The Original Health Coaching Program
Learn more about IIN’s rigorous curriculum that integrates 90+ of the world’s leading experts in health and wellness, blending the scientific and the spiritual to create an immersive, holistic health education.
Fall is often celebrated with comfort foods, like pumpkin bread and butternut squash soup, filling your kitchen with the delicious scents of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Not only are these dishes flavorful and warming for the soul, they can also provide a variety of nutrients for your diet.
We refer to these foods as functional – foods and ingredients that taste great and promote health! Functional foods, like nuts and seeds, and spices, like turmeric and cinnamon, can enhance your typical oatmeal, latte, or soup recipe and provide extra nourishment. Better yet, they can even help you crowd out some of the unhealthy options at your next holiday meal!
Ready to start eating more creatively and nutritiously this fall? We asked some of our IIN community members to share their favorite fall recipes that are not just delicious but also provide functional nutritional value.
Jump-start your metabolism and provide your body with energy for the day ahead:
Pearl Millet Pancake
Recipe by Zeba Junaid Ansari, HCTP May 2020 Accelerated; Image via Shutterstock.
Functional Food Highlight: Pearl millet
Pearl millet is a high-energy grain packed with fiber, protein, and iron! This grain can be ground into a gluten-free flour, making the recipe gluten-free. These pancakes are also dairy- and refined sugar–free. The pancakes can be stored in the freezer for up to 15 days and in the fridge for two days.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Pumpkin Spice Turmeric Latte
Image and recipe by Carleigh Ferrante, HCTP May 2020 Accelerated
Functional Food Highlights: Pumpkin and turmeric
Looking for a healthy replacement for your favorite java spot’s latte? With pumpkin and turmeric, this antioxidant-rich drink is grounding, balancing, and a great pick-me-up for cold, fall mornings. Get yourself in the pumpkin spirit while also obtaining key nutrients like vitamins A and C and potassium.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Oat and Buckwheat Cinnamon Bowl
Image and recipe by Christina Zakhem, HCTP July 2017
Functional Food Highlights: Oats and cinnamon
Start your day with a filling and blood sugar–stabilizing breakfast bowl! Cinnamon is known to stabilize blood sugar and adds a subtle, warm flavor that pairs well with sweet and nutty toppings. This heart-healthy breakfast is also full of soluble fiber from oats and buckwheat, plus healthy fats and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Healthy snacks can satiate you between meals and prevent overeating. Here are a couple of satisfying and nutritious ideas:
Hormone-Balancing Energy Bites
Recipe by Carleigh Ferrante, HCTP May 2020 Accelerated; Image via Shutterstock.
Functional Food Highlight: Seeds
Ever hear of seed cycling? Seed cycling refers to eating certain seeds during the two main phases of the menstrual cycle: follicular and luteal. During the follicular phase, hormone experts recommend focusing on flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds, while during the luteal phase, sunflower and sesame seeds are best to munch on. These energy bites can help balance hormones during the menstrual cycle, boosting levels of estrogen and progesterone at appropriate times during the 28-day period.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Vegan Brownie Batter
Image and recipe by Jadenaè A. Trabacchi, HCTP September 2020 Accelerated
Functional Food Highlights: Sweet potato and cacao powder
Do you love licking the spoon when baking brownies or cookies but dislike raw egg? This alternative take on brownies is filled with healthy fats, fiber, and iron – and you can safely lick the spoon (and the bowl!).
In this simple recipe, cacao powder provides flavonoids to improve blood flow, dates provide antioxidants to reduce inflammation in the body, and the sweet potato provides fiber that aids in digestive health. This batter/quick fudge is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up that can satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthier way!
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Vata-Balancing Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
Image and recipe by Carleigh Ferrante, HCTP May 2020 Accelerated
Functional Food Highlights: Pumpkin and connection to Ayurveda
This refreshing smoothie can help balance your Vata, the Ayurvedic element responsible for energy and movement. Autumn corresponds with Vata, creating a dry, rough quality in the body that can affect your immune system. Pumpkin is an augmenting vegetable, meaning it has a heavy and sweet quality that helps the body create healthy muscle and protective fat, grounding the Vata in your body.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Main Dishes
Whether for lunch or dinner, you can create well-rounded meals that contain vegetables, protein, and whole grains. Our graduates have some great recommendations:
Miso Rice Bowl with Marinated Mushrooms and Crispy Kale
Image and recipe by Martina Zand, HCTP January 2012
Functional Food Highlights: Mushrooms and kale
This high-nutrient rice bowl is a quick and delicious dinner staple. All you need is leftover brown rice or any kind of leftover grain. It combines superfoods, like mushroom and kale, into a tasty Asian dish, providing antioxidants, vitamins C and K, and immune-boosting benefits.
Ingredients:
For the marinated mushrooms:
For the crispy kale:
For the rice:
For the toppings:
Instructions:
Turkey Chili with Corn Bread
Image and recipe by Nina Zorfass, HCTP March 2015
Functional Food Highlights: Tomatoes, bell peppers, and beans
There’s nothing quite like a warm and hearty bowl of chili on a cold and blustery day. Not only is this recipe simple – you pretty much throw everything into a slow cooker! – but it’s packed with important nutrients that can keep you healthy during colder months. Bell peppers and tomatoes are high in vitamin C, a key factor in promoting immune system health, and tomatoes are full of lycopene, an antioxidant. The beans that provide great texture to this chili are also full of protein, fiber, and important vitamins like folate.
(While these ingredients are lectins, we tackle why eating lectins may be beneficial in this blog post!) This chili lasts up to five days in the fridge and up to two months in the freezer.
Ingredients:
For the chili:
For the corn bread:
Instructions:
Learn more about IIN’s rigorous curriculum that integrates 90+ of the world’s leading experts in health and wellness, blending the scientific and the spiritual to create an immersive, holistic health education.