Ayurvedic experts always encourage eating seasonal fruits and vegetables. If the winter season’s got you wondering what foods are best to stack up on your kitchen shelf, this article will help. Here’s a list of 8 healthiest winter fruits and veggies.
First up is pumpkin, a popular winter delight. This fruit is packed with fibre that aids smoother digestion and helps you stay full for longer. It’s got plenty of vitamin A, great for your eyes, skin, and bones. Pumpkin has also been found to lower blood pressure. And did you know that it promotes better sleep? Thanks to its tryptophan content.
Beetroot is one of the healthiest vegetables to eat during winter. In Ayurveda, it classifies as a warming and energising food. This red root is packed with nutrients like potassium, folate, antioxidants, and vitamins A and C. They’re great to add to soups, stews, smoothies, and salads. In fact, you can even use for your skin.
If you’re down with a cough and cold, add onions to your food. These pungent veggies are warming for the body. And they boost immunity, control cholesterol, reduce inflammation, as well as aid smooth digestion. They’re also low on calories, so you don’t have to worry about gaining weight from eating them. Here’s more about onions.
A cross between mandarins and oranges, clementines are a great source of vitamin C. They also contain minerals like magnesium, potassium, and calcium. These delicious winter fruits hydrate the body quite well and give you a boost of energy. Low on calories but high in fibre, they make an excellent day-time snack.
Among the most popular winter fruits of all times, apples provide you with a variety of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They’re particularly high in fibre too. Apples are good for so many things. They improve digestion, increase red blood cell levels, help reduce weight, and boost immunity. They even lower cholesterol.
Next on the list of the best winter foods is the healthier version of white potatoes. Sweet potatoes contain loads of nutrients like beta-carotene, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, fibre, and manganese. And though they taste sweeter than the white variant, sweet potatoes actually rank lower on the glycemic index.
Kale is one of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. This power veggie boasts of a variety of nutrients in high concentrations – iron, vitamin K, Omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C just to name a few. What’s more, kale is super-low on calories and has zero fat. A must-have vegetable in your kitchen.
The humble pear has a lot to offer. It’s sweet and juicy, and has the goodness of nutrients like fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, copper, potassium, and manganese. Being devoid of any fat, it’s a great fruit to add to your weight loss diet. And it also helps fight disease since it has potent antioxidant properties.
Is there anything you’d like to add to the list of healthiest winter fruits and vegetables? Let us know!