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12 Fall Foods that Reduce Inflammation in the Body

For many people with chronic inflammatory conditions, the break in heat from the summer is one of the happiest days of the year. I love that nature welcomes the season with pom poms of amber, tangerine, and leather hues.

And what I also love is that there’s still a hefty amount of fall produce that are amazing sources of anti-oxidants with anti-inflammatory superpowers.

There really is no shortage of sources of superfoods for those of us following an anti-inflammatory diet.

So even though we’ve passed the seasonal truckloads of summer produce, there are still PLENTY of anti-inflammatory fall foods to help nourish and heal by reducing inflammation in the body as well as providing vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols.

There are three main anti-inflammatory foods categories I want to highlight:

Veg and Fruits,
Herbs,
and Spices.

Here are my favorites.

Veg and Fruits

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Leafy Greens

Even though leafy greens start their appearance in the summer, fall leafy greens follow with even more flavor!

Greens like kale, arugula, collard greens, and swiss chard are packed full of vitamins and antioxidants. And they’re versatile enough that many can be eaten raw, cooked, as a stand-alone side, or even as a soup or casserole component.

Pumpkins

Arguably the most popular fall vegetable, pumpkins provide an amazing source of Vitamin A (the color gives you that hint on beta carotene), balanced polyunsaturated fats, Vitamins C and E, and several other essential minerals.

They’re also packed with fiber and healthy carbs, and can be stored for a long period of time (in a dry pantry or frozen) without going bad.

Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is also packed with Vitamin A, but it’s also an amazing source of Vitamin C as well. Compared to pumpkins, it’s more dense in energy, meaning: per serving it contains more calories, carbs, and fiber.

What I love about butternut squash is that it’s flavor makes more amazing soups. But it’s versatile enough to serve in cubes as a side dish (or in a casserole), or as a substitute for potatoes if you’re looking for a lower carb alternative.

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Sweet Potatoes and White Potatoes

Sweet potatoes also have a ton of Vitamin A. But aside from that, their nutritional value is nearly the same as white potatoes. And even though white potatoes have more carbs, this occurs as starches versus the sugar content in sweet potatoes, which is something to consider if you’re watching your blood sugar levels.

Either are great options for soups or even just sliced and baked as healthier fries.

Beets

One of the most overlooked vegetables (in my opinion) is the beet. Beets are high in folate and manganese, but also contain betalains, which gives it the bright red color, and is associated with reduced cancer risk.

Not only can you eat the beet itself, but the greens are also a fantastic source of nutrition. Beets can be roasted, sauteed, pickled, or boiled; and the greens can be used in salads or saved for soup broths.

Apples

Ahhh…the quintessential fruit for fall! Apples peak season is September, so take advantage of this amazing time of year to get super fresh apples! The best way to eat them is raw, as fresh as possible, and with the skin on.

Not only do apples give tons of fiber, the skin contains quercetin, which is amazing for those with allergies, and it also reduces inflammation.

Herbs

Herbs are one of the most overlooked nutrition powerhouses in the plant family. They pack so much punch for such a little plant. But they’re also SO EASY to add in to any dish for extra flavor.

Here are my favorite anti-inflammatory herbs for fall.

Sage

Sage not only adds delicious earthy notes to fall and winter dishes, but also can be used in teas and as an essential oil. Sage is high in Vitamin K and vital minerals, but also contains antioxidants.

What’s so amazing about sage is that it’s been shown to relieve or cure illnesses like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, dementia, and lupus. But it’s also been used for centuries in traditional medicine for inflammation, bacterial, and viral infections, which makes it high on the list for cold and flu season.

Rosemary

Rosemary is full of iron, calcium, and vitamin B-6, and is also native to the Mediterranean—fitting for an anti-inflammatory diet rooted in the Mediterranean diet. It’s been used for a wide range of ailments including digestion, muscle pain, improved circulation and memory, and a boost to the immune system.

Aside from its fragrant and mouthwatering culinary powers, studies have proven its anti inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and neuroprotective properties. This means that even though it can fight free radicals and harmful bacteria, it can also be used in mood disorders, enhanced learning, anxiety, and sleep disorders.

