spinach for a spring
Contrary to popular opinion, January isn’t a great time to detox, make resolutions, get yourself and your house in order or any of the rest of it. It’s a time when our bodies want to stay cosy and warm and relatively inactive, and when our minds need peace and quiet. However, as soon as the first signs of Spring start sprunging (!), that’s when we naturally feel like moving a little more, cleaning up a bit, taking care of business etcetera. Our bodies respond to the change in the seasons, whether or not our minds wake up and get involved. I love Ayurveda for this reason- I’m almost never telling my clients anything they don’t instinctively know, but I’m merely reminding them of their bodies’ relationships with the world around them- the weather, the seasons, the type of area they live in, the people they mix with and the food they consume, as well the media, the TV and everything else they consume. In many traditions around the world (hi there Lent!), Spring has been used as a good time to hold back on some consumables in order to focus the mind and cleanse the body. It is for this reason that I’m writing about spinach today, as it (alongside a few other fashionable and not-so-fashionable green leaves) can really help those who are detoxing a little bit.
In Ayurveda, anything that is considered a ‘heating’ food aids the digestive system. When people are trying to detox or cleanse, or simply eat a little lighter than they have been, speeding up digestion is generally seen as a good thing. Spinach contains insoluble fibre which isn’t easily broken down by the body. Put simply, when spinach travels through the digestive tract, it picks up things that have been hanging around there for a while causing a nusiance, and carries them with it, bulking up the stool but simultaneously making it easier to pass.
On top of this, spinach is anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidents. People aren’t always detoxing for weight-loss reasons. They may have inflamed skin conditions (eczema or psoriasis for example), heart, kidney or liver issues, or perhaps even joint troubles or thyroid problems. Eating foods which are anti-inflammatory are of great benefit, especially after a long Winter of eating anything and everything. Those with longer-term chronic illnesses like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancers can benefit from the antioxidents in spinach as well.
One of the reasons it’s seen as a ‘superfood’ in this day and age may be because in terms of Ayurveda, spinach pacifies all three doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha), especially when it has been cooked (when eaten raw, it can be a little too heating for those with super-high Pitta, but this is something an Ayurveda practitioner can go through with an individual). So, add a little spinach to your diet during February, March and April, and see how it makes you feel. Hopefully your poos will be a little more satisfying as well as regular, and there’s nothing like consistent poos to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step this Spring