Pumpkin spice season is officially here – and although we advocate for the benefits of medicinal herbs and spices all year round, there’s no better time of year to enjoy these flavorsome healthy cupboard staples than during the fall.
There’s a reason why many of your favorite fall dishes are fragrant with warming, comforting spices. As the days shorten and temperatures drop in the Northern hemisphere, we tend to be more inclined to include spices and healing herbs into our diets and our daily lives in the form of diffuser oils, bath salt blends and cold-busting home remedies.
In this article we’ve shared a few of our favorite seasonal spices with their many benefits – plus some tips and ideas to help you easily incorporate them into your daily routine throughout the fall season and into winter.
1/ Ginger
Ginger is a seasonal powerhouse – helping to boost immunity and support your digestive health during this transitional period.
Ginger itself is spicy, comforting and warming, so sipping ginger tea can actually help to keep you warm as the weather turns colder. It can also boost circulation and has anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and antibacterial effects – ideal for managing bugs, chronic health conditions and aches and pains brought on by the change in weather.
During winter we can also be tempted to overindulge, increasing our intake of heavy, fatty, sugary or difficult to digest foods, and ginger can help us to more easily digest our food and relieve stomach pain and upsets. Some studies also suggest that ginger can contribute to winter weight management, through aiding healthy metabolism function.
Try adding grated fresh ginger to curries and stews, or to juices and salad dressings. You can also make you own ginger and lemon tisane which is especially soothing if you’re struck down with cold or flu.
2/ Cinnamon
Like ginger, cinnamon also possesses a host of properties which make it a fall staple. In fact, you can use cinnamon in a similar way to ginger, through adding to teas and tisanes to help keep you warm, aid digestion, improve circulation and keep bugs at bay.
Cinnamon also has antimicrobial abilities which make it a particularly powerful natural remedy for infectious illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi. Cinnamon may also help to regulate blood sugar – so it can be used to remedy overindulgence on sweet, sugary treats and alcohol.
As well as adding hot water to cinnamon scrolls, dusting a sprinkle of powdered cinnamon onto sweet and savory dishes is a tasty way to harness its benefits. We love porridge and granola with cinnamon, spiced hot chocolate and warming curries.
3/ Amla
Also known as Indian Gooseberry, Amla is a year-round remedy and is now renowned as a healing herb worldwide. Amla is extensively used in Ayurveda for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and as a beautifying treatment to encourage thicker, healthier hair.
Amla is particularly beneficial during fall and winter because it has many properties which can support with common health concerns at this time of year – such as digestive support, blood sugar regulation and immune-boosting qualities. It also contains very high levels of vitamin C, which has been proven to aid immunity and protect cells from oxidative stress.
You can find organic amla in our Lush Locks formula, a carefully designed blend to help support strong, healthy hair growth and Collaglow-C, our beauty blend for beautifully nourished skin, hair and nails.
Harness the healing properties of herbs this fall
Our holistic blends have been created with an integrative approach to medicine in mind, formulated using cutting-edge scientific insights to offer lasting benefits for busy lifestyles. Inspired by ancient remedies, at East West Way we harness the healing properties of natural ingredients with the latest research for our revolutionary products.
