Winter Foods for Women by Kathryn Flynn, B.Ed., RYT

Learn more from Kathryn

Winter provides a special opportunity for hormone balancing for every woman, and fertility enhancement for those seeking children, particularly in mid-life. In Chinese medicine and philosophy, winter is associated with the water element, the color black and the emotions of fear and survival. The corresponding organs, the adrenals, kidneys and reproductive organs have special opportunity to thrive and heal in winter, if nourished and replenished through sleep, relaxation and wholesome foods. During this time of year it is particularly important to focus on self nourishment with healthy comfort foods to build your deepest energies and attune with the winter seasons.

Balancing tips during the winter months include:

1. Choose foods slowly simmered in water, the corresponding element of the kidneys, like soups, stew and casseroles. Add dried seaweeds, like kombu and wakame, while cooking to absorb nutrient rich minerals.
2. Since the corresponding color to the water element is black and blue, consume use black beans, black sesame seeds, blueberries and blackberries for kidney, reproductive and adrenal health.
3. As Paul Pitchford says in Healing with Whole Foods: root vegetables “grow in cold climates and contain minerals and other elements that make it possible to survive in harsh weather and under snow. When eating, we take on their qualities and build resistance to cool weather and disease.” Root vegetables include: sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and parsnips.
4. Finally eat foods that according to Chinese Dietary Therapy help to restore your deepest energy reserves: Adzuki beans, black bean, bee pollen, blue-green algae, chlorella, clams, corn, gelatin, kelp, legumes, lycium, millet, mulberry, organ meats, oysters, parsley, pumpkin seed, raspberry, royal jelly, spirulina, string bean, tofu, walnuts, wheat germ, wheat grass, wild rice, yam.

Adzuki Bean Stew

This is my favorite winter soup! It delights the palate and includes healthful onion and garlic which help to build immunity and keep blood flow moving. Spinach, rich in chlorophyll, combines with tomatoes to fortify and purify the blood. Make a big batch of this flavorful soup on a Sunday and enjoy throughout the week! To make this dish suitable for vegetarians make the stew with vegetable stock and omit roasted chicken.

Serves 4
Cooking time: 60 minutes

3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon thyme
2 cups adzuki beans, pre-cooked
32 ounces organic chicken stock or veggie stock
4 whole stewed tomatoes
8 ounces spinach
1/2 cup edamame
Optional: 1 cup roasted chicken (main attraction) or brown rice
Sea salt or dulse flakes to taste

Sauté garlic and onions in olive oil until softened. Add thyme and adzuki beans. Slowly stir in chicken stock. The longer you allow this soup to simmer, the better it tastes. Finish by adding stewed tomatoes, edamame and spinach, until wilted.

(from Cooking for Fertility: Foods to Nourish Your Fertile Soul — my new cookbook and DVD coming out shortly)