Thyme

Thyme (another herb native to the Mediterranean) can be used as a treatment for anything from acne to GI disturbances to menstrual cramps (and a ton of stuff in between!) But it’s actually an extremely versatile culinary addition. It has an earthy flavor but can waver back and forth between savory or sweet dishes like stocks and stews, roasted vegetables, teas, and desserts.

Fall Spices

Although spices can generally be used year-round, the warmth of the following three are perfect for the cooling weather.

Ginger

Ginger has been touted to help anything from boosting the immune system, lowering blood sugar, and easing inflammation. Probably it’s most famous claims to fame include taming the GI tract and pulling down inflammation. These benefits are made possible due to the over 400 compounds that ginger contains.

Ginger has a fresh, zingy flavor, and although the dried version (teas and spice shakers) have a milder flavor than fresh, they can still have nearly the same health benefits. It’s best to use fresh, and ginger root can be cut up and put in the fridge or frozen to last even longer.

Cinnamon

There can be a lot of confusion over the type of cinnamon that’s best to use. Ceylon (known as ‘true’ cinnamon) and cassia (what you buy in the grocery store) are equally delicious and contain a compound called cinnamaldehyde that’s thought to be responsible for its health and metabolism benefits.

Cinnamon has been shown to contain more antioxidant activity than any other in a study against 26 other spices, is a potent anti-inflammatory, and has been shown to reduce insulin resistance (among other benefits).

Pumpkin pie spice

Honestly my favorite spice for fall is a combination of several spices: Pumpkin pie spice. This mixture obviously enhances pumpkin flavor, but can be used in a variety of recipes in fall and winter.

The components of pumpkin pie spice include cinnamon and ginger, which we already covered. The other ingredients are nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and black pepper.

What’s so great about the blend in pumpkin pie spice is that all the ingredients have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds just like the other spices mentioned.

So as long as you use healthy sweeteners and anti-inflammatory ingredients for whatever pumpkin spice recipe you’re making, you essentially have a superfood recipe with powerhouse ingredients for fall!

Let me know in the comments: What’s YOUR favorite anti-inflammatory fall food or recipe?

Click the image below to grab the Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep Guide! 👇

fall anti inflammatory meal prep guide pdf

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Quick and Easy Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep for Fall

https://youtu.be/_7J-Bq8GoGU

Anti-inflammatory recipes are a great addition to a healthy eating pattern as they can help manage, prevent or reverse the effects of inflammation in the body.

Ingredients like dark leafy greens, beets and cauliflower are packed with anti-inflammatory properties which can help reduce chronic pain and prevent age-related illnesses.

Eating anti-inflammatory foods doesn’t have to be bland or boring either, as there are plenty of fresh and healthy recipes to choose from that cater to different dietary needs. Incorporating these recipes into your meal prep routine can help balance your blood sugar and reduce chronic inflammation.

What is an anti-inflammatory diet?

An anti-inflammatory diet focuses on consuming foods that have anti-inflammatory properties, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

It aims to reduce chronic inflammation in the body, which can help prevent chronic diseases and promote overall health and well-being.

What are the benefits of anti-inflammatory meal prep?

No matter the season, your life is probably super busy. We have 4 kids (3 at home), and regardless of whether school is in or it’s summer or even winter break, things are always sorta chaotic.

So this method has actually been a lifesaver for us so that on weeks where I don’t even have the brainpower to put a meal plan together, this is our lifeline.

We have a backup.

No thinking about it all day, no scrambling at the last minute, and definitely no ultra-processed, inflammatory, and overpriced drive-thru or takeout.

So I’m gonna show you how to meal prep with fall anti-inflammatory foods (meaning: in season for fall in the US).

I’m also linking the example meals that we made for the week with all of the produce that we got.

And if you scroll a bit, you can get the GUIDE that shows you the details for all of this so you can keep it on hand for ANY time you have weeks like this.

Step 1: Choose your produce

So for anti-inflammatory meal prep, you start out by simply choosing a bunch of SEASONAL produce.

Our shopping order for this meal prep session I got:

broccoli,
brussels sprouts,
kale (can be already chopped up in a bag),
mushrooms, you can choose any kind,
sweet potatoes,
regular potatoes,
an onion,
sage,
and cauliflower.

