Balanced Body Wellness Centre

Great Fall Recipe!

Keeping your IMMUNE system strong. AAHHH Autumn...My favorite time of year! The beautiful leaves, cooler temperatures, outdoor adventures, the PUMPKINS:) Of course with the cooler temperatures also come that time of year of colds, flu, sore throats, and coughs. The cooler temperatures and dry winds of autumn most directly attack the respiratory system, often resulting in those common symptoms. To protect the body, we focus our healing during t...his season around warming and strengthening the body. Eating with the seasons helps boost immune function. Eating cold foods like salads at this time of year would be the equivalent of wearing a bikini when the temperatures are cold. Instead enjoy more warming and cooked foods. With dryness and wind dominating the fall season, we need to eat foods that generate fluid and moisten the lungs like figs, pumpkin and pears. Foods of Autumn: Root vegetables: carrots, squash, pumpkin and sweet potato Whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, oats and millet Legumes: beans, chickpeas, lentils, soybeans. Green vegetables: broccoli, spinach, kale, celery, rocket and artichokes Fruit: apples, pomegranates, citrus fruits and pears Fish: sea bass, cod, sole and haddock Herbs: ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, basil and dill. Funny how the foods of Autumn contains the very nutrients that help stave off those cold and flu symptoms. For example: pumpkin offers a long list of nutrients that protect and support the lungs and heart, such as vitamins A, B1, B6, and C, copper, fiber, folate, calcium, magnesium and manganese. If you didn't know, Vitamin A is especially important in cooler, dry seasons for lung and immune health. This includes the mucous barriers in your eyes, lungs, gut and genitals which help trap bacteria and other infectious agents.It’s also involved in the production and function of white blood cells, which help capture and clear bacteria and other pathogens from your bloodstream. This means that a deficiency in vitamin A can increase your susceptibility to infections and delay your recovery when you get sick. Adapting your diet to the seasons is crucial for you health and wellbeing, both physical and mental.

Different nerve area’s of the spine also go to organs. So if you have chronic pain in an area of your back or neck, it could be an issue with the organ. For example, stiffness or pain in the area of the upper neck also corresponds also to sinuses and lower back nerves also go to intestines. Low level inflammation in that particular organ can result in pain, stiffness, tightness in the back where the nerve originated. If you are having chronic pain, we can help! Functional medicine testing helps to get to the cause of your chronic pain.