Climate, Seasons  and Food Choices

If you can, you should always choose food grown in the same climatic region and mainly food that has been   traditionally available during the present season. Next best choice is food grown in the neighbor climatic region, or food grown during the previous season. Climate consideration and season considerations are especially important when we are talking about fruits, nuts and vegetable.  You don't have to consider climate and season when it comes to fish, sea food, eggs, meat, milk products, spices, oils ...

Some fruits and nuts are naturally available during cold winter. There is nothing wrong in consuming it, even if you would consider it "autumn food".

FAQ - Climate and Foods

• Can eating mainly tropical fruits and nuts make me sick? I live in USA, mid-latitudes - moderate climate?

  • Answer1:

  • Most likely not, not on the short run, not within just a few years.

  • Let me make one thing clear: Consuming foods from different climate may not cause illness or symptoms as quickly as if you would consume large percentage of processed foods.

  • 1 year of abusing your body with junk foods may be equal to 15 or 30 years of abusing your body with tropical foods.

  • Be aware that some people have so strong genetic inheritance, so strong health, that even 30 years of processed foods is not enough to cause illness. For such people, it would take several generations of consuming tropical foods to encounter illness.  There are many factors to health, like physical activity, love, mind, emotions,  ... food is just one part of the much bigger picture.

  • Just because some people are very healthy and very strong, it doesn't mean that everybody is!

  • There are people who have to consider climate when choosing foods, and there are people who don't have to.  If you are ill, you should consider it.

  • Let me make one more thing clear: Just because you are able to tolerate tropical foods, it doesn't mean that your kids will be! Food allergies and food intolerance are more and more common between kids. One of the reasons is: parents have been over-consuming foods from tropical climate.

  • Not all tropical foods are alike. Check lists for your blood type!

  • Answer2:

  • There is a great difference in climate of southern USA, and climate of northern USA.

  • If you live in California, Texas, Florida ... such diet could be the best choice. BUT, if you live in Maine, or Canada, or Scandinavia, it may not be the the best choice, at least not for longer then 10 - 15 years. Trust to your body, it will tell you what is right, and what is wrong!

  • If you feel constantly cold, cold feet, cold hands, cold nose, then one thing is sure: Something is wrong with the foods you are eating ... most likely its too much of fruits and nuts.

  • Coffee can be worst then any fruits or nuts!

• Is it bad to consume virgin Coconut oil in USA? I live in Maine?

  • Answer:

  • You tell me! How do you feel? Does it make you feel good? Listen to your body!

Why are climate and season so important?

    Climate is an essential aspect to understanding the world around us. It is the long term summation of weather patterns for a region.  It affects the region physically (i.e. vegetation and soil patterns) and culturally (i.e. agriculture and population).

Can you think of a few things in your own life that are affected by climate?  Try the inverse: can you think of anything in your life that is completely unaffected by climate?

Climate and seasons are the most important physical components of our world that shape human lifestyles, behaviors, wealth and health.

    Different climate classifications are primarily based upon (1) the seasonal variations in temperature, and (2) the annual rainfall amount and seasonality--that is, what time of the year the rain comes.  Temperature is determined by the length of time the sun's most intense rays are focused on a area. Precipitation is the amount of rain and snow a region receives.   The major factors which influence temperature and precipitation, and therefore shape climate, are (1) Latitude, (2) Air Masses & Ocean Currents, (3)Continentality , and (4) Topography.

• You are living in polar latitudes (polar climate) or close to it (Northern Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, Northern Asia ... ):
  • most of the fruits, vegetables & nuts you consume should be growing in the same climatic region, not necessary on the same continent. Some of your food (on average less then 15%) still can be from mid-latitudes, while foods from tropical latitudes (tropical climate) should be rare, or just a small percent (less then 5%) of total food your eat. This is especially important if you are sick! Healthy people may not be very much affected by foods grown in distant climatic regions.
• You are living in mid-latitudes - moderate climate (over 50% of world's population):
  • most of the fruits, vegetables & nuts you consume should be growing in the same climatic region, not necessary on the same continent. Some of your food (on average less then 20%) still can be from tropical latitudes or polar latitudes.
  • Beside climate and season, your genetics, your blood type and your age are also very important factors, that will shape your food tolerance and food needs.
• You are living in tropical latitudes (tropical climate) or close to it:
  • most of the fruits, vegetables & nuts you consume should be growing in the same climatic region, not necessary on the same continent. Some of your food (on average less then 20%) still can be from mid-latitudes climate, while foods from polar latitudes should be rare, or just a small percent (less then 5%) of total food your eat.

3 Major Subdivisions of Climate

   Based on latitudinal variation, there are 3 major subdivisions of climate; the tropics, mid latitudes and polar.  Each has distinctive characteristics which make it unique.  Vegetation, animal life and people all exist in each.

• In tropical latitudes (those near the equator), there is little difference in the amount of solar heating between summer and winter. Average monthly temperatures therefore do not change much during the year. However, amount and seasonality of precipitation vary greatly, and is the reason that  we further subdivide the tropics into Tropical Rainforests, Monsoon, and Savanna.
•  In mid-latitudes, from the Tropic of Cancer to the Arctic Circle and from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Antarctic Circle, solar heating is considerably greater in summer than in winter. Mid-latitudes experience seasonal shifts between warm summers and cool winters.
• In polar latitudes, north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, the sun never rises during large portions of the year. Therefore, the contrast in solar heating between summer and winter is extreme. Summers are cool to mild, and winters are bitterly cold. In addition, daylight hours  in the summer are close to 24 hours and in the winter there are times when the sun does not rise; short, cool summers; long, frigid winters.

Another Important Climate Consideration

Grains, seafood and animal products are more or less equal in all climatic regions (except polar region, where very few plants grow). For those foods, it is not very important to follow "climatic rules".

Vegetable grown in the wormer climatic regions is far more sweet then vegetable grown in colder climatic regions. Vegetable tends to be more climatically distributed, and in case of vegetable you should follow climatic rules: choose vegetable grown in the same climate.

Fruits, berries and nuts seems to be the most climatically distributed. Fruits, berries and nuts grown in tropical climate should not represent more then 3% of total food intake if you live in polar climate, and not more then 10% if you live in mid-latitudes (moderate climate).

Read more about healthy diet here: DIET and Health

Cooking methods that kill:

  Microwave oven - benefit or harm?

• cooking in aluminum cookware
• cooking with microwave oven
• cooking on electric stove  (use gas or wood -burning stove)
• cooking in Teflon, Tefal, Non stick  cookware

Things we are eating, but we don't know :

- Amalgam and other dental metal