As the nights draw in and the evenings get a chill in the air, our food choices start to change. Ingredients for fresh, crisp salads and vibrant, colourful fruit go out of season, replaced by comfort foods like warming soups and one-pot stews. Fortunately, on a whole-food plant-based diet, these meals can be just as ‘good’ as summertime feasts.
Autumn can be tough on the immune system too. Seasonal coughs and colds reappear, especially when children return to school, bringing bugs home. Also, as the days shorten, it’s harder to top up vitamin D levels, which supports immune health as much as bone health. Then as autumn turns to winter, flu season hits. If you live with an autoimmune condition, or struggle with immune health due to another condition like cancer, it can be a challenging time.
Fortunately, there are lots of seasonal fruits and vegetables that support immune health – and taste amazing too. As they’re in season, they should be easy to find in the shops and affordable too.
In my book Healing From the Inside Out, I have a whole chapter dedicated to different groups of food and how they support the body. There’s a huge range of fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds to choose from – and enjoy – that support immune health, and gut health too (you can’t have one without the other after all!)
With so many options, it can be hard to know where to start. So here are my favourite 5 autumn foods that your immune system and taste buds will love.
Squash and pumpkin.
Bright orange, these edible gourds are everywhere in September and October. Their deep orange flesh is packed with nutrients that support the body. The orange colour comes from fat-soluble phytonutrients called carotenes; the deeper the colour, the higher the levels. Beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A, essential for eye, skin and hormone health as well as the immune system and nerve cells. A compound in vitamin A helps to regulate inflammatory immune cell responses, which is good news for anyone with an autoimmune disease or low-grade inflammation. It has a strong antioxidant effect, helping to reduce inflammation in the body, alongside other carotenes like lycopene and lutein. But that’s not all. Squash and pumpkins contain vitamin C (another antioxidant), B vitamins, potassium and, of course, lots of fibre to support gut health. No wonder it’s number one on my autumn food list!
Kale and broccoli.
These two dark green vegetables, part of the cruciferous family, are packed with body-loving nutrients that support immune and overall health. They provide good amounts of B vitamins, vitamin C and a range of anti-inflammatory phytonutrients. There’s fibre too, a mix of soluble and insoluble that supports both gut health and the microbiome. Kale in particular helps support the production of IgA, an immunoglobulin that can help protect the gut lining. A leaky gut is connected to an increased risk in autoimmunity, so it’s worth adding some kale into your diet if only to protect your gut! You can eat kale raw or cooked; one of my favourite salad recipes, kale and roasted sweet potato salad, is in the book.
Mushrooms.
As autumn arrives, so do the mushrooms and fungi, scattered around fields and woodland. Not that I advocate foraging for them, unless you know what you’re doing! Instead, check out the range of edible mushrooms in shops like shiitake, oyster and wild mushrooms. Button or chestnut mushrooms are just as good. They all contain a wonderful array of minerals, including zinc, essential for immune health. Mushrooms also have a selection of anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and can even be a source of vitamin D. When exposed to sunlight, mushrooms make vitamin D (like humans). If you’re unsure if the ones you buy have been outside, pop them gill side up on a windowsill for 20 minutes or so during the day and they’ll quickly make some for you. Mushrooms also contain a type of fibre called beta-glucan. Beta-glucan helps to remove waste products and LDL cholesterol in the gut like soluble fibre, but also acts as a pre-biotic ie: gut bug food. Both are great for gut health, which means it’s good for immune health too.
Recipe highlight: These wonderful seasonal foods don’t have to be eaten on their own. My mushroom, squash and kale root vegetable pie that features in the ‘easy recipes’ section of Healing From the Inside Out combines all three. It tastes delicious and offers up a whole smorgasbord of immune and gut-loving nutrients in one go.
Apples:
In season from late July through to mid-October, apples contain another type of fibre the microbiome loves – pectin. They also contain a range of phytonutrients called flavonoids, which have an antioxidant effect, plus vitamin C. Most of the nutrients are found under the skin, so it’s always a good idea to eat them unpeeled. Whilst it’s better to eat them raw, some of the fibre, like pectin, is actually made more available when cooked. Like beta-glucan, pectin is a pre-biotic fibre, but it also forms a gel that helps remove unwanted toxins and LDL from the gut. I love apples raw and cooked, and eat one every day. I especially love them in desserts; I’ve shared one of my favourites in the book – apple and salted caramel slice. Oh yes – it tastes as good as it sounds!
Pumpkin seeds:
We’ve covered the flesh of pumpkin and squash – now it’s time to focus on the seeds. I advocate eating 2 tablespoons of seeds a day; I eat pumpkin seeds 4-5 times a week. Packed with minerals like magnesium, iron and zinc, pumpkin seeds also contain healthy monounsaturated fats and fat-soluble vitamins E and K. Vitamin E is another strong antioxidant, which is why it’s great to include them. Pumpkin seeds contain plant protein and, of course, fibre. There’s not much not to love with these lovely dark green seeds. Scatter a handful on your porridge or muesli, over a salad or grind them up and add to any of the savoury dishes you find in Healing From the Inside Out.
Include these five seasonal foods in your daily diet and your immune system will definitely thank you for it.
Read the first chapter of Healing From the Inside Out for free!
