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Adding “Heat” to your smoothie

Theres nothing I love better in the morning than a colorful smoothie any time of the year. However, this time of the year we have to be conscious of how much cold we eat because it could be damaging to the spleen and digestive system. When I speak of “cold” I do not only refer to temperature, but more so post digestive temperature. Think about it, decades ago we did not have the luxury of refrigerators. Though the refrigerator is a beneficial invention to our world, we have often learned to rely on it with our obsession with cold foods, (ie. ice cream, yogurts, etc.)
In Chinese medicine, cold foods (cold post digestive foods) will damage the spleen. When we eat to much cold the spleens job to absorb nutrients is affected and nutrient absorption is diminished. This effect can leave space for illness to evolve. With that said, every time I am sipping on a cold smoothie I add heat to the blender. Yes heat. High heat post digestive foods. Examples of hot foods include: cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, pepper, coffee, raw chocolate, etc.
Adding heat to your smoothies will balance the cold/hot ratio and therefore protect the spleen providing nutrient absorption and healthy digestion. For this Raspberry Beet smoothie above, I added cinnamon.