As we’ve all heard, the cold front has swooped in and we don’t expect to get above 0 degrees today! Here are a few herbalist’s tips to generate extra heat in the body on days like this:

South of the Border

What better excuse than cold weather than to treat yourself to Mexican food? Jalapeno, cayenne, red peppers and other spicey foods will most certainly generate a good deal of heat!

The Orient Express or India Experience

Curry is a wonderful warming spice (Japanese Curry Chicken or Shrimp Curry… yum yum!). I have had experiences where eating a warm meal loaded with curry spice has cured my back pain while I sat in the restaurant. It is really great at moving Qi (life force energy) and warming that body and soul.

Hot Herbal Foot Baths
A steaming hot foot bath is ideal for drawing heat to your feet. This can warm the blood, and also help detoxify the body. Your foot cells are the largest cells in your body. Herbal medicine is often administered through the feet. Our feet, being at the bottom of our body, is where the blood has to turn and head upwards back towards the heart. Many times heavy toxins are not lifted back upwards, but remain at “the bottom” of the body. A hot foot bath is great for not only generating heat and warming the lower extremities, but if you add Plantain, this is an excellent herb for drawing out toxins through the foot cells. I just did a Plantain Foot Bath last night and my feet felt FANTASTIC and I slept like a baby.

Eat Ginger Root

I just had a hummus wrap for lunch that had ground up ginger root in it. Yummy, spicy, and will definitely generate a warming effect in the body.

Sprinkle Cinnamon
Cinnamon also has warming affects on the body and will generate extra heat when eaten. Cinnamon is also very good for controlling blood sugar and many diabetics use it. One day I counseled a diabetic who had puffy red cheeks and complained of sweating all the time. She happened to be taking cinnamon supplements to control her blood sugar, whoops! It was a tesimonial to just how much heat cinnamon can generate in the body.

Stay Mobile
Keep those limbs and blood moving, crawling under a blanket will lower your blood pressure and just make you feel colder.

Warming Teas (no cold beverages)
You may want to select your favorite green tea or chai tea as opposed to coffee or any cold beverage. Coffee is difficult for the stomach to digest and the last thing we want is a stomach curled up and working hard to push acidic beverages through the system while trying to generate heat. Drinking cold beverages makes the gall bladder/liver and stomach work extra hard to heat the beverage up. What happens is the body pulls all of its’ heat inward in order to digest the beverage. Save those calories for generating heat to your extremities! Mint tea is also a suprisingly good choice on cold days as it has warming effects.

Stay warm, cozy & healthy and enjoy the quiet times of winter!

Wendy J. Stevens, Herbalist
NOTE: These foods have medicinal properties. Seek medical advice before trying.
FDA DISCLAIMER: This information is not meant to treat or diagnose. Please consult a physicial or health care practitioner before taking herbs or supplements.