Are you in the Southern Hemisphere? See the March Guide here.
In This Article
Welcome to September!
During these end-of-summer months, more carbohydrates become available in the form of fruits, starchy grains, and root veggies. When you eat sweeter summer foods, your pancreas responds with a rise in insulin, the hormone that prompts your cells to absorb blood sugar into the muscles for energy or storage.
As summer carb-loading peaks in September, our ancestors, who naturally made such major shifts in diet seasonally, would become naturally insulin-resistant in fall—meaning your cells cannot consume one more calorie of sugar.
Excess sugar from summer carbs, as a result of September’s insulin resistance, begins to store as fat.5 Storage of fat provides energy reserves required for the winter famine. The body naturally boosts production of a digestive enzyme specifically designed to break down starch, called amylase, every fall.
So this is the season for starchy foods—but we must limit intake of high-fat animal protein. Our ancestors knew if they over-hunted in fall, when a plant-based diet was plentiful, they would risk starvation in winter, when hunting was more critical.
Our ancestors protected themselves from the famine of winter by preserving vegetables—fermenting or salting them. Doing this makes those foods heating in nature. Remember: salt melts ice!
While fermented foods are great to eat more of during winter, September is a time of feasting on foods that are alkaline, not acidic, in nature.
Look for foods that cool the body, such as apples, pomegranates, watermelons, and all end-of-season root veggies, grains, and other colorful veggies exploding out of your garden and local CSA (community-supported agriculture) farms.
Sodium + Postassium
Be mindful of your salt intake this month, as come winter, there will be a higher intake of sodium. High sodium levels are linked to a host of health concerns, including high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, muscle aches, tiredness, and more.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate very little sodium, less than 1,000 mg per day. The average American eats more than 3,000 mg per day.
Our bodies evolved to hold onto as much sodium as possible, so when we overeat it in the form of salt, we pay a price—often referred to as holding onto water, otherwise known as lymphatic congestion.
Our ancestors also ate more than 11,000 mg of potassium per day, while we eat, on average, 1,300 mg per day. The recommended daily intake is 4,700 mg per day.
Because we evolved by eating a ton of potassium-rich foods, we developed the ability to excrete it in urine. The balance between sodium and potassium is critical. September—like all of the summer—is a time to boost potassium and decrease sodium in the diet.
This month, eat more end-of-summer foods rich in potassium and low in sodium.
High-Potassium, Low-Sodium Foods
- Avocados
- Apples
- Bananas
- Leafy Green Vegetables
- Nuts
- Seeds
As summer winds down and we move into fall, aim to eat four times more potassium than sodium.
The right ratio of potassium to sodium activates the potassium-sodium pump, which delivers hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity that drive our energy.
This is why these are called electrolytes—because they literally make electricity!
Eating too much sodium salt from processed or packaged foods, and too little potassium from not eating enough fresh, whole, seasonal foods will turn off the energy-making potassium-sodium pump, leaving you depleted, exhausted, and with a congested lymphatic system.
September is the season to energize and cool the body with cooling, energy-rich, high-potassium, low-sodium fruits, and veggies.
Learn more about this in my potassium articles.
The boost in potassium this time of year is no mistake for mammals. This is the time of year we need energy most—for mating!
Mating Month
September is the mating month for most mammals. This allows for babies to be born in early spring, giving them ample time to grow and gain some fat to endure the next fall and winter.
To support higher end-of-summer energy, melatonin levels are naturally high in winter and low in summer. In nature, high sex hormones in winter (when melatonin levels are high) result in babies born in the fall, who are not ready to endure a brutal winter. This is why high levels of melatonin have well-documented birth control properties.1-7
In these end-of-summer days, blood sugar, insulin levels, and cortisol (stress hormones) are surging as mammals prepare to fight for the right to reproduce.
