Winter the Season of the Kidney

The ancient Chinese believed that the seasons have a profound cyclical effect on human growth and well-being. That we are influenced by climatic changes and should live in harmony with them. In winter, the cold and darkness drive us to seek inner warmth, reflection, and rest.  Chinese medicine’s view of kidney meridian functions are: for immune support, the force of the will, the capacity for sharp thinking and perception, along with the western view of fluid metabolism. This meridian also influences the bones, hair, and ears.  Problems with those areas reflect a imbalance in the kidney meridian system.

Foods that nourish the Kidney organ and meridian are: warm hearty soups, whole grains, roasted nuts (black walnuts- look like the brain and actually nourish the brain and kidneys). Beans look like the kidney shape and also nourish the kidney ( especially black beans). Root vegetables -yams, carrots, sweet potatoes warm and build our grounded energy/qi in the winter. Limiting raw cold vegetables (better for summer season).

By nourishing and restoring the kidneys with rest, food, specific constitutional warming herbal formulas, and seasonal acupuncture tune-ups, the body is better prepared for the next season-spring, the time of new growth, plans, visions and horizons.