Autumn Nutrition

In this blog, nutrition expert Hannah Carr will explain how you can use nutrition to support your health during Autumn, through the teachings of traditional Chinese medicine.

What health challenges may occur in Autumn?

Some of the health challenges being reported in abundance at this time of year, are:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Low mood
• Problems with the lungs – coughs, chesty feelings
• Lack of focus/concentration
• Brain fog

Take some time and think whether anything is coming up for you during Autumn – it might be one of the above, or perhaps your health has gone a little downhill with something else. But if the answer is yes, there is something, then I want to draw your attention to one thing – is this happening to you every single autumn?

For clients of my 12-week programme (The Exhausted to Energised method) and in our membership group (The Holistic Health Circle), it is becoming increasingly apparent that the same health problems are arising for many of these ladies throughout the season of Autumn. Perhaps some of these health challenges resonate with you? Hopefully you will find some tips from this blog to help you avoid illness naturally in autumn.

Whilst we are in the season of Autumn, traditional Chinese medicine teaches us that this is related to the colon, the skin, the lungs and the mind. So, when we hear that people are finding challenges in their health during Autumn based around these areas, it doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise! 

Supporting your body with nutrition in Autumn

Whenever we experience any problems associated with the gut, the skin, the lungs, or the mind, then we need to turn our attention towards our gut health – it’s a really, really important step in healing and one that I cannot emphasize enough! So, if the health challenges I have touched upon (mental health, lungs etc.) are impacting your ability to function at the best that you can be, then we have a FREE gut health training that you can access which is packed full of tips to heal your gut as well as delicious recipes for you to enjoy.

Or, if you generally suffer with bloating, acid reflux, constipation or diarrhea, then pop over to the guides section of our Facebook group to access it – Fight Fatigue, Stress & Anxiety Naturally. 

Photo: Chickpea Shakshuka (recipe available here in our Fight Fatigue Facebook group) – one of our delicious autumn nutrition recipes, a warming breakfast, brunch or lunch

Throughout Autumn, we want to be focusing on some of the foods that traditional Chinese medicine tells us are really, really important in this season, and that is white foods – I’m not talking about white breads, pasta, or any kind of processed foods, but instead white foods such as celeriac, parsnips, radishes, cauliflowers and pears. Anything that is really hydrating like pears and apples can be combined with spices such as cinnamon, star anise, turmeric, or pumpkin spice like Americans use a lot, and these can be very beneficial to our health during Autumn when combined with these white foods.

Although we may be taught that a rainbow of foods is best for us, traditional Chinese medicine says that you don’t need to eat them throughout a day, but you eat them throughout the year. So, in Autumn you are focusing on white foods – not solely white foods, but make sure you’re getting an abundance of these because they are supporting the lungs at this particular time of year, helping you to avoid lung related symptoms and illness. 

Are your lungs struggling in autumn?

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the emotion that is held in the lungs is grief. If you are getting symptoms associated with your lungs year after year, then have a look back. Perhaps you are storing a lot of grief from loss? You could well be storing these emotions in your lungs, and what is happening is that every Autumn your body is giving you the chance to heal. You need to take some time to release these emotions – if you don’t know how to do it, on an emotional or a physical basis, then nutrition can help you. When you take stress off of the body in the form of nutrition, you can start to detox and it can really help you to release emotion – it is a really wonderful process.

Autumn nutrition to support the mind

Take a moment to check in with yourself on how you feel now as we enter Autumn. If you are feeling that you are experiencing anxiety, depression or that this has worsened for you, then we have a 30 minute, quite comprehensive free training available on what you need to do to stay healthy at this time of year; we’re talking Vitamin D, Omegas etc. Of course, all of that supports the mind and works to reduce anxiety and depression.

If you aren’t already and would like to become a member of our free Facebook group – Fight Fatigue, Stress & Anxiety Naturally – then click here to request access.

Wishing you all the very best of health this Autumn,

Hannah xx