Aim to adjust your diet to local and seasonal produce and flavors. Not only does this make things more interesting and festive, but it aligns with traditional eating patterns. Just like light and temperature, food is also an important signal to your body about the location and time of year in which you are located. If you are in northern latitudes, consider swapping your tropical fruit, coconut water, avocado smoothies for broth-based soups or a fat/protein-fueled coffee or tea and a pumpkin muffin (recipes below)
Learn more about which foods are grown locally in the fall, or rather, which are harvested now but can keep for months. Use the Seasonal Food Guide here: https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/ to educate yourself on what is local and seasonal. These foods will have the most nutrients since they were harvested at their peak ripeness. Plus, they will provide the minerals you need to replenish after a long, active summer.
Traditionally in the fall, people in northern latitudes would “fatten” up with root vegetables, apples, pears, and winter squashes. As the season transitions to winter and not much is available in terms of produce, people would lean more heavily on meat and seafood, aged cheeses where available, and shelf-stable goods like sauerkraut, pickled goods, and onions and garlic. In other words, a lower carbohydrate approach. Not only did this seasonal variation help keep bodies metabolically healthy, but allowed the microbiome to shift seasonally. This can help prevent food sensitivities that can occur from eating the same foods day in and day out.
Consider signing up for a winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to pick up a weekly or bi-weekly box of local produce all throughout the winter. Some great options are Winter Kissed Farms, Western Montana Grower’s Cooperative, or Garden City Harvest.