As healthcare practitioners who emphasize supporting the body’s natural systems and rhythms we sometimes find ourselves fielding questions from patients who are seeking guidance on juice fasts spring cleanses and the like. While there’s nothing wrong with giving the body a boost through a short-term nutritional “reset” encouraging patients to vary their diet with the seasons may present a most beneficial dietary lifestyle.

It is only thanks to the wonders of modern growing and shipping methods that we can find mangoes and papayas in New England grocery stores in the winter or tomatoes and raspberries nationwide year-round. Aside from pointing out that foods simply do not taste as good out of season recommending that patients vary their diets based on the season is one way to emphasize the concept that they can provide their bodies with the proper nutrients they need all year long.

Year-round availability of starchy carbohydrates in temperate zones is a very new development not to mention the ubiquity of processed and refined grain products on the market that are typically high in added sugar. Eating cyclically with the seasons allows the body to follow a natural rhythm of lower and higher carbohydrate and fat consumption rather than presenting constant influxes of physiologically novel amounts of isolated sucrose and fructose. Selecting seasonal foods also helps provide the body with an array of nutrients it might not get if the same limited things are being consumed day in and day out simply because they are always available.

Summer of course is a time of increased fruit and vegetable availability with nearly every color of the rainbow represented: purple eggplant yellow squash vibrant red tomatoes orange bell peppers blueberries and more. Consuming foods that are higher in carbohydrates during this time of year—including the naturally occurring fructose in fruit—might be the body’s way of storing energy for the coming winter when these foods are rarer to come by. (Of course the majority of fructose currently consumed in the Western world comes from added sugars and corn syrup but overconsumption of even natural fructose may lead to adverse metabolic consequences especially in those already dealing with metabolic syndrome.) Despite our modern aesthetic preference for lean “beach ready” bodies during summer our natural biological rhythms might have intended the foods of the warmer months to set the stage for increasing body weight over time in order to see us through possible food scarcity during winter.

On the heels of summer comes autumn with seasonal foods that are denser in carbohydrates as we potentially ramp up even more nutrient storage for winter—such as acorn and butternut squashes and sweet potatoes. Of course these brightly colored foods also bring with them hefty doses of beta-carotene potassium vitamin C and vitamin B6.

During winter in temperate zones the selection of fresh produce is even more limited but there’s certainly still a variety of healthful options to choose from especially the hardy greens and cruciferous vegetables that do well in colder temperatures like collard greens kale and Brussels sprouts. Winter also typically means heavier meat dishes that nourish and warm the body from the inside out such as stews pot roasts braised meats and soups.

The produce that appears in spring as the ground thaws almost seems intended as a kind of natural and gentle detox after months of increased consumption of animal fat and protein. The tender salad greens asparagus and green peas offer folate magnesium potassium vitamin K1 and manganese the latter being a critical component of the mitochondrial superoxide dismutase enzyme.

Each season offers foods that are beneficial for the whole body. As the seasons change the colors and phytochemical makeup of the produce also change as does the carbohydrate content helping the body get the diverse nutrients at the times it needs them.