Afternoon mists fall on ripe green. Cool mountain meadows hide in the hemlocks and fir. A quiet brook sings to robins and squirrels their pick and eat program with the cooperating wild blackberries that had turned luscious and black.
Blackberries are ripening across America to remind us how nature helps guide us in what to eat.
This is explained in John Douillard's book, "Three Season Diet" which shows how to lose weight, increase health and vitality by eating different foods at different times of the year. The concept is based partly on Ayurved, the Indian science of life and well being, which views the body as having three essences; vata (essence of motion), pitta (essence of transformation-digestion) and kapha (essence of solidity). These essences are also described as vata-air, pitta, fire and kapha, earth/water. A key in Ayurved is to keep the three in balance.
Ayurved also recognizes differences in seasons, spring, being a moist, fertile time of growth of course is a kapha period. Summer, naturally is a time of heat or pitta when the seeds transform into food. Finally, autumn and winter turn windy and cold. Things become brittle and dried, the time of vata. So the tendency in summer is for the fire in us (pitta) to grow excessively, spring brings kapha problems and winter hosts vata imbalances.
The delicious look and taste of blackberries in the summer are explained in John's book. He wrote this about blackberries.
"Native to Europe, these berries are harvested in late spring and early summer, from April through July, but are out of season in the winter and are too cool for most winter climates. They are sweet, sour and astringent and help cool the body down and to treat diarrhea, a classic summer condition in which the stool is liquefied by excess heat. Blackberries are also very alkaline, high in iron and are the best blood builders although they have a constipating quality."
So you can see that blackberries (growing practically everywhere in the country) are the perfect food for us in summer!
John's book shows some other great summer foods that help blood sugar disorders as well. Here is what the book says:
"Bitter Melon" Originally harvested throughout China and India, bitter melon is used to treat diabetes in Asia. It has twice as much potassium as bananas and is proven to increase the number of beta cells (which produce insulin) in the pancreas. It is high in iron and has twice the beta-carotene of broccoli and twice the calcium of spinach. It is bitter in taste and cooling to the body, but is too cooling and bitter for winter.
Blueberries are another good blood sugar regulating food as the books says:
"Blueberries, Native to North America, are harvested from May through August and are both sweet and astringent. Traditionally known to help strengthen the pancreas and stabilize blood sugar levels, blueberries serve to offset the high-energy demands and sugar content of the summer fruit harvest. They are not cooling as blackberries or raspberries and are okay in the winter also. Recent studies have found blueberries to be a very powerful antioxidant."
You can get information from John Douillard about his book at lifespa.com
