lotus root.