Sex hormones also surge, boosting serotonin, which pumps, amps, and sensitizes mammals, readying them for mating rituals—which can often be bloody. Serotonin thickens blood for better clotting and constricts blood vessels, so if the mammal is injured during the rut, the body is literally ready for a fight.1-7
As serotonin rises, dopamine (the reward hormone) falls. Serotonin falls after mating, and then dopamine rises. Like a perfect symphony, winter then comes and everyone goes to sleep. The days quickly become shorter and the nights longer. Melatonin levels surge, and the thought of sex is replaced with the desire to sleep.1-7
When the sun sets, we humans have the tendency to turn on the lights and keep them on for an average of six hours after sunset! That is six hours less melatonin and more cortisol than we need.
Remember, as cortisol rises because we are awake, so do carb cravings, blood sugars, insulin, and sex hormones, all at the wrong time of year.
In the natural world, we would be gorging on carbs, getting ready to mate, store fat, reserve fuel, and shifting from being summer/fall carb-burners to winter/spring fat-burners.
The September Shift
This September, give yourself permission to eat fruit, veggies, and grains—as long as you’re willing to minimize these during winter and spring.
September is the beginning of a major shift, as we go from carbohydrate-feasting to using fat as the preferred fuel. Eating seasonally allows the body a break from only burning one type of fuel year-round. It all starts now . . . so get ready and enjoy the last month of summer!
Seasonal Grocery List
When we adjust our diet and lifestyle to match the season, health-promoting digestive microbes dramatically change. Summer microbes support balanced immunity, digestion, mood, energy, blood sugar, weight, sleep, and much more.
Summer is also associated with the qualities of pitta, which are hot, light, and dry. To stay balanced, focus on foods and activities that are cool, moist, heavy, and oily. Experiment with the flavors and enjoy!
September Seasonal Post
- Superfoods for Your Body Type: Summer Edition
- September: The Mating Month
- 5 Back-to-School Tips for Healthy Kids
- 3 Ayurvedic Superfoods for Summer, Fall + Pitta Balancing
September Recipes
By Emma Frisch
By Eugenia Bone
Prebiotics that Balance Pitta
Apples | Harvested Fall: Balances Pitta
Pectin, an active prebiotic, accounts for approximately 50% of an apple’s total fiber content. Pectin increases butyrate, the short-chain fatty acid that feeds the beneficial gut bacteria and decreases the population of harmful bacteria. It also supports a healthy lining of the intestinal wall.6
Apples are high in polyphenol antioxidants that support healthy fat metabolism and LDL cholesterol levels.7
Asparagus | Harvested Summer: Balances Pitta
Asparagus is rich in inulin, one of the more potent prebiotics. Asparagus, due to its high inulin levels and natural antioxidants, has been shown to promote friendly bacteria in the gut and support a healthy epithelial lining of the gut.8
Jicama Root | Harvested Fall: Balances Pitta (tropical)
Jicama root is low in calories and high in fiber, including the prebiotic fiber inulin. Jicama root helps improve digestive health, blood sugar, and immunity, due to its high vitamin C content.5
To see all prebiotic recommendations, read Nourish Your Microbiome: Seasonal Prebiotics for Your Ayurvedic Body Type.
Recommended Supplement
Stress causes the digestive system to produce excess stomach acid. Excess stomach acid may overheat the system and disrupt the delicate balance of the stomach wall’s mucus lining. This can result in weakened digestion and a hot and irritated stomach and/or upper intestinal lining. The acid can also creep up into the esophagus causing occasional heartburn.*
Cool Digest is formulated to kindle digestive fire while cooling and balancing the mucosa of the stomach wall and boosting bile flow. For a system that is experiencing excess heat, Cool Digest provides excellent support.
#3SeasonDiet
Introduce yourself to your community! Let us and your fellow seasonal eaters know why you’re looking forward to the next year of living and eating with the seasons. Post inspiration, photos, recipe ideas, and more to social using hashtag #3SeasonDiet. Grab your copy of the 3 Season Diet book today.
If you eat seasonally do you have to worry about what dosha you are. This has been confusing to me.
Here is an article to answer your question! -LS https://lifespa.com/intro-ayurveda/doshas/eat-for-body-type-or-dosha/
Thank you. This helps:)