The last thing any of us needs is a huge, confusing list of what to eat and what not to eat. Allah SWT, in His infinite wisdom, didn’t create nutrition to be a complex matter that required specialized degrees to know how to eat. On the contrary, understanding natural foods is very intuitive and easy. Traditional nutrition was built on wisdom, and foods were categorized for simplicity.
It won’t be long before you can easily recognize (without a checklist) what is warming (heating) or cooling with regards to the food you eat. If you actually pay close attention to your body, you will be able to track and measure the thermal energetic response of what you eat.
Notice how a cup of ginger tea makes you feel warm and you might even break a sweat or how eating watermelons cools you off on a hot summer day. Pay attention to which foods are available during the summer months or winter months, or what your body craves in each season. You will see that our bodies adjust to the seasons, and our food choices naturally adjust as well.
The problem with the way we live and eat today is that we are very disconnected from nature, from foods and our own bodies. We don’t understand what grows in the spring, summer or fall, and hence don’t put much thought into what goes into our mouths. We often eat out of desire. I’m craving this or that. And our cravings, though they can give insight to what is deficient inside our bodies, can also be off balanced due to food addictions we acquire from bad eating habits. What our body craves out of need is different from what our nafs desires.
Once you learn this important life skill, that was once passed on from parent to child, you will be able to eat healthier, more balanced meals according to your body type and according to the season. You will also learn what to abstain from when you are sick.
In the meantime: check out this handy list to help you get started on the thermal energetic effects of foods on our metabolism.
Heating/Warming Foods & Herbs
Everything in this list actually warms up the body’s metabolic fire. These are considered foods that boost metabolism, but too much of these foods can cause the body to overheat and become agitated.
Meat and fish: lamb, liver, chicken, goose, duck, eggs, goat (male)
Dairy: sheep’s milk, cream cheese, cream, clarified butter (ghee)
Grains: thin-grain rice, basmati, wheat
Seeds/nuts: sesame, almond, pistachio, apricot kernels, walnuts, pine nuts, chia seeds, flax seed, hemp seed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, (generally all seeds and nuts are heating)
Fruits: peach, plum, lime, lemon, rhubarb, banana, red raisins, green raisins, dates, figs, olives, ripe grapes, all dried fruits
Vegetables: asparagus, beet, radish, onion, mustard greens, kidney beans, leek, eggplant, chick peas, red pepper, green pepper, all hot peppers, carrot seed, squash, parsley
Oil: sesame oil, corn oil, castor oil, mustard oil
Herbs: basil, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, marjoram, celery seed, anise seed, rue, saffron, garam masala (blend), senna, frankincense, mustard
Cooling Foods & Herbs
Cooling foods actually slow down your metabolic fire. Though these foods can be great when the weather is hot, eating too much of these foods can create an imbalance which leads to things like coughs, colds, constipation, headaches, tumors, etc.
Meat: rabbit, goat (female), beef, fish (general)
Dairy Products: cow’s milk, mother’s milk, goat’s milk, butter, buttermilk, dried cheeses, margarine
Vegetables and Beans: lettuce, celery, sprouts (general), zucchini, spinach, cabbage, okra, cauliflower, broccoli, white potato, sweet potato, carrot, cucumber, soybeans, tomato, turnip, peas, beans (general)
Fruits: apple, melons (general), mulberries, peach, pear, coconut, fig, pomegranate, apricot, orange, carob
Grains: brown rice, thick-grain rice, barley, lentils
Oils: sunflower oil, coconut oil
Beverages: green teas, coffee
Herbs: coriander (dry), dill, henna, thyme, rose, jasmine, mint
Other: refined sugar, bitter things, sour things, truffles, water
Heating/cooling food list taken from Hakim G.M. Chishti N.D. Traditional Healer’s Handbook
If you eat foods according to their season in your region, then eating balanced foods will be natural and easy for your digestion. Your body needs both cooling and warming foods.
Abdullah ibn Jaafar radiyallahu anhu says, Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihe wasallam ate Qith’thaa (cucumbers) with dates. (Shama’il Muhammadiyah, Book 29, Hadith 188)
Dates are warming and cucumbers are cooling. This was the perfect example of balancing foods.
DISCLAIMER:
Not everyone, or every traditional doctor, nutritionist or herbalist agree on the thermal energetics of the food list above. Some items might be considered cooling in one medicine like Traditional Chinese Medicine, but considered heating in Ayurveda. So it is important to not get stuck with one list, but allow your own body to guide you with how you feel in response to each food/herb you consume.