Seasonal Eating, Immunity: Why is alignment with nature important ?

Unlock the secrets to a vibrant, healthier you with Dr. Kousalya Nathan's enlightening discussion on the transformative power of seasonal eating.
As a celebrated lifestyle and anti-aging expert, Dr. Nathan joins us to highlight the profound impact that our food choices have on gut health and, by extension, our immune system.
She advocates for a refreshing return to the wisdom of our ancestors, who prioritized local and seasonal produce, emphasizing that such a practice is not only beneficial for our bodies but also supports a sustainable environment.
By tapping into the rich diversity of indigenous fruits and vegetables,  she illustrates how we can cultivate a harmonious relationship with nature and our own well-being.

During our conversation, Dr. Nathan also sheds light on the underestimated importance of cultural food staples in fostering a healthy gut microbiome.
She challenges the trend of adopting one-size-fits-all Western dietary habits and champions the virtues of simple, unadulterated foods.
Learn why the humble rice and idli, a fermented rice pancake now recognized by the WHO as one of the healthiest foods, are quintessential for maintaining optimal health, and is not to be ignored.
Through Dr. Nathan's guidance, we're reminded of the elegance of simplicity in our diets and the innate wisdom in aligning our eating habits with the cycles of nature.

Tune in for an episode that will inspire you to embrace the art of seasonal self-pampering and reconnect with the timeless nutritional heritage that has nourished generations.

Content repurposed from full episode on this podcast in Season 2.

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Episode Transcript

Vai Kumar (00:11):
Welcome to Freshleaf Forever, a podcast that gives
you fascinating insights weekafter week.
Here's your host, Vaikumar.
Hey folks, welcome to anotherepisode on Podcast Freshleaf
Forever.
We have here with us DrKousalya Nathen, a lifestyle and

(00:33):
anti-aging expert.
We asked her on seasonal eatingand how it impacts immunity and
gut health.
Here's what she had to say whatabout seasonal eating and what
about immunity?

(00:53):
We have heard that 70-80% ofour immune system resides in the
gut.
Is that correct?

Dr.Kousalya Nathan (01:01):
Absolutely.
I'm just moving on to thisaspect of seasonal eating and
immunogenic foods, I think, asour traditional system has been,
and I think again I'll go backto the grandmother and mother
tale.
Probably I may sound veryvintage here, but I think our
parents were very clear ongiving us only seasonal fruits,

(01:24):
because now I go out of way tofetch strawberry from somewhere
which doesn't grow here at all,just because my son, my children
, like strawberries orblueberries, I think we go out
of way to fetch them fancy kiwisand stuff which doesn't belong
to our Indian environment at alland we don't have the season of
kiwis at all.
So, we spend nearly probably,which is around 200 rupees to

(01:48):
Indian rupee for a kiwi, whichprobably may be around $2-3 in
US, but for us here that's a lotof money to buy one kiwi fruit.
So what I'm trying to tell youis we have, at least here in
Indian environment, havebeautiful indigenous fruits and
vegetables which are absolutelyseasonal, fantastic, grown in

(02:12):
our nearby areas which can, forexample, I live in Chennai and I
tell you, I think around 200 to300 kilometers from here, we
have the maximum varieties ofmangoes.
I think why do we have to stopanybody from eating mango?
I think we shouldn't.
So I think the seasonal fruits,the vegetable, you get this

(02:35):
palm fruit and which we call itice apple, we have seasonal
stuff which comes with seasonwatermelons, musk, melons all
that with the summer coming inor then the spring, or we have
probably the humid weather here.
So I think certain fruits areavailable throughout the year,

(02:55):
but certain things probably arehighly kind of seasonal oriented
.
It is very, very important torespect nature when it comes to
nurturing ourselves.
I think the more we respectnature to nurture, I think we
are in alignment with ourenvironment.

(03:15):
I think if we can bring thatinto our system, I think that's
the best you can do for yourself.
I would call it that's thenatural way of pampering
yourself.
I think pampering yourself isnot going out of way to fetch
things which doesn't exist.
P pampering yourself is havingabundance of what's coming into

(03:38):
the season when it comes tofruits or vegetables or any form
of greens or whatever it may be.
I think that's a very importantpart that all of us need to
cultivate.
There can be a 20% of someintrusion, of some non seasonal
fruits, but by enlarging, 80% ofyour meal has to be more on

(04:02):
seasonal and indigenious.
And when it comes toimmunogenic kind of immune
boosters or immunogenicresponses, our best is about
having a vegetable juice.
It can be.
I generally tell my clients thatyou know, pull in whatever is
there.
You don't have to feel.
You know I mean probablynothing fancy.

(04:25):
I think food, the simpler it is, it's going to work.
The more complicated, the morekind of ingredients or more
difficult you make it, you knowit's going to be really
difficult.
So I think people, there was atime where people in India were
talking too much against rice,which is our indigenous staple

(04:47):
food, rice.
But I think I feel rice is themost healthiest and idli which
we have.
The pancake the rice pancake isnow declared and accepted by UN
World Health Organization asone of the safest and the most
healthiest food, which is afermented food, as we are

(05:10):
talking about the gut microbiomethese kind of fermented foods
gives good you know good floraand fauna.
The digestion level is sosmooth, the absorption is again
easier because it's a partiallydigested foods.
I think we need to incorporatewhatever is there in the
environment, which is there inthe culture, to keep our

(05:31):
immunity on, rather thancompletely having a western
following the western world inour nutrition, which probably
has caused most of the problemhere in our Asian population.
You know, it can be diabetes, itcan be obesity, it can be
hypertension.
All those lifestyle disordersis because of the disruption or
we're trying to adapt somethingwhich probably are genetically

(05:54):
not compatible to a thing.
That bit we need to understand.
Similar way, in the westernworld, like they're used to,
probably oats or you know somesmall grain or an omelet or
whatever, it could be thebreakfast or a bowl of fruits
that has to be retained, withprobably a combination meal for
lunch and then probably a soupor a salad or you know some form

(06:17):
of meat for dinner.
So I think we need to go withour traditional practices.
20% can be for experimentation.
So if we can maintain this,which will be harmonious to our
system, then I think our immunesystem would be pretty strong
and very kind of conducive tobalance many things over in

(06:41):
coping these kind of challengingsituations.

Vai Kumar (06:44):
Okay, what a wonderful message.
Source locally and eat what isgrown locally.
Focus on what is availableduring the season instead of,
you know, just keeping foodsimple instead of keeping it
complex and going further tofetch it.
Listeners, as always, followthe podcast, rate the podcast

(07:05):
and review from your podcasttype of choice.
Follow me on Instagram andYouTube @vaipkumar.
That's V-A-I-P-K-U-M-A-R forall things digital media and
lifestyle.
Until next time with yetanother interesting guest and

(07:26):
yet another interesting topic.
It's me Vai saying so long.