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ORANGE FOODS // Why do they grow in the fall? Why should we eat them? How does the color of food influence our bodies?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, autumn is a time for letting go and starting new. Fall is the yin (or ‘cold’) season of harvest, where everything in nature contracts and moves its essence inward and downward. Leaves fall, seeds dry, and the sap of trees goes into the roots. In TCM, the associated organs are the large intestine and lung. It just so happens that the beta-carotene in orange food protects the lung and colon — nature has a very special way of giving us just what we need!

Why are orange foods everywhere this time of year? Because when the air is nippy and the earth is cold (yin), warming (yang) foods grow to give us what we need to stay strong. The earth will always provide us with balance. Yellow and orange foods (cooked) like carrots, squash, parsnips and yam all support our digestive fire, which is dwindling as the days grow colder. These foods also protect the immune activity of the Qi (life/energy force). It’s incredibly important to eat slow-cooked orange vegetables along with spices such as ginger and cinnamon to avoid sickness.

Autumn’s energy is all about pulling us in so we can grow. Shorter days and longer nights give us the opportunity to self reflect. The foods in season that we tend to crave have lots of gathered energy at their core – think apples, pumpkins, persimmons.

Orange foods will charge your sacral chakra, which operates at the same vibration as the color orange when healthy. The sacral chakra is all about creativity, relationships, empathy, nurturing, warmth, and intimacy. It represents your ability to go with the flow and release what isn’t serving your purpose. Eating seasonal orange foods will supercharge this chakra and inspire your creative, natural talents.

Use seasonal food as medicine, listen to the laws of nature, and self-reflect to nurture your dreams… every day you’ll get closer to the BEST version of YOU!

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