What And How To Eat In Winter

At this time of year, a hot soup warms us up and brightens our day. That is why in this blog will review other foods for winter, tasty and ideal to increase your body temperature, but not your weight.

A rule, to begin with: winter is not synonymous with eating all the time. You can feel a pleasant warmth with warm drinks, such as an emollient, an infusion, pineapple water or old coffee. As far as possible, avoid adding sugar or use panela, sweetener or some natural sweetener instead.

Some essential foods at this time are fruits and vegetables, as they are rich in antioxidants. That is, they reduce the production of free radicals, molecules that cause some respiratory processes. Some recommended fruits in winter are:

• Lemon
• Plum
• Pineapple
• Orange
• Mandarin Orange
• apples
• Pear

All of these contain vitamin C, which reduces the chance of acquiring respiratory tract infections. Vegetables also contain significant concentrations of this vitamin. You can consume them in soups, but without boiling them too much, to avoid the loss of nutrients:

• Broccoli
• Pepper
• Spinach
• Tomato
• Cabbage

You may not be tempted to eat salads when the ambient temperature is low. But that's because you haven't thought about winter salads. Prepare them with your favourite ingredients and add lentils, quinoa or chickpeas. Or chicken, tuna and some potato or noodles.

Another option to eat salads is to leave the typical and refreshing ingredients of summer, such as lettuce, tomato and cucumber, for a while. Or reduce them in quantity. Instead, use more artichokes (navalkol), asparagus (Shatavari), and broccoli.

Foods to include in your diet during winter

Doesn't it make you want to get out of bed on cold mornings? Then she prepares a powerful breakfast and lifts that spirit. The National Institute of Health advises that the first meal of the day should provide 20% of the total caloric value for the day.

In addition, it’s recommending Andean cereals such as quinoa (ragi), kiwicha (ramdana or amaranth) and millet. These contain vegetable-type proteins, essential amino acids of excellent quality, slow-absorbing carbohydrates, fiber, B vitamins and minerals that will also strengthen your immune system.

You can easily prepare these cereals. You just need to parboil them with milk, stevia and cinnamon. Or boil them with quince, green apple and stevia. Without a doubt, these options will increase your body temperature and fill you with energy.

For lunch, soups are the quintessential winter food. Nothing better than preparing some recipes with meat and carbohydrates, such as menestron soup, parboiled soup, chicken broth. If you dare for any of these, you will need a very light main course.

Soups are not only good because they increase your body temperature, but also because they contain a good dose of water and in winter we tend to hydrate less. To drink more liquid, fruit juices are another good option.

If you don't want something overwhelming for dinner, a vegetable cream is ideal. You can make it with corn, pumpkin, cauliflower or combining vegetables. Even with stews. All these ingredients are rich in vitamins and minerals.

What is not recommended are instant soups. They have too much sodium, which represents a danger to your health. In excess, this mineral can cause strokes, high blood pressure and kidney problems, among others.

Actually, you should pay attention to all packaged foods, because most are high in sodium. If in winter you usually eat processed cookies as between meals, that is not good for your health.

Ideally, the mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack should be nuts, such as walnuts, pecans or almonds. You can also eat a bread with little crumb and fresh cheese or any kind of fruit. All these foods are ideal in winter, because they raise body temperature, they have vitamins and minerals.

Fat can also help you feel more full and increase the heat in your body. But do not abuse this product. If you use oil to dress a salad, make it olive, because its fat is monounsaturated.    

Immune system

Let's not forget that every winter it is necessary to strengthen the immune system through a good diet. In this way, our body will fight with better weapons in case of contracting seasonal influenza or even other diseases. The nutrients that help us in this regard are:

• Beta carotene: sweet potato, spinach, carrots, mango and tomatoes.
• Vitamin C: citrus fruits, tomatoes, peppers and broccoli.
• Vitamin D: fatty fish such as bonito and salmon, eggs, milk.
• Zinc: beef and seafood, beans, nuts.
• Probiotics: yogurt.
• Protein: dairy, red and white meats, nuts, lentils.

In short, raise your body temperature by eating healthy and avoiding things that give you too many calories. Do not sacrifice variety, make sure you choose ingredients of different colours because they give you different nutrients.