Warming foods, cooling foods, you might ask what the heck are they talking about? We’re talking about the thermal properties of the foods we eat. Thousands of years ago the Chinese and East Indian cultures developed classification systems for the foods they ate. In the Chinese system, yang foods are warming and yin foods are cooling. The yin and yang foods balance each other and can help return our bodies to balance when they’re out of sorts.

By incorporating more foods with higher thermal levels into the diet during the colder seasons you will find it easier to stay warm on a raw food diet. And once again nature shows her perfection in the way she provides foods for our enjoyment and health. You see the foods that become available to us in the fall and winter seasons are typically warming, and the foods that nature provides in the warmer seasons are typically cooling.

Once you understand the warming or cooling tendencies of foods and start utilizing their thermal properties, you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes. You can add rosemary or other warming herbs to your green smoothies, to create balance with the greens and help keep you warmer during the cooler seasons. If you’re really looking to get warm on a cold day then fresh ginger juice added to your fresh fruit or veggie juice will warm you in a hurry.

And of course on those hot summer days it’s the watermelons, fruits and fresh green salads that are going to have cooling properties for your body. As you’ll see below there are also foods that are classified as neutral which don’t alter the thermal temperature of the body either way.

Something else to remember is that all foods have a variety of nutrients and healing properties that should be respected. Learn all you can about the foods you put into your mouth to nourish your body cells, and how they might affect your health in one way or another.