Winter Detox: Revamp Your Health in the Colder Months

After the long period of indulgence known as the holidays, many of us feel overdue for a cleanse. After all, January is the time of new beginnings, of honorable resolutions and a clean slate. What better time to hit the restart button on our health?

But while January is a good time to cut back, it is also one of the coldest months of the year. Winter is a time when our body needs warmth and deep nourishment. Just as plants divert all their resources to their roots, our energy must be directed inward toward our core.

Unfortunately, many of the fasting and cleansing programs undertaken at this time of year have the exact opposite effect, causing the body to lose vital heat and nutrients. Instead of renewing us, they leave us exhausted and out of balance with our environment. This is not to say that we should not follow our urges to renew our health this month; we just have to adapt our strategy to the season. Instead of elimination, the focus of a winter cleanse should be on everything digestionthe seat of our health.

Think of your digestive tract as an oven: if the fire isn’t hot enough, everything will smolder, clogging all the filters with smoke and soot. Your fuel does not burn efficiently and your home becomes cold and damp. There are best things you can do to ensure that the body functions optimally in the colder months stoke your digestive fire and give it the best fuel possible. Here are a few tips to revive your system and feel your best this winter.

Consume nutritious, easily digestible food.

Eliminate hard-to-digest foods such as gluten and flour products, dairy, soy, refined sugar and all processed foods. Avoid alcohol and caffeine because of their depleting effects. Instead, focus on whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes and small amounts of organic meat and fish, prepared in easily digestible formats. The Kitchari recipe below is a good base to follow, using different vegetables every day for variety.

Kitchari

Kitchari is an Ayurvedic dish used to provide easily digestible nutrition during cleanses, both balancing the system and detoxifying the intestines. Add any vegetables you have lying around. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice, soaked overnight
• ½ cup mung beans, soaked overnight
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 2 inch piece fresh ginger root, finely chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon each: turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black mustard seeds and fennel
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 cups steamed vegetables (sweet potato, carrot, beet, kale, etc.)
• 1 bunch coriander, coarsely chopped
• Coconut flakes, lightly toasted
• Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

1. Drain the soaking water from the beans and rice and rinse well.
2. Heat the ghee in a large pan.
3. Add the ginger and spices and heat until the seeds pop and are fragrant.
4. Add the rice and mung beans and stir well with the ghee-spice mixture.
5. Add 3 cups of water to the pan and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until beans are tender.
7. Serve with the steamed vegetables.
8. Garnish with the coriander, toasted coconut and a squeeze of lime juice.

Warm your core.

Make sure your digestive fire is burning hot by adding enough of it warming herbs and spices with your meals. Ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric and garlic are all examples of spices that help warm the belly. Try to start your morning with a cup of hot ginger tea instead of your usual cup of tea and avoid cold foods and drinks as much as possible.

Belly warmer tea recipe

Ingredients

• A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 4 cardamom pods
• 4 black peppercorns

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil.
2. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Serve with honey to taste and a dash of almond milk.

Stimulate digestion with bitters.

A bitter Tasting an herb taken before or during a meal stimulates the entire digestive tract and prepares it for food. Digestive bitters also have the added benefit of improving liver function, helping to flush out toxins and remove them from the body with their mild laxative effects. Dandelion, burdock, gentian and hops are all great examples. Take a little tincture in water before eating or try including bitter-tasting vegetables such as endive, dandelion leaves or chicory with meals.

Keep things moving.

Even the hottest fires will go out without enough oxygen and air flow. Oxygen your blood and get your circulation moving by working your muscles and increasing your heart rate: Do thirty minutes a day of aerobic activities such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing or brisk walking. Here’s to a new year full of health and vitality!

Writer Danielle Charles Davies has a BSc in Herbal Sciences from Bastyr University and also completed two years of clinical training at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. She has a master’s degree in writing and has written for the American Herbalists Guild and has also served as a food columnist. Her musings and recipes can be found on her blog, Teacup Chronicles.

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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