And all of this was just random stuff that I know my family will eat and that gave us a pretty good variety for meals this week.

Step 2: Prep your workspace

And after washing all the produce, I pre-heated both ovens for 350 degrees F.

The tools you’ll need for your meal prep session are a large cutting board, good knives, and roasting pans- probably with a lip, and something to line it with so stuff doesn’t stick.

Now I use something I found by accident with is a BBQ grilling mat—I love these because I can cut them to fit perfectly in my pan and NOTHING sticks to them—they come in a pack all rolled up in a box.

(Some links may be affiliate links, meaning if you click on and then purchase, I’ll get a portion of the proceeds, at no additional charge to you.) 🙂

BBQ Grill Mats

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Step 3: Get your base seasoning out

So our base seasoning includes avodado oil to drizzle on, I use this to cook with because it has a high smoke point. Or you can use something like this Misto spray can where you put the oil in, pump air in to build pressure, and spray it on.

Then season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and it’s ready to go in the oven.

Click the image below to grab the free Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep Guide!👇

fall anti-inflammatory meal prep guide free pdf

Step 4: Prep foods that cook the longest first

So, even though I didn’t have full meals planned out when I got all this produce, I had a loose plan for a few things. So I knew I’d want to do baked potatoes one night, so since they take an hour to bake you’ll want to do these first if you’re doing baked potatoes one night.

And for baked potatoes, you just coat each one individually with oil, salt it, wrap it in foil, and then punch some holes with a fork.

Once I’ve got those all set and into the oven for one hour, I get to work chopping everything else.

Step 5: Prep all other foods that cook the same length of time

Broccoli and cauliflower

I started out with broccoli, and just basically cut all the florets off—and if you don’t like to chop you can always buy the bags where it’s pre-chopped. It does save time, but may cost a little more.

Once these were all cut up, I put them all on the pan on one end, because I put the cauliflower on the other end.

Then I started with the cauliflower and removed that large base then cut those into florets as well, breaking some of them apart. And you can also buy these prechopped if you don’t like cutting them up- it does save a lot of time and mess.

Then I placed all those on the second half of the pan where the broccoli was. I cook these on the same pan because cook at right about the same rate.

And then I wanted a bit more flavor than just our base seasoning, so I chopped an onion into chunks and just spread it out evenly on the pan.

Brussels sprouts

Next I prepped brussels sprouts, and the easiest way to do these is chop off the end piece slice them in half and lay them face down on the pan.

I arranged mine with a hole in the middle for all the loose little leaves because they get extra crispy and are a super yummy snack!

Then drizzle or spray with oil, then season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.—and they’re ready to go!

Mushrooms.

I decided to split the mushrooms and do half chopped pretty small and the other half roasted.

I chopped one half because I like to mix them in with ground meat to give it bulk and really boost the vitamin content-and my kids can never tell! I don’t precook those, so I just put them in a baggie to store in the fridge until the night I needed them.

The other half I just spread out on the pan, and I had a pack of sage I grabbed at the store as well—this is such a fragrant and nutrition-packed herb, and perfect for colder weather.

So I just chopped some of it, sprinkled it on the mushrooms, then added our oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and it’s ready to go.

Sweet potatoes

I roughly chopped the sweet potatoes because I had loosely planned mashed sweet potates with cinnamon- my kids love those- and the rest I planned to use in my lunches during the week.

But that meant that all of them needed to be chopped.

Regular potatoes

Then I started on the rest of the regular potatoes I had. So for the ones I wasn’t using for a whole baked potato, we like to sometimes do homemade fries and this tool makes it super easy.

It’s a fry cutter and has this grid blade inside to cut the potato in perfectly squared fries.

So how it works is that you take the lid off, place the potato wedge on top of that grid, then put the lid on and push it down to force the potato through the grid. And you have perfectly shaped fries.

Fry and Vegetable Cutter

I Want This!

So I repeated this process until I got all the rest of the potatoes cut, then put them with the sweet potatoes on a pan, because they cook at about the same rate. I got them all seasoned and ready for the oven.

