Tony is a certified health counselor and helps individuals through positive dietary and lifestyle changes. He is a certified Holistic Health Practitioner by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners and he also attended and graduated from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Tony started his education at Northern Illinois University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and is a Certified Athletic Trainer.
Tony has his own website and blog at www.Nourishing4Life.com. Tony founded Nourishing4Life Health & Wellness to better help others with their dietary and lifestyle changes. You can find and follow Nourishing4Life and Tony on twitter as well! His thoughts and post echo a lot of my own values and ideas about nutrition. I hope you enjoy it!"
Eating Seasonally
What is it?—Eating seasonally is exactly
what it sounds like—eating foods that are available or ripe during a season of
year in your geographical region. Many years ago people didn’t know what eating
seasonally was; they just ate foods that were available to them in their
geographical region for that time of year. A wonderful excerpt from Joshua
Rosenthal’s book Integrative Nutrition
that elaborates, “Our ancestors ate seasonally because they had no choice.
Fresh greens grew in spring, fruit ripened in summer, root vegetables kept them
going in fall, and people relied on animal food to get them through the
winter.” This is truly seasonal eating. Understanding this concept is
beneficial in achieving good health and sustaining a healthy environment.
Our
Lives— Eating seasonally affects our lives because the foods
provided by nature are exactly what the body needs to thrive throughout that
season. Think about it for a moment. In the spring and summer, raw foods
(fruits, vegetables, salads, fresh squeezed juices, watermelon, etc.) provide a
cooling effect to the body; so naturally the body will crave more of these
foods during the warmer months of the year. And in fall and winter, cooked
foods (animal products, root vegetables, oatmeal, hearty soups and stews, warm
drinks, etc.) are prepared by adding heat to them to provide a sense of
insulation and warmth. Is it crazy to think that our lives could feel so out of balance when
we are eating whatever we want at any time of the year? Can you picture a
vegetable garden outside in the dead of winter? Does it make sense that if we
live and eat in harmony with the seasons that our lives will feel more aligned
with nature and the flow of the universe?
Our
Health— In season and local foods
are more nutritious than foods that are out of season and come from faraway
places. On average it takes 10-14 days for produce to reach the supermarket shelf
and in that transition the vegetable’s nutrients are oxidized into the air. Take
a tomato for example, when bought in season and locally it is fresher, it
tastes better, and is more nutritious compared to a tomato flown in from South
America during the winter. If purchased at a local farmer’s market, that
tomato is likely less than 24 hours removed from its life source. A farmer’s
market provides you with some of the freshest and seasonal produce.
Our
Environment—
The most interesting
point in this discussion is the affect our food choices have on the
environment. One thing that is most often not taken into consideration is the
energy, resources, and fossil fuels required to get food from field to plate.
According to John Robbins’ book, Diet for
a New America, he points out that giving up one pound of beef per year
could save more water than if you stopped showering for six months. Yes six months. Similarly, how many
miles do the bananas travel from Peru? How much fossil fuel does it take to
transport them in a timely fashion so they are not spoiled for the 2 days they
sit on the super market shelves. So now the question, “How environmentally
friendly are our eating habits?” is not so misunderstood anymore. A benefit of
this process however, is that it does allow us to have
access to organic foods year round.
Tony Cukierski
Cert. Holistic Health Practitioner-Nutrition & Lifestyle
Cert. Athletic Trainer-Kinesiology & Orthopedics
Nourishing4Life Health & Wellness
Become Healthier! Live Happier!
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