As the time comes when children start school and kindergarten, with the temperature dropping and less sunshine, everyone around suddenly starts coughing, sniffling and blowing their nose. "Well, autumn. Flu season. Classic cold. And a cold again. We won't get out of this until Christmas. I have a compromised immune system due to stress,” you might be thinking. Is it really a necessary part of fall weather?

On Sunday, September 22, the autumnal equinox occurred. Since pagan times, it has been a magical time when the sun rises exactly on the opposite side from where it sets, and the day lasts the same length as the night. From this moment on, the length of sunlight shortens, the day diminishes, and the night extends. “As the day shortens, winter increases,” says a Czech saying. During this period, the harvest ended, and at the equinox, people celebrated the rich harvest. a successful year, and fervently wished for health until the next equinox in spring. “Summer and autumn hand out everything, but save it while there is something,” advises another Czech saying. Around the autumnal equinox, St. Matthew is celebrated and with him comes a saying: “After St. Matthew, a hat on the ears.” And St. Wenceslas on September 28th adds the saying, “On Saint Wenceslas – Indian Summer (warm autumn) is begins,” and “Wenceslas will come – prepare the stove.” In times when weather was predicted based on nature´s observations and past experiences of ancestors, sayings provided guidance for a fulfilling life, full of health and abundance.

"Therefore make sure you don’t waste energy and keep yourself warm, either by wearing enough clothing, especially covering your neck, shoulders, lower back, and legs or by consuming foods with warming effects. These include darker meats, millet, nuts, roasted seeds, plums, apples, pears, especially cooked ones, cinnamon, ginger, hot teas, broths, vegetable soups, fermented vegetables such pickled cabbage or kimchi,” he adds.

Health-promoting foods replicate the seasonal local harvest. So, if you treat yourself with the current gifts of European nature, you will do the best for your body and at the same time you will support local farmers and their care for the landscape. "Autumn miracles are apples, broccoli and cabbage. You may easily make naturally fermented cabbage in your apartment and supplement your vitamins and beneficial bacteria throughout the winter. Broccoli tastes great in soup, in various stir-fries from one pan, where it does not lose so many vitamins due to quick frying, baked in casseroles or moussaka or even raw, as part of quickly fermented vegetables. It will never be lost at our home," adds proven old-fashioned (babské rady) advice from Kateřina Winterová, actress of the National Theatre, creator of the television show about health from nature Herbář and author of more than 10 books about the connection between health, nature and home cooking.

In the past, this period was marked by feasts with roasts, dumplings, cabbage and cakes. However with today's sedentary work, this type of diet would lead to overweight and various civilization diseases. It is therefore better to have smaller portions and supplement them with fruit compotes, or cottage cheese with jam, poppy seed cake. Fresh fruits and vegetables or salads cool the body, it is better to boil them briefly, blanch or sauté them.

An integral part of most dishes of classic Czech cuisine are spices and herbs such as cumin, savory, lovage, fennel, ginger, rosemary, thyme, as welll as cinnamon and clove, which support digestion and have warming effects. Dandelion root, chicory and oregano (dobromysl), popular ingredients in teas or melts, which also support digestion. Chamomile infusion soothes the stomach (if you are not allergic to it), you can drink up to three cups during the day, or make it before going to bed. Oyster mushrooms, reishi and shiitake will also boost immunity and vitality and you can add them to goulash (guláš), soups, stir fry or other Asian dishes, or take them in the form of food supplements. 

Classic Czech cuisine uses local, seasonal ingredients, but it is up to you how you put the individual dishes together. Traditional Chinese medicine divides foods into categories according to their effects on the body – cold, hot, neutral – and Ayurveda based on their effects on the somatotype. “You use these to create your menu according to the season, your constitution, health problems (current or past), gender, age, current life situation (what you are dealing with, what you need to support and what to suppress) and the place where you live,” explains Ján Hurtík. Local foods are imprinted in our DNA. With food, you influence the functioning of your body, because digestion affects not only a person’s health, but also their emotions and thinking. That is why the digestive system has recently been called the second brain.

"In autumn, people often struggle with depression. The reason is the natural closure of nature and the body, but this does not have to mean stagnation, but rather rest and an opportunity to think about your future life. Visions about the future drive us and strengthen our immunity. Think about what you will do in a year, in three, in five or in twenty... Pay attention to a suitable diet, regular exercise, harmonious relationships with others and sufficient amount of sleep and you can experience not only autumn in health and satisfaction, but also your whole life," concludes Ján Hurtík. You can also support a calm mind with evening tea made from St. John's wort (be careful, it has contraindications for antidepressants), lemon balm and thyme. It is better to wait until after St. Martin's Day with a glass of wine, when the seasons change again.

Pure nature is like an open pharmacy for all who know how to choose. The key is to notice its changes throughout the year and learn about its crops and herbs. They can affect our health, both physical and mental. Kateřina Winterová recommends watercress for boosting immunity. “It grows in the garden until frost. Its colorful flowers have a slightly sour, spicy taste, and the leaves add a subtle pungency to salads, bread spreads, and various stir-fry vegetables. A tincture is made from the seeds that relieves coughs and colds. As soon as it starts to get cold outside, I use a tincture from echinacea roots, which boosts immunity,” she adds. Watercress and echinacea should be used together as a preventative measure as long as you are healthy. In the summer, Katka Winterová dried nettle leaves and mullein flowers, and in the fall, she adds rosehip and sea buckthorn to her teas. Cold-pressed sea buckthorn juice is sour, but its vitamin and mineral content makes it as an elixir of health. "At the first signs of a cold, I use sea buckthorn juice or tea. I roughly chop an onion or black radish and mix it with honey. I store it in the refrigerator overnight and then we take the sweet juice by the spoonful when we cough. It also tastes good to children. On the other hand, for adults who do not have problems with digestion, chewing a clove of garlic with a spoonful of honey, rolling the mixture on their tongue and swallowing it has proven effective," recommends Kateřina Winterová. You can also relieve yourself by scenting the space with essential oils with the scent of thyme, cypress, eucalyptus, lavender or tea tree. You can also drop the oil on your wrist, rub it lightly on your temples or under your nose and chest. However, the most effective way to help is to brew hot ginger tea, sweeten it lightly with honey, snuggle under the covers, sweat out the cold, and lie down.

^{Veronika Carmanová - https://www.facebook.com/Karmayogapraha, www.karmayoga.cz, https://www.instagram.com/karmayogapraha/?hl=cs
Ján Hurtík – isth.cz, https://www.linkedin.com/in/thimon-andros
Kateřina Winterová - https://www.facebook.com/katerinawinterovaofficial/?locale=cs_CZ, https://www.facebook.com/culinabotanica?locale=cs_CZ, https://www.instagram.com/katerina_winterova_official/?hl=cs
Herbář - https://www.facebook.com/Herbar?locale=cs_CZ, https://www.instagram.com/herbar_official/
https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10614805433-herbar/}