Mix and Match

Boulder has many healthy and tasty food options. While we continue to support our local restaurants, we are also cooking more meals at home. Good nutrition is essential for optimal health. Immunity starts with nourishing our bodies.

There is a Cantonese saying, “anything that swims, walks, or flies, moderation and variety.” While Chinese medicine encourages small amounts of lean meat to provide protein and essential amino acids, the majority of your plate should be fruits and vegetables. Michael Pollan says everything he’s learned about food and health can be summed up in seven words: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” If you have chosen a 100% vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, making sure you get adequate protein is of the utmost importance. To ensure there is protein in all of your meals, keep staples such as lentils, chickpeas and other beans, hemp seed, chia seeds, quinoa, and nutritional yeast on hand. They are great vegetarian option. Chick peas have amino acids, are rich in zinc, B9 and magnesium.

Root vegetables are especially important to stock during the cold months. Sweet potatoes are high in carbohydrates, but low on the glycemic index. This helps prevent blood sugar spikes. They contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. Both these fibers are beneficial. Undigestible fiber provides food for the good bacteria in our gut and helps encourage a healthy digestive system. Sweet potato is filling and delicious. It is high in antioxidants and Vitamins A, C, B6, Manganese, Potassium, and many more.

This bowl combines all of the best nutrients your body needs to keep your immune system healthy and nourished. The best part is it takes very little thought to add variety and interests to each meal. As long as you keep these staples in your cupboard and refrigerator, your meal can me easily made.

Cook Your Food

Cooked foods are a way to bring balance and warmth to your body. In TCM the digestive system is viewed as a furnace and the food we put in it is the fuel. Raw foods can slow the fire and total absorption of nutrients and make it hard for our bodies to assimilate. To read more on TCM and how it impacts food, click here.