Step 6: Put all prepped veggies into the oven

All of the veggies go into the oven at that 350 degrees F for 30 minutes- just keep an eye out and take out anything that’s cooking a little too much.

Step 7: Any veg that won’t be pre-cooked

And the last thing I prepped was kale. Since this came in a bag, I picked out any bad pieces since it was already chopped, and planned to wilt some one night for dinner, and then would have a massaged kale salad one night as well.

So once all the bad pieces were picked out I just stored it in a Ziploc in the fridge.

Step 8: Remove veggies from oven

And when they’re done, just take all the pans out, and let them cool…

Step 9: Store prepped veggies

Then start putting them into your storage containers.

I do recommend putting them in separate containers because some veggies do have a higher water content and a lot of times they get a little bit mushy in there and you don’t want that water running into the other vegetables.

And then you’ve got all your veggies prepped for the week! You can store all of these AND your baked potatoes in the fridge until the night you need them.

4+ Meals with pre-prepped fall anti-inflammatory vegetables

The meals we cooked with our freestyle meal prep session were:

Chicken sausage with the broccoli and cauliflower,

Baked potato with shredded chicken, sugar-free bbq sauce, mushrooms, and brussels sprouts,

Turkey burgers that had the chopped mushrooms with sage built into it, and those homemade fries with Dijon mustard for dipping, and a massaged kale salad, AND

Lemony baked cod with wilted kale and mashed sweet potatoes with cinnamon.

And there ya go! That’s how to do Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal prep!

Don’t forget to click the image below to grab the free Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep Guide! 👇

📌PIN IT FOR LATER!

THE Fall Pumpkin Spice Superfood Smoothie

Your New Go-To Fall Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie

There’s nothing better than that break in heat from the summer and smelling fall 🍂 in the air, and when it comes to easy, yummy, FAST meals, you can’t beat a smoothie— And if you love pumpkin spice as much as I do, you’re gonna love this!

So this fall-inspired, Anti Inflammatory Pumpkin Spice Smoothie (that is a mouthful!)—is packed with anti-inflammatory goodness like pumpkin, avocado, spinach, and ginger, and I have a feeling it’s gonna become your GO TO smoothie for fall from now on.

Now, as much as I’d like this to be a gorgeous pumpkin color, as with all smoothies that have greens added…it’s green. But this absolutely doesn’t detract from it’s yumminess–pinky promise.

And here’s how you make it:

Step 1: Gather your ingredients

This smoothie is made with pumpkin, banana, avocado, spinach, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, nondairy milk, egg white powder, and keto maple syrup.

Want the free printable PDF guide to learn how to Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep for crazy busy fall weeks? Click the image below to grab it! 👇👇👇

Step 2: Put them all in the blender

Honestly this is why smoothies are so darn easy. You just put them all in the blender at once.

The one caveat for this smoothie (I’d suggest) is to hold off on the egg white powder until everything else is nice and smooth, because it can make it thicker.)

A high-powered blender is always recommended, like this Ninja, or if you want to spend more, the Vitamix is a favorite for a higher price tag.

(Some links may be affiliate links, meaning if you click on and then purchase, I’ll get a portion of the proceeds, at no additional charge to you.) 🙂

Step 3: Assess thickness

If your smoothie is having a hard time blending, you may need to add a little more liquid to it. If it gets too thick it can’t run back down to the bottom where the blades are doing their thang.

Step 4: Assess sweetness

I always like to do a little taste-test and just make sure the sweetness is where I like it. If it needs more, I add a tiny bit at a time. If there’s no sweetener in the recipe, I add a natural zero calorie sweetener like liquid stevia, monk fruit, or erythritol.

Step 5: Pour it up + enjoy!

In all honesty, sometimes smoothies make way more than I can handle in one sitting. So if it’s a bit too much, just store it in the fridge for up to a day.

Love fall anti-inflammatory recipes? Check out my Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep Session where I prep for 4+ meals in about an hour! CLICK HERE to read!

And here’s the printable recipe:

The Pumpkin-Spice Superfood Smoothie: Your New GO TO Fall Smoothie

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An anti-inflammatory green smoothie made with fall superfoods.

