In this segment on WKMG channel 6 news, Dr. Brooke Stuart, a holistic and functional medicine doctor, explores fall across cultures, addresses common seasonal disorders and shares tips on how to optimize your health within the season. For the full segment, you can check out the video above or visit the link here!
Throughout the segment, we discussed the internal transition associated with fall, emphasizing the importance of self-care, community gatherings, and combating seasonal affective disorder and here are the key takeaways:
Fall in the context of seasons as a whole: In traditional cultures, summer represents the height of light, full expression into fall, where we can begin to let go and slow down, allowing old patterns to fall away- not as much in FL- but it’s still in the air- whereas winter is more of a time to reflect and go within, the darkest months, and then into spring, which is all about growth and new life- a process reflective of the human experience
Fall in the context of the medical world: seasonal affective disorder, daylight savings time, nostalgia, coming down from the height of summer into the fall
Fall activities: fall festivals, pumpkin carving, apple picking, Halloween, Thanksgiving, such a fun, creative time to gather, cook and create new memories.
Fall health tips: take time for yourself, to gather in community, to reset before the holidays come about, eating in season- think pumpkins, apples, squash, turkey, pears, cinnamon- all very down to earth, grounding foods, healthy swaps, switching traditional dairy for almond milk, conventional sugar for monk fruit sweetener, stevia or xylitol
Fall as the last quarter of the year: a time where you can reconnect with your goals, reassess and finish the year with strength. There are just over 3 months until 2020! Which is such a statement year.
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Full Transcript Here
Julie: Although Florida doesn’t exactly have the same scenery as places like North Carolina or New England in the fall, the season definitely puts you in a certain mood.
Bridgett: Yeah, we try. And you probably notice the days are already getting shorter. Before you know it, the holidays are here too.
Julie: It’s coming for us. So during these early stages of the fall season, it’s a good time to make sure your mental and physical health are in shack. So joining us now to talk about Autumn Wellness, Dr. Brooke Stuart of holistic counseling and acupuncture and functional medicine. Always good to see you.
Brooke: Thank you for having me.
Julie: So is this just like a little reset as we head into fall? What do we need to be doing and thinking about?
Brooke: A hundred percent. So it’s so interesting to evaluate the seasons when we’re looking at summer, it’s like the height of light, full expression. And then a lot of people have issues and it’s also a really fun, creative time to create new memories. But we look at a more internal transition, right where we’re going a little bit more within, we have time to kind of reconnect, to reset, to kind of look a little bit more inwards. And actually in traditional cultures, it’s interesting when we look at the seasons, because we see summer is full expression, fall is kind of bringing on like this internal wave of health issues that can come with, it would be more like nostalgia, seasonal affective disorder. Of course we have issues with daylight savings time, but then we go into winter, which is kind of like the darkest, most internal back into spring, which is more growth, rebirth, renewal, summer, fall, which is that more internal state, you know?
Bridgett: So how can you work on yourself during this season just to combat some of those pitfalls, whether it be the diet or, maybe like you said the seasonal effective things as well as like the holiday blues.
Brooke: Absolutely. So I think, you know, really being able to focus on that reset, taking time for yourself. Also kind of like the uplifting pieces of fall, which actually are kind of anchored in that grounded, earthy Rudy vibe where we wanna kind of gather more in community. We can also do things like, you know, pumpkin carving. We have Halloween, we have Thanksgiving. Um, but in general, in terms of actually dealing with like seasonal affective disorder, daily saving time, obviously in Florida we have the sun, but a lot of, states, have, uh, people struggle with vitamin D deficiency.
So really kind of taking care of yourself, resetting, kind of reassessing the year. I mean, we have three months until 2020, so there’s always time.
Julie: I also feel like this is the time of year when a lot of people kind of fall off the wagon, nutrition wise, pumpkin spice wise. Yes. Pumpkin, spice wise, all sorts of goodies start arriving in the newsroom around this time of year. How can we make sure that doesn’t happen? I know when I eat a lot of sugar and carbs, then I feel awful, and then I crave more. And it’s just this cycle of grossness. And I know that’s probably a technical term cycle of grossness. How do we, how do we combat that?
Brooke: It’s so true. I mean, and if we look at falls in-season foods, we have pumpkin, Turkey, kind of acorn squash. We can do cinnamon. But if we kind of take that and we’re like, okay, let’s look at the balance and everyone’s doubt, balance will be different. Everyone kind of has a different cadence of rhythm when it comes to diet. But we can always make healthy swaps. And now more than ever, with the availability in Whole Foods and Amazon and Publics locally, there’s different sweeteners and things we can use to bake with that really work well and actually taste good.
For example, switching traditional sugar to monk fruit sweeteners, xylitol, stevia, those kind of things can actually regulate blood sugar.
And we can barely notice the difference. And even now, there’s different swaps, like all of these kinds of almond milks, macadamia nut milk, cashew milk. And you can buy an unsweetened brand and sweeten it yourself with the things like monk fruit sweetener and whatnot. And you can make a great pumpkin spice latte just with those ingredients and still feel in season and not have to compromise in that way. You know,
Julie: We’re gonna need you to make a pumpkin spice latte next time you’re here. Now I’m sitting here thinking about that.
Bridgett: So when it comes to just getting ready for, uh, you know, the seasons and the changes, what are some of the takeaways for us as we get into fall and head into that, that winter?
Brooke: Absolutely. So just before the holidays hit, I do think it’s important to take a moment to really reconnect, reset, kind of get clear. I like the idea of kind of remembering that the year’s not over, there’s still time and we can really enjoy the holidays and create new memories. So, but it always starts with you. Right? So taking that time.
Julie: Really owning moment by moment rather than already into 2020.
Brooke: A hundred percent. I mean, there’s probably gonna be Christmas decorations out next week, so let’s just enjoy the moment.
Julie: For Sure. So do those fall decorations.
Brooke: Yeah, that’s Exactly start with fall. All Right. Thank you
More Resources
- Health, Elements & Transforming With The Seasons
- Let Go Of Stress, Unwind & Bring The Year Full Circle | WKMG Channel 6 News
- 5 Ways To Address & Move Through Holiday Stress
- Healthy Orlando Guide [Holiday Edition]
- Sign up for our Fullscript dispensary here to receive 15% off all physician-grade supplements + protocols
More From Dr. Brooke
Dr. Brooke Stuart is the Founder of Let Go & Grow®, Co-Founder of Lead Lab, and a holistic doctor in private practice, where she works with a unique combination of holistic counseling and functional medicine to personalize treatment plans for her patients as she partners with them to unlock their own, intrinsic ability to heal! She works with patients locally in Orlando, FL, and virtually worldwide. She also works with groups, families, couples and children upon request to address the root cause of a wide range of health issues including but not limited to: stress-related disorders, thyroid and hormonal imbalances, blood sugar dysregulation, compromised detoxification, gastrointestinal and cardiometabolic issues, and more.
- For more on her private practice, check here.
- To book Dr. Brooke to speak or work with your team or organization, check here.
- To read more about Dr. Brooke Stuart’s journey into holistic medicine, professional and functional medicine training, affiliations, and credentials, check here.