06/12/2026
SALAD SEASON IS HERE 🥗
With all the beautiful produce coming in from .mi and our incredible local farmers market , it's officially salad season....But as a Chinese medicine practitioner, I'm here to tell you that not all salads are created equal.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, digestion is often compared to a cooking pot. It likes warmth, consistency, and foods that are easy to transform into energy. Piling a giant bowl of cold, raw vegetables on top of an already stressed digestive system can sometimes lead to bloating, gas, loose stools, and fatigue. Hence why you've heard us ALL say eat cooked easy-to-digest foods! However with that there are ways to make a salad work...
A few of my favorite ways to make salads more digestion-friendly:
Start with a cooked base. Roasted sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, squash, or grilled vegetables are all fair game- really anything in season.
Add warming protein. Think grilled chicken, steak, salmon, hard-boiled eggs, lentils, or beans.
Mix raw and cooked. Your salad doesn't have to be all lettuce. Half cooked, half fresh is often easier on digestion.
Dress it generously- with homemade dressing only (store bought is JUNK). Healthy fats from olive oil , avocado, nuts, and seeds help your body absorb nutrients and make salads more satisfying.
Timing: Eat it at lunch. Our digestive fire is strongest in the middle of the day, making it the perfect time for larger raw meals.
Don't forget those digestive helpers. Fresh herbs, ginger, mint, basil, dill, and a squeeze of lemon can go a long way- herb it up!
The goal isn't to avoid salads. It's to build a salad that leaves you feeling energized instead of bloated.
DM us your favorite salad photos, we know you take them.
