Here is a timely recipe for those of us in the northern hemisphere submitted by our friend Bonnie Kavanagh from Rhode Island.  During the cold months of the year our bodies often need warmth, inside and out.  Many people bundle up with extra layers of clothing. Yet we often forget to warm our insides!  Digestion in the stomach and intestines needs warmth, energetically and thermally, to process the foods we eat into the nutrients we need for life.  Proper digestion and metabolism leads to better immune health and physical strength. Here are 2 tricks to helping your body stay warm in the winter, inside and out:

1.    Minimize the use of (energetically and thermally) cold foods such as ice, chilled beverages, ice cream, citrus, dairy products, and sea vegetables. When eating colder foods such as sea vegetables, use the roasted form or cook with salt or warming herbs such as garlic or ginger to “balance” the cold properties of the food.
2.    Consider adding warming herbs such as ginger root (Zingiberis officinalis) to your food or take as folks have done historically, in small amounts as a cordial or liqueur.