Eating Seasonally – Autumn
You probably know by now what TFMF recommends you eat to optimise your metabolism – lots of lean protein, low starch and sugar vegetables and fruit, some healthy fats and regulated starch intake. But we also feel strongly that food should be ethically and environmentally sourced where possible – Free Range, Organic, Local, Seasonal – these traits are by no means essential on a fat loss lifestyle, but they make a difference to taste, nutritional quality (more vitamins and minerals, fewer pesticides), supporting local farmers (or in the case of Fair Trade supporting growing communities in developing countries). And eating seasonally and locally is actually cheaper since food doesn’t have to be transported around the world (and often comes in less packaging, saving more money and helping the environment).
‘Seasons’ are not limited to the UK, you can’t buy British pineapples as far as I’m aware! But keeping to the seasons around the world is still better than the same produce grown in energy-zapping artificial conditions.
The one nutrient that’s harder to get in Autumn is Vitamin D as this is primarily made in your body with sun exposure, but you can get 10% off BetterYou Vitamin D sprays with code FITMUMFORMULA here.
Eating seasonally encourages you to try things you might not have bought otherwise, as your ‘usuals’ might not be available. Worth trying if you haven’t yet are vegetable box schemes, which can work out cheaper than supermarket produce, are often organic and local, and save you the hassle of having to go shopping too!
Here’s what’s in season in autumn:
Vegetables
artichoke, aubergine, beetroot, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chicory, chillies, courgettes, cucumber, fennel, french beans, garlic, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce & salad leaves, mangetout, marrow, onions, pak choi, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes, rocket, runner beans, salsify, shallots, spring onions, swede, sweetcorn, tomatoes, truffles (black), truffles (white), turnips, watercress, wild mushrooms.
Fruit
apples, bilberries, blackberries, clementines, cranberries, damsons, elderberries, figs, grapes, medlar, melons, nectarines, passion fruit, peaches, pears, plums, pomegranate, quince, raspberries, redcurrants, satsumas.
Nuts
almonds, Brazil nuts, chestnuts, cob nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts.
Herbs
chives, coriander, mint, oregano, parsley (curly), parsley (flat-leafed), rosemary, sage, sorrel, thyme.
Meat & Poultry
beef, duck, grouse, goose, guinea fowl, hare, lamb, mallard, partridge, pheasant, rabbit, turkey, venison, wood pigeon.
Fish
clams, cod, coley, crab, dab, dover sole, gurnard, grey mullet, haddock, halibut, hake, herring, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, oysters, pilchard, plaice, pollack, prawns, red mullet, sea bass (wild), sea bream, shrimp, skate, squid, turbot, whelks, winkles.