Tracy Breuning - Natural Nutritionist - Spring

Spring is a time of new life and renewed energy. We can see this with the green coming on the trees and the lighter nights.

It is also a time to throw off the winter and to move from those starchier foods to more fresh greens. The pancreas and spleen find raw food hard to manage in winter but, with the spring and summer we can try a little raw food. (It may however still challenge some with a weaker digestion so you will have to see what works for you.)

In Chinese Medicine the Liver and Gallbladder are the organs related to spring. Liver time is 1am until 3am and often people with a liver imbalance will wake at this time or perhaps suffer from night sweats! This is an ideal time to cleanse and re nurture the liver with lots of green juices as well as Castor oil packing. Dandelion tea or coffee is also good for the liver and filtering out toxins as well as having a diuretic and tonic affect on the body.

These can be caused by eating the wrong diet, eating too quickly, hyper acidity from too much red meat, sugary and refined foods in the diet or lack of exercise.

Damp foods to avoid are dairy and refined and sugary foods. Cold foods in excess can also be damp forming.

Foods to help mop up damp a Aduki Beans and Mung Beans (soaked well). Celery, Lettuce, Pumpkin and Kohl Rabi are also good for damp as well as those green vegetables! Green vegetables provide chlorophyll which is the blood of a plant and this is good for stopping the spread of bacteria, fungi and micro organisms in the digestive tract. It also can help to remove drug deposits and carcinogens as well as provides lots of the calcium and magnesium important for each cell of our body! Try juicing them for a real power drink! Complex Carbohydrates such as rice cooked well and oats are also good for damp. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and fennel will also be warming and assist with damp.

Try a box scheme as an efficient and cost effective way to get seasonal, local and organic. Or try farmers markets and farm shops.

Watercress
Asparagus
Spinach
Leeks
Kale
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Green peas
Celery
Carrots
Cucumber
Beets
Brussels
Nettle (try making a soup or cook like spinach as a vegetable accompaniment. The ones with the white flower are non stingers!)

Rhubarb
Strawberries

Parsley
Dandelion
Mint
Sage
Rosemary

Some of the recipes below are taken from ‘the gluten, wheat and dairy cookbook’ by Nicola Graimes.

Try an egg on Spinach

Make a power smoothie with Carrots, Apple, Avocado and Basil leaves. Or try Gillian McKeiths skin boosting juice of cucumber, clery and Ginger.

Make your own Wheat and Gluten Free Museli – This makes 10 portions and can be made and stored in an airtight container. Play around to taste with the basic recipe.

75g Sunflower seeds
50g Almonds
50g Pumpkin Seeds

125g Rice Flakes
125g Millet Flakes
125g Buckwheat

Toast the nuts for a few minutes and leave to cool and then add the rest of the ingredients. That simple! You can add dried fruit if you are not on the anti candida program.
Serve with a dairy free milk say almond, rice or soya.

Serves 1

40g lettuce shredded
1 Tomato
2 Anchovy Fillets
40g steamed and cooled green beans
½ chopped red onion
6 black olives
1 hard boiled egg in quarters.

Add together the ingredients and cover with flax/olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

Serves 2

1 Avocado
I organic chicken breast
6 Cherry Tomatoes
½ a Cucumber sliced
Basil Leaves to taste
Big Handful of baby salad leaves

Dress with lemon and olive, hemp or flaxoil.

This is great added to wheat free pasta and chicken. For speed you can poach the chicken in pieces in the pasta water at the same time.

½ pint of Olive oil
¼ pint of flaxoil
5 Garlic cloves chopped
3 cups of spinach or basil
75g pinenuts

Then wiz up in the blender and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.