Author: Laura @ TRUEWELL
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 1x
Category: Breakfast, Snack
Method: Blender

Ingredients

Units Scale

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 banana (frozen)
1/2 avocado
2 cups baby spinach (fresh)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 piece ginger (fresh, grated)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (unsweetened)
1/4 cup keto maple syrup (I used Lakanto brand)
2 TBSP egg white powder (or plant-based plain protein powder)

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Instructions

Place all ingredients into a high-powered blender.
Blend until smooth.
If too thick, add a few TBSP of water at a time, or 4-5 ice cubes.
Taste test to determine if sweet enough.
Pour into a large glass and enjoy!

Notes

Per serving:

Fat- 9g

Carbs-40g

Fiber-7g

Protein-12g

Nutrition

Calories: 267

Want the free printable PDF guide to learn how to do Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep for crazy busy fall weeks? Click the image below to grab it! 👇👇👇

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8 Proven Ways for Managing Inflammation and Stress During the Holidays

Aside from the start of the school year, I would argue that the holidays are the biggest time of year for stress and inflammation. It only makes sense, right? Budgeting, planning, finishing the year strong, school activities, shopping, setting goals for the new year, and then spending time with family that you may not get along with…. it’s a lot.

I used to think I loved the holidays. My husband would constantly talk about how much he loved the holidays. The kids talked about how amazing the holidays were. But each passing year I’d find I was not only more and more exhausted and irritated, but my health issues were mounting as well.

More blood sugar rollercoasters, more emotional ups and downs, worse allergy issues, worse skin issues, and severe exhaustion. All of this cycled back to being more irritable and depressed than ever.

I finally realized a lot of it was because I was the sole person doing literally all the work. I wanted my family to have an amazing holiday, but I never got to actually enjoy it.

The overwhelm of doing everything and worrying about everything and being so incessantly stressed would lead to stuffing myself with sugar and refined carbs (and lots of processed convenience foods) just to have the energy to keep going. This perfect storm was creating massive amounts of inflammation in my body.

a woman stressed and inflamed during the holidays

One year I finally snapped. It was too much. It was the year I was working on my master’s in nutrition, which also happened to be the same year my husband started a new job that had him gone 4-5 nights a week, every week, for months.

So after some long heart-to-heart discussions and laying down new expectations (also known as creating boundaries for myself which I’ve always sucked at), things are very different during the holidays in our home.

Not only did I commit to myself that fueling myself properly the whole year –especially during the holidays–would help with stress levels (among a thousand other things), I knew taking control in a different way would help tame the chaos as well.

The connection between stress and inflammation

Many people go into an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle not really understanding that even though nutrition and what you eat are extremely important in reducing inflammation in the body, but there are three other core pillars of health that also greatly affect inflammation.

One of those is stress. Stress kicks on our ‘cortisol switch’, which under normal circumstances would be an expected physiological reaction. But chronic stress levels create a situation in the body where there is reduced sensitivity to cortisol (similar to how insulin resistance begins). This creates a constant state of too much cortisol, and thereby, increased inflammation.

What’s crazy to think about is that the connection between excessive inflammation with chronic disease has been so well documented the last few decades that they’re sometimes referred to as ‘stress-related diseases‘: metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and even psychotic and neurodegenerative diseases.

When our bodies are this stressed, we don’t sleep well or make good dietary choices. When we don’t sleep well, our hunger hormone goes into overdrive, making it even more difficult to make smart food choices. Then our energy levels nosedive and we don’t feel like getting in any kind of movement. We’re exhausted. And still stressed out.

This loop is what I call the CORE 4. And they can work synergistically for you or against you.

Unfortunately, the holidays are prime time for them to work against you, creating a perfect storm of inflammation, if you don’t get a hold on managing your stress levels.

Here are the proven strategies I use now in managing inflammation and stress during the holidays that took it from feeling like an overwhelming nightmare to actually looking forward to and enjoying the end of the year (and the people I choose to spend it with.)

1. Use a planner and checklists for EVERYTHING

I’m a HUGE advocate for checklists. They seem simple and benign, but they have a lot of power in them. Especially during the holidays.

There’s so incredibly much going on at all times that there will always be 3 (or 15) things forgotten without listing them all down.

