It is always important to adjust your nutrition not only based on your personal needs but also on the foods most fresh and available to you during g this time. So, now that northern hemisphere have shifted from summer to autumn, what are the best options for food this fall?
Autumn corresponds to the Metal element in the Five elements theory and rules the Lungs and Large Intestines. To embrace autumn choose foods that are ripen during the season, and autumn is bountiful. The foods that are ready for harvest are hardy and can be dried or stored for the long months ahead. If you are eating seasonally, it’s the time to fill your pantry with dried foods, heavy grains, seeds, roots, and squashes that help move the body’s energy inward for the Winter. It’s time to slow down a bit, to spend a little more time indoors resting, we increase our cooking time and enjoy good food and company.
Eating seasonal foods often increases the variety in a person’s diet which often means more nutritional benefit and diversity. The return to eating regional and seasonal foods is also a vital step in helping ensure food security for the future of our lives on this planet.
Root vegetables: ginger, onions, carrots, turnips, parsnips, radishes, beets, potatoes, yams, garlic and sweet potatoes, if it grows underground, it is an Autumn food. Roots create strength, tonify the center and the digestion. Sweet roots, like sweet potatoes, specifically benefit the Spleen and Stomach and the Earth element. Pungent roots, like onions and turnips, drain dampness and benefit the Lungs Intestines.
Nuts and seeds: tight little bundles of nutrition and energy. Nuts and seeds build and strengthen the body. They add on weight and fight deficiencies. Yin building (fluids and fats) and warming nuts are good for thin, weak and frail types. Limit your intake to about a handful a day and use a wide variety. Use fresh nuts, keeping them in the shell until ready to use or freeze hulled nuts to avoid rancid oils that will aggravate allergies and weaken the immune system. Nuts should be avoided if there is excess dampness, phlegm or yeast. If you are not sure if you have damp or phlegm in your body, talk to your healer.
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