Winter is mostly about cozying up in our beds with some hot chocolate and sleeping in. It’s the perfect season to slow down. But with winter also comes frequent colds, coughs, and flu. What our bodies need during this time is a balanced, healthy diet with all the foods required to support our immune system. There are some effortless ways to consume nutritious foods to keep you warm and energetic in the chillier months. We have covered the most important ones as well as some super helpful winter nutrition tips in this article.
Read on.
10 Winter Nutrition Tips for You
Let’s read in detail what you can do to keep your family healthy this winter.
Consume Plenty of Vitamin C
Vitamin C has rich antioxidant content which is a must to strengthen immunity in the winter season. It’s popularly found in citrus fruits like lemons, oranges, papayas, kiwis, and guavas. These vitamin C-rich fruits can keep many diseases away while also nourishing your skin and keeping it glowing.
You can increase your Vitamin C intake by consuming these fruits directly or squeezing out their fresh juice.
Add Greens to the Diet
Green vegetables are irreplaceable if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle because they are packed with antioxidants and vitamins. For example, spinach is rich in vitamins A and C. Moreover, most leafy vegetables have mineral, protein, iron, and vitamin content, which not only improve the overall health but also the health of skin and hair. So, make sure to add seasonal leafy greens to your diet.
Prepare Food in Ghee
Desi cow ghee is an excellent source of butyric acid which is tremendously helpful in breaking down food. It makes food easy to digest, soothing your digestive tract. Moreover, ghee is also a great addition to winter season food like lentil soup since it has strong anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
And if dryness is a common problem with you in chillier weather, you can apply a thin layer of ghee to rejuvenate your skin. You can add desi ghee to almost everything you prepare in the kitchen. Desi ghee especially great for children since it consists of nutrients essential for growth.
Eat Dried Fruits for Problems Like Cold
Dried fruits are excellent for retaining warmth in winter, which can prevent and even cure common winter problems like a cold. The most popular winter dried fruits are dates and figs (khajoor and anjeer) since they are both rich in iron and calcium. They are known for keeping up the body’s energy levels. So, make sure to have some dried fruits every day. You can add them to warm milk and prepare a delicious beverage.
Add Honey to Your Beverages and Salad
Processed sugar isn’t healthy. So, what you can do is replace it with honey wherever possible since it is naturally warm. You can use this natural sweetener for your beverages like black tea or lemon tea. You can also add honey as a salad dressing to hot salads. However, diabetics must be careful with their consumption of honey.
Enjoy Warm Soup
Soup is a super healthy winter food to build your immune system and a must-have when you are sick. Moreover, preparing soup is effortless. You can add a mix of healthy vegetables to your soup with some beans or lentils. Meat soup also has great restorative properties and can do wonders in fending off bugs and diseases in winter.
Consume Warm Spices to Fend Off Common Diseases
Indian spices cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, and cardamom provide much-needed warmth to the body in the winter season. They are also known to fight common winter diseases like flu, cold, and cough. So, make sure to consume these spices. You can add them to warm drinks; for example, you can prepare turmeric milk or the famous masala tea.
Add Garlic to Your Meals
Garlic is a root vegetable that gets digested slower and generates more heat, which can be effective in fighting cold and cough during winter. It also has antimicrobial properties, which means that it can destroy microorganisms creating a risk for infections.
You can add garlic to the food we eat in winter, for example, soups, vegetables, khichdi, etc.
Drink Plenty of Water
In the winter season, we don’t feel too thirsty, which can affect the consumption of water and may even cause dehydration. However, it is recommended to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water even though the temperature outside is chilly. This also includes beverages like tea and coffee.
Enjoy Some Warm Beverages
In winter, we tend to drink a lot of hot beverages, mostly lattes, and spiced mochas. But these drinks may do more harm than good because of the high caffeine and calorie levels. Instead, what you can do is prepare hot drinks at home to stimulate your metabolism and blood circulation.
For example, you can prepare ginger shots with turmeric. Fresh ginger tea in the morning is also great in cold weather. You can also add warm spices like nutmeg and cinnamon to your brews to start your day in a refreshing way.
Conclusion
Though you may not be able to consume all the healthy winter food items in a single day, you can add at least one item to your diet every day. You can always come back to this article to see how these winter nutrition tips can be helpful.
Hope you found the article useful. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section!
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