Enjoying Warmth & Nourishment From the Inside

I asked Courtney what I should write about this week, and she said "enjoying raw food in winter!" Ok! When I was a baked vegan, I would eat this mixture of grated carrots and beets in the winter, covered with tamari and cayenne pepper. It was extremely warming, and raw. I would also make a salsa in the blender out of fresh tomatoes, cilantro, sea salt, garlic, onions, and fresh habanero peppers. It was really intense, and warming. There are two common factors here: root veggies and warming spices.

Many of the root vegetables are traditionally eaten in winter because they keep so long. I still eat garlic and onions, and the best root I've found for high energy, endurance, and inner WARMTH, is Maca. This super root just does it all. It just works! Once I started eating it, the winters became warmer. I didn't even correlate it for a while, and looking back I can see that the same thing which helped compel me into eating all my food raw, also warmed me up in the winter - beyond anything else I had experienced. Maca is warmer than a sub-zero sleeping bag, because it imparts an inner warmth: heat flows from the inside out, instead of the other way around.

I recommend Maca to anyone for making it through the winter warm and cozy, whatever eating style they choose. This warming property of Maca can be traced to its natural environment: high up in the Andes between 10,000 and 14,000 feet. Maca has evolved compounds which make it possible to thrive in such a climate, so when I eat Maca, it imparts an adaptogenic quality to me, which warms me up in winter. Maca is great for other things in the summer too - it's an adaptogen - but it is possible to feel too hot from it in August in Texas, especially if you're pregnant ;)

As I was writing this, I was thinking to myself how I would describe how to eat it...I was going over the basics - It's mild and fairly neutral flavored, so sprinkle it on everything (this is what the Peruvian peoples have done, and still do) Chocolate Bliss has Maca in it, as does Fiesta Mole, and you can add lots more for extra coziness. But that begs the question: Sprinkle it on what, what to actually eat? Ok, here's the meat of how to use Maca: I've been making this amazing creamy tomato basil soup, which is probably the #1 thing I hear people say they have to have in winter (or some variation):

• 4 cups wild harvested spring water
• 4 Tbsp Tomato Powder, or the equivalent in Sundried Heirloom Tomatoes
• 4 Tbsp Nutritional Flakes
• ½ cup Cashews, or Macadamia Nuts
• 2 Tbsp Non-GMO Lecithin
• 1 tsp Sun Fire Salt
• 2 Tbsp Dried Basil

- this amount will feed your family

This rivals any tomato basil soup I've ever had. Well, as I was writing this, I had the inspiration to make some and add 2 TABLESPOONS of Maca to the recipe. I blended it up in my K-TEC (any blender will work for this recipe) and it tastes even better than the original recipe! If you like, you can even warm it up on the stove for a few minutes under low heat. That would impart the same feeling, in its upgraded form, of those campbell's soup commercials where the kid is enjoying a steaming bowl of soup after playing in the snow.

Courtney just reminded me of last winter when I was also going through a package ofDulse every day for awhile. Some of the most delicious, most tender, pristine Dulse in the world comes from the coasts of Canada, eh. In these frigid waters, Dulse has also developed compounds which support thriving in the cold. Dulse has been said to help balance the thyroid - which would bring metabolism to a perfect rate whatever climate a person is in. I've found this to be accurate. I do not, however, recommend putting it in the creamy tomato basil soup recipe. Though it might be good as a garnish...

Spices, other adaptogenic roots besides Maca, fats, and salt:

So called "warming spices", such as ginger, cayenne, white peppercorns, cinnamon, and nutmeg assist also. They can have a dilating effect on capillaries, increasing blood flow, and thus warmth. They do it in a healthy way, as opposed to binge drinking. When combined with adaptogenic herbs, like Maca, siberian ginseng, astragalus, a bunch of things in Revitaphi, etc. Warming spices create a synergistic effect of increased inner vitality, and increased flow of energy. High quality, clean burning fats are important too, like Cacao Butter and Coconut Oil, as they help to create a very flexible, insulative sheath between me (and you) and the environment: this increases sensitivity, while also increasing protection from environmental damage. High quality salt, like Sun Fire Salt, is crucial as well, as salts holds water in the body, creating yet another buffer.

Medicinal mushrooms are wonderful in the winter too. Properly dried mushrooms are one of the few plant sources of vitamin d, which we normally get from the sun. With the decrease in daylight hours, and the increased amount of atmosphere between us and the sun's rays, extra vitamin d is good for those of us who enjoy time typing emails on the computer, or other indoor activities...Medicinal mushrooms have also been shown to be the most potent immune system builder known, and have been used and described this way for thousands of years. In combination with foods amazingly high in vitamin c, and adaptogenic herbs - like Rain Forest Rush, a person can become impenetrable to colds and flus.

I find winters very easy and enjoyable since I stopped relying on outside sources of heat. Our own comfort in this world truly does come from inside. Something Ralph Waldo Emerson said sums it up nicely:

"Though you search the world over, you must carry the beautiful with you, or you find it not."

~ Isaac