The dark season

🧠 What really happens inside you

With every day that gets shorter, your inner chemistry changes.

Less daylight means less serotonin - the neurotransmitter for drive and a good mood.

More darkness means more melatonin - the sleep hormone that makes you tired in the afternoon.

At the same time the cortisol, your stress hormone, because your body demands rest while your everyday life demands performance.

That is not a weakness. It is evolution.

🔥 Your metabolism knows no calendar

While you're sitting in the office, your body is still running
an ancient program: your basal metabolic rate drops, you consume fewer calories, your system wants to save energy.

What used to ensure survival now makes us tired and sluggish.

You feel the consequences every day:

• You need more sleep but don't get enough
• Your body stores fat faster - the famous winter weight
• You react more sensitively to stress and stimuli

🦠 Even your gut has the winter blues

❓What many people don't know:
Your microbiome - the trillions of bacteria in your gut -
changes with the seasons.

Bacterial diversity decreases in winter. Less daylight means less Vitamin D, less exercise in the fresh air, more time in heated rooms.

The result? Your digestion becomes more sensitive.
Flatulence, bloating and cravings increase.
Stress makes the intestinal mucosa more permeable - experts speak of „Leaky Gut“.

What was easy to digest in summer can now become a challenge.

✅ The winter wisdom that your body has long known

Instead of fighting against these natural rhythms,
you could follow them:

1️⃣ SLEEP is your superpower
7-9 hours is not a weakness. It's biology. Your brain tidies up at night, your immune system regenerates, your hormones find their balance.

This is how it works:
→ 9 p.m.: Mobile phone in flight mode
→ 21:30Warm foot bath (10 min)
→ 10 pm: In bed. No Netflix. A book.

2️⃣ LIGHT at the right time
Your inner clock needs clear signals.

The rhythm:
→ 7 a.m.: 10 minutes at the window, even in the rain
→ Midday: 20 min walk, without sunglasses
→ From 8 p.m.: Only warm light, no screens

3️⃣ The THREE-WARM RULE
-Warmth from the outside: woolen socks, scarf, second layer
-Warmth from within: Ginger tea, spices, warm breakfast
-Heat through movement: Don't exhaust yourself - activate gently

4️⃣ BREATHE against winter stress
The 4-7-8 breathing immediately calms your nervous system:
→ Breathe in for 4 seconds
→ Hold for 7 seconds
→ Exhale for 8 seconds
3 times before each meal. Your cortisol will drop measurably.

🎥 Here are the video instructions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0w-Xdx-9Qs&t=5s

🍲 The winter kitchen that heals

TOMORROW (7-9 o'clock is stomach time according to TCM):
Forget the cold muesli. Your stomach needs 37°C.
✓ Oatmeal with cinnamon and walnuts
✓ Millet porridge with cardamom and dates
✓ Congee - rice 1:10 with water, simmer for 3 hours
✓ Sweet potato mash with tahini

WEDNESDAY (warming power):
✓ Pumpkin and ginger soup with coconut milk
✓ Red lentil dal with turmeric
✓ Miso broth with shiitake and seaweed
✓ Kitchari - mung beans + rice + spices

ABENDS (before 7 p.m. - then a break for digestion):
✓ Steamed root vegetables with sesame oil
✓ Clear vegetable stock with rice flakes
✓ Oven vegetables at 180°C, slow cooked

🌿 The spice pharmacy for dark days

Your daily „Golden milk 2.0„:
→ 250ml oat milk
→ 1 tsp turmeric + pinch of black pepper
→ ½ tsp cinnamon + 3 cardamom pods
→ 1 slice of fresh ginger
→ 1 tsp almond butter
Gently heat, do not boil - at 70°C the valuable ingredients are retained. Leave to infuse for 5 minutes. The best investment in your day.

Spices that count now:
-Ginger warms and activates digestion
-Cinnamon regulates blood sugar
-Cardamom calms and grounds
-Turmeric inhibits inflammation
-Black pepper makes turmeric 2000x more effective

🦠 The 3-week bowel reset

Week 1: Set up
→ 1 tablespoon of sauerkraut for lunch every day
→ In the evening: Warm bone broth or vegetable broth
→ In the morning: Warm lemon water with ginger

Week 2: Nourish
→ In the morning: 1 teaspoon of psyllium husks in warm water
→ Add fermented food: Miso, tempeh, kimchi
→ Gently increase fiber: cooked vegetables

Week 3: Strengths
→ Resistant starch: Cooled potatoes, rice from the previous day
→ Prebiotics: Chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, parsnips
→ Soluble fiber for a healthy microbiome

🌙 The forgotten 5 p.m. trick

Your body produces melatonin from 5 pm.
Don't fight it:
→ Dim the light
→ Make yourself comfortable
→ Eat light and warm
→ Accept the tiredness
That is not a weakness.
That is your rhythm.

📦 Two helpers for your winter gut

For an optimal supply of dietary fiber:
BS Plus combines acacia fiber, resistant starch, psyllium husks and collagen - exactly what your sensitive winter gut needs. The soluble fibers nourish your microbiome and also support butyrate formation as a side effect.
🔗 Find out more about BS Plus:
www.meine-tcm.com/produkt/bs-ballaststoffe-plus

🍫 When you have a sweet tooth:
XOCOLÁ - a chocolate that your microbiome loves. 72% cocoa, over 25g fiber per 100g, sweetened with D-tagatose instead of sugar.
🔗 Discover XOCOLÁ: www.meine-tcm.com/produkt/xocola

💛 Conclusion: This time is not a step backwards

It is an invitation to clarity.

To understand what is happening inside you.
To realize that your tiredness is not a weakness,
but millions of years of wisdom from your body.

The dark season doesn't demand any discipline from you.
She demands permission.

Permission to slow down.
To live warmer.
To be gentler with you.

With a warm meal in the morning.
With spices that heal.
With a rhythm that corresponds to your nature.

Our grandparents still knew it - people live differently in winter.
Slower. Warmer. Turned inwards.

They had no studies on melatonin and cortisol.
They had intuition.

Time to find them again.

Because sometimes strength starts right there,
where we stop fighting -
and begin to understand.