The health benefits of seasonal eating

First of all, let’s think about what optimal health is. Optimal health is not just the absence of disease, it is also being the best version of you mind-body and soul and being full of vitality.

So with this in mind how can eating seasonally benefit us with our nutrition and health?

A good starting point is to consider a question I have been asked recently. This was, “but if we only eat what is in season, won’t we be missing out on other key nutrients and benefits?”. The answer is no not in the long term and here is why:

Higher nutrient value

Fresh foods harvested and eaten within a short time frame have a higher nutrient value. When you are eating in-season food you are consuming foods that have been allowed to complete their natural growing and ripening cycles, without artificial interference. Reaching maturation naturally and at their peak of nutrition and taste. In season food tastes a million times better than food eaten out of season and grown halfway around the world and then flown here.

Variety

Consuming a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables provides a range of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that contribute to optimal health. This can be achieved by increasing the vibrancy of the colours that are on our plates.

“Variety is the spice of life!”

When we branch out and shake things up with what we have on our plates it increases the variety in our diet throughout the year. Allowing us to consume hundreds of different plants yearly. If we know all know one thing, it is that variety is the spice of life, in every sense! Eating following what has been picked and harvested in that season provides phytonutrients that you may not have otherwise eaten. We need to eat a diverse diet for optimal health. Eating a variety of plants can help to support a deficiency status. On the whole, we are overfed and undernourished. When we change our foods with the season we are giving our bodies the best of the food available at that time of the year.

Eating many different fresh seasonal foods gives us the best chance of nourishing our bodies. Not only are they more nutrient-dense but with depleted soil health and with that less nutrient-dense food you are giving your body the best chance to thrive.

Healthy gut

With a variety of phytonutrients comes a healthier gut and a more diverse microbiome. With new ingredients added weekly, monthly, and seasonally to our meals we a supporting a healthy gut by feeding our happy bugs, the friendly bacteria in our tummies. The microbes are receiving new nutrients and polyphenols to feed on and therefore get stronger and healthier themselves.

Interesting plates

With the cycles of the season comes an everchanging plate full of tasty ingredients and a variety of flavours and nutrients which means we are feeding all our senses. Our eyes are feasting on the colours and our noses can smell the sweetness of a freshly picked strawberry for example. When we use all our senses we can get our digestive system to begin and be fired up for what is to come. Creating saliva in the mouth ready to break down our food before swallowing it into the stomach. When we use our senses to eat we also increase our mindfulness, awareness, and gratitude for what is in front of us helping.

“With the cycles of the season comes an everchanging plate full of tasty ingredients.”

Eating the season’s energy

Our bodies require certain nutrients and properties with each season. For example, in winter we require warmth and warming foods. Think spices, stews, and casseroles. In summer we require cooling foods that help to hydrate from within. Chinese Medicine believes that eating with the season’s energies helps to keep the body in balance. Providing us naturally with what we require for health within that particular season.

Here and now

Being in the here and now - present - in seasonal eating takes some of the pressure away from all the choices given to us. A calmer nervous system means a stronger digestive system. We can better break down, absorb and assimilate the nutrients we need for optimal health.

I hope you’ve been inspired to incorporate more seasonal ingredients on your plate for a more vibrant mind-body and soul.

Sending seasonal vibes,

Katie xx

Instagram @katiejensonhullnutrition