Our ancestors didn't have the choice to eat foods out of season, for the most part. However, today, we can find berries in our food markets in the dead of winter. Our bodies, though, know when it's summer or winter and we do best when we are in sync with the seasonal foods that we evolved eating. They can warm us, cool us down, give us energy, help our immune systems, and so on. If we feed our bodies in this way, we can live our healthiest lives. Transcript of Seasonal Eating podcast Edited for clarity Debbie  00:01

One of our many mantras is to eat seasonally. And the reason for that is many, but seasonal food generally is fresher, tastier and more nutritious than food consumed out of season. And in this podcast, we're going to discuss all the seasons and the reasons why it's best to eat food that's harvested locally. And seasonally. I'm Debbie.

Wendy  00:27

I'm Wendy.

Debbie  00:28

And let's talk about seasonal eating.

Wendy  00:30

Let's talk about fall and winter. It's upon us and everything's changed. No more stone fruits. And now we have citrus and

Debbie  00:38

Pears and apples.

Wendy  00:40

Yeah, cranberry season is upon us.

Debbie  00:41

Right, right. However, it's a little bit misleading because stores keep foods that are not in season, because there's a demand for them like berries.

Wendy  00:51

And so eating things seasonally really sparked the tastebuds. That's why an apple in the middle of summer just doesn't taste very good. Because it's from last season. Hanging out in some storeroom someplace.

Debbie  01:03

Yeah, exactly. And right now, apples are delicious.  And you can tell in the stores, there's so many different varieties of apples right now. It's because everybody is harvesting right now. So they're around--apples and pears, especially. So those are, those are the fruits--that and citrus that's what you eat right now.

Wendy  01:20

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Debbie  01:24

Yes, so there's so many reasons to eat seasonally in fall and winter, especially because our immune systems are always . . .

Wendy  01:33

challenged?

Debbie  01:34

Good word! They are! They're challenged in the winter, because we're all inside close together and sharing germs a little bit more easily than we are in the summertime. It's not that the germs aren't there in the summer, it's just that now we're kind of packed together a little bit more and we transfer them a little bit more easily. So foods that grow in the fall in the winter or harvested in the fall and winter, ours are supporting our immune systems. Although citrus may not be New Jersey, local foods, they are high in vitamin C, which is a huge antioxidant--it really boosts our immune system. So that's why they grow in the colder weather, even where they're local. It's colder weather for them. So that's why they're seasonal. In Florida. It's it's not 90 degrees, at least most of Florida in the middle of the winter. So it grows in colder weather to boost people's immune system.

Wendy  02:21

In winter, we're needing more warm food. So that's why the winter squash, you know, they're all roasting or we're steaming them, baking them.

Debbie  02:31

Right. And these squashes and root vegetables are denser, heavier foods, and we need those dense, heavier foods in our system. We need the sugars that they provide. And we need that warming quality that they provide. That's what winter foods do is they provide a warming our metabolism kicks in to help digest them. And that keeps it a little bit more warm. And the way we cook in the winter. For sure.

Wendy  02:55

Yeah, soups and stews and roasting and baking,

Debbie  02:59

Right. It's all warming qualities. So that's what we need.

Wendy  03:03

And paying attention to that kind of, you know, Mother Nature is just so smart. Yeah, it really if we follow the seasons a little bit more,