We hope you’ve been enjoying our seasonal Flora Supplement Calendar and associated posts throughout the year. Golden colors and reddish hues are slowly appearing on the trees as our fall season gets underway. This is a time when our seasonal cycles may start to contract as we start to turn inwards and reflect on all that’s happened so far this year. Apples, root vegetables, pumpkins and squashes are harvested and make their way onto our plates. Traditionally this is a time for canning, pickling, fermenting and preserving of food for the winter ahead. Normally, this is also a season of social gatherings and sharing of food as the weather, at least in much of the northern hemisphere, drives people indoors more.
Health-wise, this is a good time to focus on intestinal health, immune health and, after a summer of activity, with colder weather ahead, a time to look to the health of our joints, ligaments, bones and connective tissue.
Silicon and vitamin C are both essential nutrients for making new collagen and connective tissue. Silicon also aids bone mineralization. Flora offers natural, plant sources of each with silicon found in Florasil and vitamin C in our organic Acerola Powder.
Probiotics are well known to support digestive health and immune health but more and more attention is focusing on what sorts of compounds they produce in the intestines as they ferment fiber from our diet. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are just one example. These fatty acids, like butyrate, get absorbed systemically and support our health and well-being.
Considering that only 5% of the population meets their daily fiber needs (defined as 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men), increasing your fiber intake with Flora’s Green Blend or Floralax is an easy way to support gut health and, via SCFAs, your bone and joint health as well. Fiber truly is a holistic super food and not simply a boring necessity to stay regular.
We can’t make an autumn post without mentioning pumpkins! Especially when we produce an absolutely delicious pumpkin oil that is begging to be used in your fall dishes and recipes. These pumpkin seeds are bursting with omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids as well as phytosterols, polyphenol antioxidants and carotenoids. Cold-pressed on our own expeller presses using seeds grown in Lynden, WA, we offer both toasted and untoasted varieties of pumpkin oil. Check out this amazing autumn recipe incorporating it as a dressing for wild rice stuffed squash below. We hope you have a wonderful fall season and have inspired you with some ideas to support your health for the months ahead.
Robert Dadd is a Master Herbalist (Dominion Herbal College) with a BA in Communications from Simon Fraser University. His areas of research include adaptogens, probiotics, and essential fatty acids. He is currently the Product Information Supervisor for Flora Manufacturing and Distributing.
| <240>240> |
