My clients and Instagram family ask me all the time why to eat seasonally. It’s a hot topic and today I am breaking down why it’s important, why it’s supportive of your hormones and a fantastic resource for an even further deep dive: my Wild Women’s Hormone Ebook on hormones and seasonal eating! You’ve trusted me this far with topics like Life Beyond Organic and Earth Friendly Choices. I’ve got your back!

5 reasons why you should eat seasonally 

1. deuterium, say what?!
2. supporting local farmers
3. lower carbon footprint
4. it matches your seasonal rhythm
5. you hormones will love it

1. Deuterium

If you’re thinking “what in the world is this giant D word?”, you’re not alone. It’s a highly underrated topic in the health and wellness world and even in the medical field. This complex hydrogen isotope is a game changer when it comes to overall health and wellness.

You want to shoot for low deuterium and guess what, when you eat seasonal food, you’re eating lower deuterium food than if you’re eating food that’s been flown across the nation or the world. This is true for many reasons, two of which are 1) food from another region, especially south of you, is higher in deuterium and 2) old food is high in deuterium.

If you want the full deep dive into this, I highly recommend my ebook. It’s affordable and well worth your investment. I take deuterium by the horns and after reading it, you’ll be an expert (& frequent flyer at your farmers markets!).

2. Supporting local

This is what all the cool kids are talking about. While it’s a trend, I’d say it’s a great trend. Just like organic, plastic free and grounding! So many small businesses around you are doing fantastic things and you have no idea because you are shopping from large corporations that will never even know your name.

I love to support local businesses – farms and ranches in particular – because they really know their stuff. You can ask them questions like I ask when I go to the market, for example:

• “what exactly do you feed your (insert animal)?”
• “do you vaccinate your animals?”
• “can I come and visit the farm/ranch?”
• “tell me more about your story, I’d love to know more.”

There’s something so special about that. Plus, each sell is a game changer for this small business. SUPPORT THEM!

3. Carbon footprint

You probably hear this all the time but you may not be sure what the actual definition of this is. To sum it up, it’s the total greenhouse gas emission of an individual (you), event, organization or product. Super easy! The smaller your carbon footprint, the better. This means less methane being put into the atmosphere and that you’re being a responsible consumer (unlike the majority of the population).

4. Seasonal rhythm matchup

This is another topic I cover in depth in the Wild Women’s Hormone Ebook. Seasonal rhythms are just a part of nature that we have to follow whether we like it or not. If we do, we are well and if we don’t, illness and dis-ease arises. We are cyclic beings. Light and dark. Day and night. Cold and hot. It’s just the way we work.

When we eat seasonal food that means we are eating local produce from our area. This means the produce is matched up with our environment and doesn’t throw our body into “what the heck is going on”. Here’s an example, you live in Washington state yet you have a banana smoothie every day while it’s snowing. Your body knows it’s winter and you’re in a northern region but it’s confused because you’re giving it a tropical fruit that’s loaded with (the aforementioned) deuterium.

5. Hormone love

You’re eating with the seasons, you’re getting outside, you’re supporting a local farmer and you have just cut back on your carbon footprint. You are emotionally happy since supporting other feels good = dopamine! Since you’re outside shopping, you’re getting sun = hormones happy. Your body isn’t spinning its wheels trying to get rid of excess deuterium from the cells = less inflammation.

When all of this aligns, your hormones are supported and you can feel and be well again. You really can!

Seasonal eating produce chart

Here’s a great post that’s more in-depth on seasonal choices.

Meal ideas for a farmer’s market haul

Here’s what I have been whipping up with the produce, meat and eggs I get from my local farmers market in Naples, Florida. I only shop for produce at Inyoni’s organic farmstead at either 3rd Street South Market or the Vanderbilt Market. They are the best of the best.

Produce items (vary on the season). These are available on and off from November – February:

Russian Kale
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Broccoli
Strawberries
Broccoli Greens
Oyster Mushrooms
Sprouts

I get my animal products from Waymore Farms (pasture raised). Or I go to Whole Foods and buy from the deli case from local farms within the area. I always have eggs, pork sausage and beef on hand.

With all of this I make a giant breakfast burrito scramble and it rocks my world. It’s super simple to make meals out of what you have access to around you. If you live in a colder climate, you won’t eat tropical fruit in the middle of winter (or summer!). Finding what grows around you is one of the best ways to support your health. Trust me, I was a smoothie a day kinda girl when it was snowing outside and I got so so sick from that. It simply doesn’t match our biology.

BONUS: How to find a farmer’s market / farmer / CSA

Here are some great resources for finding a farmer or CSA near you.

• CSA Farms Facebook Page
• Local Harvest CSA Site

Then, you can always do a Duck Duck Go search (I don’t use google for many reasons). Copy and paste this into your search bar in another tab, just change it to your city. “Farmer’s market in Anchorage, Alaska” or “Local eggs in Anchorage, Alaska”. You can even type “CSA in Anchorage, Alaska”. Lots of pages will pop up so, enjoy your findings.

Another wa you can find local food is to ask friends or make a post on Facebook. Hey, social media is good for some things!

If you have any questions about seasonal eating, ask below in the comments. I will get back with you soon 🙂 For now, do your homework and find a local farmers market in your area now that you know why to eat seasonally!