Autumn is a season of change, and as the days get shorter, darker and colder, a time to really focus in on putting your health and wellbeing first. After months of holidays, parties and get togethers, these quieter few months offer a chance to step back a bit and spend some time looking after yourself before the excesses of the festive season ensue, and autumn 2024 brings with it a myriad of new health and wellness trends to get you feeling inspired.
From a shift towards seasonal nutrition to nourish the body and immune-boosting practices to keep you fighting fit, to mindful movement to maintain mental and emotional balance, these are the things we’ll all be doing to stay at our best as the year begins to wind down.
Immunity boosting practices
With cold and flu season now here, placing an emphasis on practices that help to boost immunity is key to sailing through it unscathed. Since the 2020 pandemic, we’ve become increasingly conscious of protecting ourselves from germs, but this year, it’s all about taking a holistic approach to staying well. Whilst dosing up on your vitamin C and zinc supplements are still wise moves (providing you’ve had your levels tested), autumn 2024 is all about taking things to the next level, and practices like cold water therapy in particular have come into their own.
From sea swimming to ice baths, the benefits of cold water therapy are well documented, and its ability to reduce inflammation, boost circulation, and enhance the immune response have made it an excellent tool to have up your sleeve during autumn and winter. And getting your hit outdoors in nature comes with the added bonus of helping to reduce stress – which has been shown to lower our immune defenses – making taking that dip a double whammy of immune boosting power.
Gut health and seasonal nutrition
On a similar note, gut health has been repeatedly shown to play an essential role in the body’s immune defenses. In fact, according to UCLA Health, more than 70 percent of the body’s immune system resides in the gut, and a healthy microbiome helps you to better respond to injury and infection, so it stands to reason that keeping yours in its best possible shape will go a long way towards keeping you healthy this autumn.
Probiotic-rich and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, kombucha and kefir are still popular and are easy ways to get a friendly bacteria hit, but for autumn 2024 there’s a seasonal twist, and eating the current bounty of produce – which includes apples, root vegetables and pumpkins – in abundance offers an additional dose of prebiotic fibres, which in turn, nourish the beneficial bacteria in the gut. So it’s time to get loading your plate up with fresh, seasonal foods and reaping the health benefits.
Mindful movement
It can be tempting to hibernate as the colder weather descends, but staying active is important for overall health, so whilst you might not feel like heading outside for a long run or doing a gruelling weights session at the gym, incorporating a gentler form of exercise like yoga or pilates, is a good substitution. These types of movement come with the added bonus of offering a chance for mindfulness, making them beneficial for body, mind and soul all at once.
Restorative yoga—which focuses on gentle stretching and long-held poses – has become a popular form of movement and is gaining recognition across the globe thanks to its ability to help those who do it to wind down and find balance during the cooler months of the year, as well as helping to reset the nervous system and promote relaxation and recovery.
Hearing health awareness
We all know the importance of looking after your eyesight, but hearing health is something that has long gone overlooked. As the focus on holistic health and wellness continues to grow, this autumn, why not book yourself in for a hearing test to find out how you’re getting on? According to Hear Clear NI, ear specialists in Belfast, it’s also a good chance to learn about how to protect your ears from external influences like loud noise and pollution to keep them performing at their best, and the preventative measures you can take to help maintain good hearing for as long as possible.
Loop Earbuds, which offer varying degrees of hearing protection, have become highly popular this year, and help to reduce noise and sensory overload, with certain models designed to help you sleep better at night. On the flipside, we’re also seeing smart hearing aids and earbuds which amplify sound for those with impairments whilst protecting the ears gain traction, signalling a new focus on hearing care as part of a broader long-term health strategy to prevent hearing loss and the associated cognitive decline.