Not only do I make lists for my daily to-dos in my business, I make checklists for :

home stuff that needs to be done,
chore checklists for the kids,
a ‘honey-do’ list,
packing lists if we’re traveling,
gift budgeting lists,
lists for all activities and school functions to attend,
and lists for any kind of get-togethers we may be hosting or attending.

It sounds silly, but lists are a super simple way to feel a little more in control. You can see everything at a glance without having to try and keep up with it all in your head. (Oh yeah–and being able to see it this way also helps determine who you can delegate things to.) 😉

Checklists alone are the biggest thing that helps me keep my stress in check during the holidays.
Laura, @truewell.co

2. Plan a cheat day and be ok with the consequences

Most especially if you’ve been on a strict dietary framework, this may be an ok time to take a break or plan a ‘cheat day’, as some like to call it, and let loose.

Now I’m not saying everyone can do this to the extreme. For example, if you’re diabetic, please for the love of God, do NOT binge on sugar or carbs. Similarly, if you’re allergic or sensitive to anything, also don’t eat it.

However, I do believe in lifting restrictions so that the time spent with family and friends during the holidays is spent focusing on catching up and enjoying the company instead of worrying about what you’re eating.

I don’t have celiac but I’m sensitive to certain grains. They don’t send me into an allergic reaction, but I know if I eat it I’ll have an annoying ‘eczema-like’ reaction on my face.

Even though I know it’s gonna happen, I’ll occasionally plan cheat times when I’m with family and be ok with the consequences because I’ve weighed the importance of being able to spend my time focusing on catching up with my friends and family vs spending my brain power worrying about what’s available that I can eat.

When I make that conscious decision, I also don’t feel guilty for having those regular crackers with my dip. I make my decision, know the repercussions, and simply enjoy myself.

3. Schedule in downtime or me-time

Scheduling regular downtime should be a non-negotiable in your calendar. But ESPECIALLY during the holidays. This time of year tends to bring up all sorts of unresolved issues amongst family and friends without fail.

But it’s also super busy and can be exhausting, and can induce sleep issues from every angle. All of these add up to increased inflammation.

Block out time on your calendar to just go do things for yourself. Even if it’s an uninterrupted movie alone or simply bath time.

woman relaxing to reduce stress and inflammation during the holidays

I personally tend to get stressed with a lot of noise. So get-togethers can be overwhelming for me after a while. (Heck, even restaurants can when they’re really loud or if there are screaming kids.)

{But to be perfectly frank we have a nine-year-old that talks from the time she wakes until the time she goes to bed, so if she’s home I have non-stop noise all day.}

When this happens, I have extra time where I will do some things alone or even take what I call “brain breaks” during the day. This is where my kids and husband know to leave me alone, and I go in the quietest room we have, lie down, and listen to ASMR with sound-canceling headphones on.

I can meditate, take a nap, or just reflect and journal. This blocked-out ‘me-time’ has helped tremendously in reining in the overwhelm.

4. Have meal backups for the crazy weeks ahead

Backup plans for meals is so dang important, and I always say that meal planning is one of the most overlooked form of stress management there is. Aside from regular meal plans, though, I have a few other backups I recommend.

These include freezer meals that have been prepped and frozen previously, super easy crockpot meals, simple 3-5 ingredient meals, or even breakfast for dinner.

I create (yet another) list of freezer meal inventory, and also list these other options and post it on our ‘command central dry-erase board. That way I don’t have to think about what the options are. I just go look and pick one.

5. Get in daily movement

Daily movement (what we call ‘oscillation‘ around here) is critical during this time of year. People start moving less and less the colder it gets outside. But we also have shifted into a new era of so many shopping options being online that the old days of 30,000 steps in a single day of holiday shopping just doesn’t happen anymore.

Daily oscillation, whether that’s total steps, flights of stairs climbed, walking, or a structured workout is so important for managing stress. I’d even argue that we should add some extra time to our daily movement during the holidays.

woman exercising to reduce inflammation and stress during the holidays

Movement and workouts have been shown to help us sleep better and manage stress better.

