How does the winter affect you? Do you always feel like you are the one that is sitting in the corner with a turtle neck on, long underwear on, a jacket, and blanket covering you and you are still freezing, while your spouse is sitting there in a t-shirt and jeans sweating? The reason behind these winter contrasts can be answered by taking a look at a person’s Blood pH. The question to ask is this: “Can eating the right food actually make you warmer?” The answer is YES if you are eating according to your Diet Type.
Blood pH
Blood pH tends to become more acidic (lower) during the winter. This is because cold weather lowers, or acidifies, blood pH. Typically people with acidic blood pH tend to feel cold all the time. They dislike being outdoors in the winter, and would much rather spend the cooler seasons in sunny Florida. Well, since that is not possible for most people, we have to compensate for acidic blood pH by eating foods that will help to raise, or Alkaline, blood pH levels. Doing this will help keep your body chemistry stay in balance and help keep you comfortable this winter. Bonus reason: It is the healthier and less costly solution to staying warm than raising your thermostat 5 degrees!
So how does an acidic person get balanced?
You want to try to raise your blood pH back into the normal range. The body requires foods that raise the blood pH, such as protein and fat. Since it is winter, try foods that raise your blood pH, like meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and high fat dairy. These foods will help balance an acidic person balance his/her blood pH and may make you feel warmer.
If you are already warm because you are an alkaline person, you are most likely a Monkey Diet Type. During the winter months, however, you can allow yourself a little more foods from the protein and fat groups because the cold weather in and of itself is acidifying your blood pH.
Foods to eat that keep you warm during the winter
Soup: Homemade soup is easy to cook, cheap, and nutritious- if you keep a batch going, you’ll always have something hot to eat when you don’t feel like cooking. Soups can be served in big mugs, perfect for warming chilled fingers. Also, soup makes a great meal for lunch at work. Pour some in a thermos and heat it up for lunch. Add beans and meat to any soup to get extra protein and complex carbohydrates.
Meat: Try eating more meat during winter. As we talked about above, protein raises blood pH to make us warmer. Crock pot meat meals are an excellent dinner. Put all ingredients into the pot before work and by the time you get home it will be done and ready to serve.
Iron: Eating foods high in iron such as red meats and green leafy vegetables can help keep you warm. The body needs iron to make the thyroid hormone which stimulates heat production. Make spinach salads, cooked broccoli or asparagus, and other dark green vegetables.
Casseroles: Pick out one of your favorite meat casseroles to make. Making a casserole is also a good meal for the winter because it usually will feed a whole family and it is inexpensive and easy.
Good Fat: Eat foods like organic nuts, nut butters, bacon, and avocado dip. Cook your dishes using olive oil or butter. These are healthy fats that will increase pH levels and warm you up.
Soy: Eat plenty of soy products like tofu, soybeans, soy nuts, and tempeh. Stir fry meals with tofu and vegetables, or munch on some soy nuts as a snack.
Warm Drinks: Herbal tea is a great antioxidant and will help relax you, improve immunity, and flush your system out if you have a cold. Green tea is a powerful tea to fight infection. Warm unsweetened soy milk is also soothing on a warm day. Stay away from coffee because it will only lower your blood pH more.
If you don’t know your blood pH or if you want to find out if your blood pH has changed due to the weather, give us a call!
