Memorial Day weekend is upon us, ushering in the summer season with trips to the beach and other summer haunts as well as gatherings with friends and family. For many this involves cookouts, big meals, and alcoholic beverages which can precipitate hot flashes and night sweats in perimenopausal women who partake in such fare. If you feel like you have something in common with the grill flare-ups in the photo, keep reading.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, each food has a unique thermal property— “cold,” “cool,” “neutral,” “warm,” or “hot.” This thermal quality is influenced by how it is prepared. If a food is served raw, pickled, or steamed, it will maintain its original thermal value. Boiling and pressure-cooking are “neutral” ways of cooking with braising, stewing, sautéing, and stir-frying falling into “warmer” methods. Unfortunately, deep-frying, roasting, broiling, grilling, and barbecuing are “hotter” preparations. The longer the food is cooked over the heating element also increases its thermal quality, despite the benign sounding “low and slow” moniker. If you are like me, you don’t want to give up on cookouts, and I have found that one can balance out the heat of the grill’s star of the show by eating and drinking “cooler” or “cold” accompaniments. Here are more details.
Grilled steaks
Use unmarinated steaks. Beef is “neutral” but black pepper and red pepper (cayenne) are both “hot” seasonings. Sea salt is “cold.”
Grilled hamburgers
Serve with sliced tomato and some lettuce. Ketchup is “cool” to “neutral”.
Grilled hotdogs or sausages
Hotdogs are “hot” as are spicy sausages. Mustard is “hot.” Onions are “warm.” Relish is “cool” to “neutral.” Sauerkraut is “cool.” Hmm, maybe rethink this category.
Grilled fish
Salmon is already “warm” so maybe choose tuna or halibut steaks which are “neutral” fish.
Deep-fried or grilled chicken
These two cooking styles turn up the heat a bit more on chicken, a “warm” food.
BBQ anything.
Typically, this is “low and slow” cooking with the addition of smoke, one of the “hottest” preparations. Spicy sauces and rubs up the ante so try not to “pig out.”
Shellfish
Crab and clams are both “cold” and lobster is “neutral” so maybe consider a New England clambake over grilling. Unfortunately, mussels and shrimp are both “warm” as is choriço sausage that is thrown into the mix.
Other Suggestions
~Switch out marinades containing mustard, wine, rosemary, and pepper for ones based on citrus with mint or marjoram.
~Some foods like salsa, especially if not too spicy, are cooled by lime and tomato, both with “cold” properties.
~ Eat with “cool” or “cold” choices like raw veggies, coleslaw, or salad since many vegetables are usually at the cooler end of the spectrum. One exception is bell pepper which is “warm.”
~Take care with dipping sauces and salad dressing that are heavy on the mustard, garlic, onions, and spices. Look for yogurt- or citrus-based dips and dressings.
~Look to side dishes using farro, bulgur wheat, barley, wild rice, butter beans (lima beans), cucumbers, asparagus, summer squash, or tomatoes. Salads with a base of lettuce, arugula, or endive are also cool. Once my website is up, I can refer you to recipes.
~ Go with strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, or watermelon as a dessert if that is an option. All the common melons are “cold.”
~Desserts with high sugar content may also precipitate hot flashes in some women.
~Chocolate is “warm.”
~Liquor is “hot” and so is red wine. Arrgh! White wine is “warm.” Beer ranges from “cool” to “warm” depending on how much alcohol there is as well as its ingredients and any additives. In general, a lighter color and lower alcohol content usually indicates a “cooler” thermal value.
~Non-alcoholic beer is “cold” and other hoppy non-alcoholic beverages (new in the market) are also “cold.”
~Citrus juices are “cool” (orange and lemonade) and “cold” (grapefruit & lime). ~Another good beverage choice is agua fresca made with “cold” melons or cucumber or “cool” strawberries or mango.
~Nibble on what you like and try not to “pig out” since OVEREATING LEADS TO OVERHEATING!
Happy Summer and stay cool!
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