If you don’t have a regular plan for daily movement, get started! If you do, step it up a bit during the holidays–your body and emotional status will thank you!
Laura @truewell.co

6. Have sugar-free options for treats

This one is crazy important because when you’re this busy and overwhelmed, it’s SO easy to just grab the first thing you can find if you’re hungry.

Prep anti-inflammatory snacks and breakfasts that are sugar-free ahead of time so you’ve got no-brainer options to choose from. Especially since we’re out and about so much more during the holidays.

Blood sugar spikes and crashes are prime culprits for stress and emotional rollercoasters. Don’t fall into that trap during the holidays.

Click the image below to grab your Healthy Holiday Swap-Out Planner! 👇

7. Use the TRUEWELL trifecta formula for meals

Making sure you have your macros balanced at each meal will ensure you’re full longer, you don’t overeat, and your blood sugar stays balanced. This means less chance of emotional ups and downs from food.

This is especially true before holiday parties, dinners, and get-togethers as well. If you’re not planning a ‘cheat time’, it can be really easy to just say ‘screw it’ and eat inflammatory junk just because it’s there and you’re tired of wondering what you can eat.

The TRUEWELL Trifecta includes:

QUALITY PROTEIN about the size of your palm,
1-2 x that in FIBER (ie, vegetables and complex carbs),
and then HEALTHY FATS about the size of your thumb.

8. Meal Plan and prep for weeks when you can’t even think straight

Even with my new rules and strategies in place, we still have weeks that are completely nuts. This is when I rely on meal planning and meal prep.

Sometimes all this means is that instead of having a formal meal plan in place, I grab seasonal produce from the store and prep it at the start of the week, and we use those prepped foods to throw together anti-inflammatory meals the nights we’re home and cooking.

Get a free printable guide by checking out the blog post (and watch the video while you’re there!): Anti-Inflammatory Winter Meal Prep in About an Hour.

Get the (free) Winter Anti-Inflammatory

Meal Prep Guide!

Cozy up with this 1-week gluten-free, sugar-free meal plan and prep guide! Featuring delicious anti-inflammatory recipes from fresh winter produce!

YES! I WANT THE MEAL PREP GUIDE!

Wishing you the happiest, most stress-free, and anti-inflammatory holiday ever!

xo, Laura

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Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte | Anti-Inflammatory | Sugar Free | Vegan

One of the biggest bummers of going anti-inflammatory was learning that sugar was TOTALLY out. Especially in the fall when I love me some PSL—

However—hope is not lost!

I’ve got a healthy pumpkin spice latte that won’t jack your blood sugar up (or your waistline) like a Starbucks PSL will.

Just for reference, the Starbucks PSL has FIFTY grams of sugar in it!!

It’s sugar-free, dairy-free, anti-inflammatory, and full of pumpkin spice goodness.

{And just in case you don’t have any pumpkin pie spice, you can grab that recipe HERE.}

Now let’s get started!

Want the free printable PDF guide to learn how to do Fall Anti-Inflammatory Meal Prep for crazy busy fall weeks? Grab the free GUIDE by clicking the image below! 👇👇👇

Gather your ingredients

First we start with our ingredients, which are:

Pumpkin puree, coffee, erythritol or other granulated natural sugar-free sweetener, vanilla extract, unsweetened non-dairy milk of your choice, and pumpkin pie spice.

Prepare the 2 parts of your pumpkin spice latte

First, you need to go ahead and start your coffee brewing. This will take a few minutes.

While your coffee is brewing, add that cup of nondairy milk to a small saucepan and turn it to medium heat, then add in your sweetener, and the pumpkin puree.

And then whisk it really well until it’s all mixed together,and let it get really warm.

Then turn off your heat, add the vanilla extract and pumpkin spice, give it another good whisk…

And then you’re ready to pour it up!

Pour it up like a barista

Put the coffee in your mug first, then pour the pumpkin milk mixture into the coffee.

And enjoy your pumpkin spice latte that has mega anti-inflammatory ingredients WITHOUT the crazy amounts of sugar.

And if you really love anti-inflammatory seasonal fall recipes, check out my Fall Meal Prep session where I made 4+ anti-inflammatory meals for the week with NO meal plan in place!