11/06/2025
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, food isn’t just calories, macros, and micros, it’s energy.
Everything you eat has a thermal nature (warming, cooling, or neutral) and an energetic direction (upward, downward, or constricting). That’s why food can influence your mood and energy so deeply.
Cold and raw foods like salads, smoothies, and iced drinks are considered cold even at room temperature because they’re both cold and raw. Not cute. 🙅🏽♀️
In winter, a more Yin season, your energy naturally turns inward. You want to rest, feel cozy, and slow down, that’s your body’s natural intelligence.
Eating cold foods during this time has the opposite effect. It constricts your energy and makes it harder for your body to move Qi, creating internal stagnation.
One of the core principles in Chinese Medicine is that your Qi (energy) wants to flow. When it doesn’t, you can experience PMS, headaches, mood swings, fatigue, or that general “blah” feeling. So when you eat out-of-season cold meals, you’re actually slowing your own energy and weakening digestion- the centre of you that makes your energy.
Over time, that disconnection between what your mind wants (“something fresh and light”) and what your body craves (“warmth and nourishment”) can affect your mood, energy, and emotional balance.
Instead, swap your salads for lightly steamed veggies with a sesame ormiso dressing, cozy soups and stews, roasted roots, warm rice bowls, lentil soup, and plenty of ginger and warming spices. 🍲🫚🫖
Sip herbal teas or room-temperature water instead of iced drinks, and let your meals mirror the season bestie that is grounding and warm 🧣🧦🛌
THIS IS