The Best Herbs & Botanicals for Fall 🍂
Fall is a season of transition.
The days become shorter, temperatures begin to drop, our routines shift indoors, and cold and flu season starts to make its annual appearance. For many of us, fall can also bring changes in energy, mood, digestion, sleep, and immunity.
One of my favorite ways to move with the seasons is by incorporating more herbs, roots, spices, and whole-food remedies into my everyday routine.
These foods aren't magic cures, but many contain naturally occurring plant compounds that have been used traditionally for generations and are now being studied for their potential effects on inflammation, digestion, mood, immune function, and overall wellness.
Here are a few of my favorites to reach for during the fall months.
1. Licorice Root
For: throat comfort + seasonal respiratory support
Licorice root has been used traditionally for centuries, particularly for soothing the throat and supporting respiratory comfort.
During the colder months, when dry air, seasonal irritation, and frequent throat clearing become more common, a warm cup of licorice-root tea can feel especially soothing.
Why I love it for fall: Its naturally sweet, earthy flavor makes it perfect for warm herbal teas, especially alongside ginger or cinnamon.
Try it: Steep licorice root with fresh ginger in hot water for a comforting evening tea.
Important: Licorice root containing glycyrrhizin can raise blood pressure and may cause serious side effects when consumed excessively or long-term. It isn't appropriate for everyone, particularly people with high blood pressure, heart or kidney conditions, or certain medication regimens.
2. Raw Garlic
For: immune-supportive plant compounds + cardiovascular wellness
Garlic is one of those simple ingredients that deserves more appreciation.
When garlic is chopped or crushed, it forms sulfur-containing compounds such as allicin.
Garlic has been extensively studied for its potential effects on cardiovascular health, including modest effects on cholesterol and blood pressure in some research.
Garlic is also widely used during cold and flu season because of its antimicrobial activity in laboratory research, although human evidence showing that garlic actually prevents or treats the common cold is still limited.
Why I love it for fall: Fall cooking naturally lends itself to garlic: soups, roasted vegetables, lentils, beans, pasta sauces, broths, and hearty grain bowls.
Try it: Crush fresh garlic and add it to hummus, salad dressings, soups, or a warm bowl of beans and greens.
And remember: food first. You don't necessarily need a highly concentrated garlic supplement to benefit from including garlic regularly in your cooking.
3. Ginger
For: digestion + warming seasonal comfort
Fresh ginger might be one of the easiest herbs to incorporate into your daily routine.
Ginger has a long history of traditional use for digestive discomfort, and modern research supports some uses of ginger for nausea.
Its spicy warmth also makes it especially appealing during cooler months.
Why I love it for fall:Our diets often shift toward heavier, warmer meals during fall, and ginger is an easy addition to meals and drinks when you want something warming and digestion-friendly.
Try it: Grate fresh ginger into:
hot water with lemon
curries and soups
smoothies
oatmeal
stir-fries
homemade dressings
One of my favorite fall combinations is ginger + lemon + a little maple syrup in hot water.
4. Saffron
For: mood + emotional wellness during darker months
Saffron is one of the more exciting botanicals being studied for mental wellness.
A growing body of research has looked at saffron for symptoms of depression and anxiety, including randomized trials and recent meta-analyses. The research is promising, although saffron shouldn't be considered a substitute for professional mental-health treatment.
Why I love it for fall: As daylight decreases, some people notice shifts in motivation, mood, and energy. Fall is a beautiful time to become more intentional about supporting your nervous system through nourishing meals, daylight exposure, movement, community, sleep—and potentially supportive botanicals.
Try it: Add a few saffron threads to warm plant milk, rice, soups, tea, or a cozy evening latte.
A little saffron goes a long way.
5. Turmeric
For: an anti-inflammatory-focused fall kitchen
Turmeric has been used traditionally for centuries and contains a family of compounds called curcuminoids, including curcumin.
Research has explored turmeric and curcumin for a wide range of uses, with some encouraging early evidence around joint discomfort and mobility, although the evidence isn't strong enough to claim turmeric prevents or treats disease.
Why I love it for fall: This is the season of warming curries, soups, lentils, roasted vegetables, and golden drinks—all perfect places to incorporate turmeric naturally.
Try it: Simmer turmeric with ginger, cinnamon, plant milk, and a touch of maple syrup for a homemade golden milk.
For everyday wellness, I generally love thinking about turmeric as a food, rather than feeling like we need extremely concentrated supplements.
6. Chamomile
For: calming your nervous system + creating an evening ritual
Fall is also an invitation to slow down.
Chamomile has a long history of use as a calming herb. Preliminary research suggests chamomile extract may have benefits for some people experiencing anxiety, although evidence isn't yet conclusive. Research supporting chamomile specifically as an insomnia treatment is also limited.
That doesn't mean the ritual itself isn't valuable.
Preparing a warm cup of tea, putting your phone away, lowering the lights, and creating a consistent evening routine can be a beautiful cue to your body that the day is ending.
Why I love it for fall: Earlier sunsets naturally invite us into slower evenings.
Try it: Make chamomile tea after dinner and pair it with 5–10 minutes of stretching, journaling, meditation, or reading.
Two Fall Nutrients Worth Remembering
While they aren't herbs, two nutrients deserve a quick mention during this season:
Vitamin C
Vitamin C plays an important role in normal immune function and also helps your body absorb non-heme iron—the form of iron found in plant foods. Rather than immediately reaching for a supplement, load up on colorful fall produce: Citrus · kiwi · bell peppers · broccoli · Brussels sprouts · strawberries · leafy greens. Vitamin C isn't a magic shield against colds, though. Regular intake may modestly shorten cold duration for some people, but it doesn't prevent most people from catching one.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is worth paying particular attention to as the seasons change because our bodies can produce it through UVB exposure, and factors including season, length of day, cloud cover, skin pigmentation, and time spent outdoors affect that production. For people eating plant-based, vitamin D can come from fortified foods and supplements. Vegan vitamin D3 made from lichen is also available. If you're concerned about your vitamin D status, testing and discussing supplementation with your healthcare provider is preferable to guessing at a high-dose regimen.
Your Fall Herbal Ritual
You don't need an overflowing supplement cabinet to practice seasonal wellness.
Start small. Keep fresh ginger and garlic in your kitchen.Make an herbal tea at night.Add turmeric to your soups and curries.Experiment with saffron.Eat deeply colored fruits and vegetables.Get outside during daylight hours.Move your body. Sleep. Fall can be less about trying to “boost” your body and more about giving it the nutrients, plants, rituals, movement, rest, and nourishment it needs to function well.
Sometimes wellness really is that simple.
A seasonal reminder: Herbs and supplements can interact with medications and aren't appropriate for everyone. This article is for educational purposes only and isn't intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medications, managing a medical condition, or considering concentrated herbal supplements, talk with your healthcare provider first.
Comments