There really is so much to love about fall. As I shared last week, it’s a great time to take stock of everything in your life, and to release what no longer feels like it’s serving you. During this season, the trees show us how beautiful it is to let go.
Another beautiful thing about fall is the food! After all, this is traditionally the harvest season – a time of gathering nourishing foods from nature. Some of these delicious fall seasonal foods are also great for your gut and your skin. This is a time of year to really enjoy these foods.
Here are 5 of my fall favorites. Not only are these all delicious and will bring you that cozy fall feeling, but they’re all healthy too. Enjoying these foods in fall will help to keep your gut microbiome healthy and nourish your skin health as well as your overall health.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin is the quintessential fall food. In fact, pumpkins are basically synonymous with fall – just look at the decorations for the season. And the taste of pumpkin means fall to many people as well.
Pumpkin is also loaded with vitamins and minerals. It has a particularly high content of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene). This antioxidant vitamin is known to be crucial for skin health, as well as vision, immune system function, and other aspects of health. It’s also high in vitamin C, vitamin E, and folate, all of which are also important for immune system function. In addition, the fiber in pumpkin feeds your healthy gut bacteria, helping to maintain a balanced gut microbiome.
Be careful about how you choose to eat your pumpkin. Pumpkin pie may be delicious, but it’s also loaded with sugar, and the crust often has a lot of butter. Just because it has pumpkin in it doesn’t automatically mean that it’s healthy! Try recipes like roasted pumpkin, pumpkin soup, or pumpkin casseroles for a healthier way to incorporate this delicious fall vegetable into your diet.
Apples
Apples are another fall favorite. Who doesn’t love the crunchy sweetness of a fresh apple? In the fall, when the apples ripen on the trees, we get to choose from a huge number of different apple varieties. I love going to the local orchard and trying all the different types.
Apples are also packed with ingredients that are healthy for your skin. They contain a variety of antioxidants, including phenolic acids and flavonoids, both of which have been shown in studies to help protect your skin from damage by factors like pollution. That could reduce the risk of a flare-up. Not to mention that apples contain a lot of fiber, especially a type called pectins, which help to promote a healthy microbiome.
Many of the healthy ingredients in apples are concentrated in the apple skin. If you’re hoping to get the health benefits of apples, it’s best to leave the skin on, rather than peeling it off and throwing it away. The inner part of the apple is still healthy too, but the apple skin contains some great nutrients that you don’t want to miss out on.
Raw apples are the healthiest option, because cooking does destroy some of the nutrients. Cooked apples are still healthy, though – and can be a great substitute for other less healthy sweet treats, such as apple pie.
Be careful with apple cider. Because the fiber is removed during the process of making cider, the sugar from apple cider absorbs much more quickly into your bloodstream than the sugar from a whole apple would. This tends to spike your blood sugar, which can damage your skin as well as other tissues throughout your body. Beyond this, because the body is not great at responding to liquid sugar, it’s easy to gain weight from drinking sugary beverages. Even though apple cider is natural, that doesn’t really make it healthy. If you really love cider, have just a small glass. Better yet, skip the cider, and eat an apple (raw or cooked) instead.
Cinnamon
Fall is such a great time for spices. Hearty, warming flavors feel great in the fall. Cinnamon is one of the most beloved of the fall spices. The smell and taste of cinnamon are simply incredible, and this spice also pairs well with other fall foods, like apple and pumpkin – making it absolutely perfect for fall.
Cinnamon is also super healthy. In fact, research has shown that cinnamon can help to control blood sugar. Because increased blood sugar leads to chronic inflammation and damage to tissues throughout the body – including the skin – this makes cinnamon a great choice for protecting your skin health. Cinnamon also contains many antioxidants, which help to protect your skin against damage.
There are lots of ways to incorporate cinnamon into your diet. You can sprinkle it on your oatmeal or fruit in the morning. You can cook casseroles, soups, or roasted dishes with it. You can make tea from cinnamon sticks – just put one stick in about two cups of water and simmer for about 20 minutes. (If this sounds like a lot of work, you can also buy cinnamon tea bags.) You can even stir cinnamon into your coffee, or put a little cinnamon in with the coffee grounds before you start the coffee maker.
A caution about false comfort foods
It’s also crucial to mention that many common foods we eat in the fall are actually false comfort foods. They may be extremely tempting, but they’ll ultimately make you feel worse rather than better.
For example, Halloween falls squarely in the middle of fall. Although it can be a lot of fun to wear a costume and celebrate, this holiday is also very focused on candy, which of course is terrible for your health.
Many of us have fun memories of Halloween from when we were kids, so Halloween candy may feel like a comfort food – but it’s a false comfort food. Eating it might provide a quick sugar boost, but a few minutes later, you’ll feel awful. If you feel that you simply must have a piece of Halloween candy, choose the dark chocolate – this actually has some health benefits, as long as you eat it in moderation.
Similarly, Thanksgiving comes towards the end of fall. It’s wonderful to spend time with family, and also to consider what we’re grateful for in our lives – this is an important mindset practice, and we should do it regularly.
However, Thanksgiving is also very focused around food. Some Thanksgiving foods are healthy, while others…not so much. Things like pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes loaded with butter and salt, casseroles made with highly processed ingredients, and marshmallow topping on sweet potatoes can all be considered false comfort foods.
If you’re helping to prepare food for Thanksgiving, consider ways you can incorporate some of the delicious flavors of fall into a dish that’s healthy. For example, you could make sweet potatoes without the marshmallow topping – they’ll still taste great, and this turns the dish from a sugar bomb into a healthy option. You could also make roast pumpkin with herbs, baked apples with cinnamon, a casserole of root vegetables (like carrots, beets, and potatoes), or a delicious soup.
Enjoying the flavors of fall
Make sure to take some time to enjoy everything wonderful that fall has to offer. From the beauty of the fall leaves to the coziness of your favorite sweater to the delicious flavors of the season, there’s a lot to enjoy during this time of year.
Remember that pleasure is actually good for you! In fact, there’s actually research demonstrating that focusing on the pleasure of eating helps people to eat a healthier diet. There are so many wonderful fall foods that are great for you. Enjoying these will help to benefit your skin as well as your overall health.
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