5 Ingredients to Help Warm Your Body for Winter

When the temperature drops, we tend to fire up the oven more to prepare warm, winter foods. (Not to mention the oven heat helps warm our houses too!)

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), raw fruits and vegetables have cool energy while their counterparts have warm energy. Beyond the obvious, there are certain foods that are warming and cooling no matter their temperature. Here are our top five:

Spices

As implied by their name, spices will spice up your body temperature. Our favorite for winter includes ginger, nutmeg, clove, black pepper, and cinnamon. They not only boost the metabolism and promote warmth, spices also reduce inflammation.

Coconut Milk

Loaded with medium chain fatty acids, coconut milk curbs hunger, boosts the immune system, and delivers much needed fats to the brain. It’s also warming! Substitute for milk and cream in soups for a rich texture and added warmth. And depending on the other ingredients, your soup won’t taste like coconut.

Mango

This tropical fruit is one of the most nutritionally rich in the world with amazing sources of vitamins A, C, E, and B-complex. Their bright orange color also means they’re loaded with beta-carotene and alpha carotene. And to top it off, they’re warming too!

Onions

A top ingredient in soup, onions are helpful in clearing phlegm from the lungs, improving cholesterol, and even preventing stroke all because of their warming properties.

Walnuts

Similar to onions, the warming properties of walnuts relieve winter coughs while also strengthening the kidneys and nourishing the brain. Enjoy them raw or cooked.

For a more comprehensive list of warming and cooling foods according to TCM, click here. Grab your thickest coats and head to the grocery store for these warming ingredients!

Meet Rootasters:

Meg is a dreamer, entrepreneur, and homesteader based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She loves her cats, feasting, and road trips in her green VW Bug.