Eating for the seasons
Health & Fitness By KEMI ILORI
Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Being able to adjust to changing seasons and understanding how to adjust successfully is important for human survival. We need to retain our ancestral ability to adapt to varying climatic conditions.

Human evolution is also subject to this process of change and adaptation. Our genes adapt and change over time in response to our surroundings and by so doing, help us to be able to cope better. Modern society has tried to make it easier for human beings to adapt and survive.

We are provided with all that we require for food, dwelling, health, etc. But there is a downside to this process, and that is that humans have become so dependent on civilization to ensure survival that they are losing their intrinsic ability to adapt for survival. If many of us (especially our children), are returned to their traditional rural natural habitat today, many would not survive for long. One of the greatest calamities of modernization is our diet.

If you are one of the people who survive on the same types of food all year round, you may learn a thing or two from here – YOU NEED TO ADJUST DIET FOR THE SEASONS. It is the rainy season and it is raining cats and dogs in various parts of Nigeria. The seasons in Nigeria are not too varied, just the Rainy and Dry seasons (we could also think of the Harmattan period). In other parts of the world, seasons may be more than four.

We have seasons like winter, summer, spring and autumn. These seasons alter our environment and affect us physiologically. Our bodies have to adjust to cope with the alteration of the external condition. A very good example is body temperature. Our body temperature is one of our vital signs. It is an indication of how well our organs are functioning. Our body works hard to maintain the right temperature for it to function well physiologically.

In weather where the external temperature is not favourable to the body, various adjustments are needed. In cold weather, people wear warm clothings, thereby creating a micro-climate of sorts, but the diet you eat is also very important. In hot weather, we sweat and the body tries to cool itself with the sweat. We lose a lot of water from sweating and breathing during the dry season. A lot of ancient traditions have mastered how to adjust diet to suit the seasons for maximum good health. The Chinese are particularly good at this. They consider cold to be YIN and hot, YANG. They consume yin during hot season and yang during cold season.

The rainy season and you
The rainy season is a period of sustained wetness. The temperature is very cool because the sun takes a back seat and the pouring rain cools the atmosphere further. We, being tropical animals, have a very low threshold for accommodating this cooler temperature. This results in infectious disorders which can be avoided for the well prepared persons. These disorders include colds, coughs, catarrh, influenza, pneumonia, etc.

It is usually as if the viruses are on the rampage (there are more than 3,000 of them that cause colds; so you can catch a different type everyday!). Eating properly for this season will strengthen your immunity and give you the requisite protection. It is a period for spicy foods with peppers, ginger, garlic, turmeric (and/curry leaves), plenty of onions, taking center stage. Some of these have strong anti–viral properties and help to keep you going. Hot teas, pepper soups, herbal drinks (lime, lemon grass, hibiscus, etc), hot spicy pap, should be part of your daily menu.

Conversely, you should stop cold drinks, cold water and reduce the consumption of mucus forming foods. The later include, milk, eggs, etc. If you are not averse to supplements, you could pop a tablet of vitamin C daily, anything from 60mg to 500mg (depending on how good your diet is). Non–diet adjustments might involve non-indoor games that help to stretch your body. This is because we tend to stay indoors more during the rainy season and our body gets less exercise. In fact, you should try to stretch for 10 minutes in the morning after waking up. It will improve your flexibility and put some enthusiasm in you, especially if it is cloudy and downcast outside.

The Dry Season and you
When warmer dry weather arrives, people become much more active than they were during the rains. As the heat accumulates and builds to a crescendo, people start experiencing its harsh and dehydrating effects. Fortunately, nature provides the solution (nature always balances things out for us, only a lot of us have lost the ability to relate to it).

Nature conveniently produces more vegetables. Finally, the harvest of fruits arrives and we find the abundant availability of these items refreshing and cooling in the baking heat of the dry season. We should consume foods that are cooling and give us plenty of water. It is a time to indulge in all the fruits in season that are available.

From them, we will get plenty of minerals, vitamins, plenty of water and a lot of fructose (which is healthier than sucrose i.e. table sugar). We should continue to eat our three broad classes of foods (carbohydrates, fats and proteins), but foods which are primarily made from fruits and vegetables should feature prominently in our menu. These will include salads, steamed vegetables, vegetable soups, etc. This is because they contain nutrients which will help us to detoxify the high free radical activity of the Sun, as well as the accumulated sluggishness from the rainy season.

We also tend to consume, more salty and fatty foods during the rainy season when we are sometimes forced to remain indoors. Fruits and vegetables are high in potassium which helps to balance the sodium from salt. They are also rich in anti-oxidants which will help to neutralize free radical activity. Cool drinks and plenty of water are in order.

You can be ingenious with creating non-alcoholic cocktails from various fruit juices. These can be made fresh fruit like watermelon, pawpaw, oranges, etc. Water should be numero uno. Don’t economise on your 8 glasses a day.