Fabulous Foods For Fall
Throughout the year, nature provides us with the appropriate foods to protect us from the climate, support our health, and keep us in balance. Becoming aware of seasonal foods and seasonal eating habits can attune us to the natural cycles of nature, and our bodies.
Add Heat Foods For Fall
Fall is the harvest season for rich, dense foods that support and fuel the body, providing additional heat to protect us from the cooler, damper climate. The concentrated foods and roots available at this time also “thicken” the blood in order to keep us warm in cooler weather. Our diet should shift toward foods rich in protein-fat and whole grains. These complex carbohydrates may lead to a few added pounds put on during the season, so it’s important to keep active. Preparing foods in harmony with this season means cooking with more astringent, sour foods. Some foods that are sour to include in your diet are – sourdough bread, sauerkraut, olives, pickles, leeks, aduki beans, salt plums, rose hip tea, vinegar, cheese, yogurt, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and sour varieties of apples, plums, and grapes. Be careful with extremely sour food, because small amounts have strong affects upon the body and blood pressure. (Avoid large amounts of sour foods if you have a history of high blood pressure.)
Our appetites are also stimulated by the fragrance of aromatic flavors and spices. Other foods that are useful during the Fall are pungent foods. These foods both cleanse and protect the lungs and large intestine. Some pungent foods are – garlic, turnip, ginger, horseradish, cabbage*, radish*, daikon, and white peppercorn.
To help boost your Wei Qi or immune system, consume dark green and golden-orange vegetables. They are high in beta carotene and appear to protect the lungs and large intestine against illness. Carrots, winter squash, pumpkin, broccoli, parsley, kale, turnip, mustard greens, and blue green algae are foods to consume this time of year. You may also want to use herbs such as ginseng, yerba santa, nettles, mullein, and astragalus.
Adding the above foods to your daily diet may help bolster your immunity and support the health of your lungs. In general, cook with less water, and at lower heat, for longer periods of time.
Foods for Fall Health
FRUIT
Apple
Blackberry
Cranberry
Date
Fig
Grapes
Jicama
Mandarin Orange
Melons
Pear
Persimmon
Plum
Pomegranate
Rosehip
VEGETABLES
Bell pepper
Broccoli
Burdock root
Carrot
Cauliflower
Corn
Garlic
Gingerroot
Horseradish
Leeks
Onions
Parsnips
Pumpkin
Red cabbage
Rutabaga
Shallot
Spinach
Squash
Sweet potato
Turnip
Yam
GRAINS
Amaranth
Barley
Buckwheat
Corn
Millet
Quinoa
Rye
Wheat
NUTS
Almond
Brazil
Cashew
Filbert
Pecan
Pignolia
Pistachio
Walnut
BEANS
Adzuki
Black
Carob
Garbanzo
Kidney
Lentil
Lima
Navy
Soy
White
SEEDS
Flax
Pumpkin
Sesame
Sunflower
