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In the cold season, our body lacks the necessary vitamins and minerals in the right amount. We try to restore the balance with the help of vitamins and supplements, forgetting about well-known, proven products. Let’s try to use the experience of previous generations. What is good to eat in winter?
Sauerkraut
Scientists at the Institute for Integrative Medicine at Witten University in Germany believe that sauerkraut is the oldest canned food in Central Europe.
When preparing sauerkraut, a fermentation method is used. The essence of the process is to change the chemical composition of the product in a natural way. The type of fermentation that enriches most foods with beneficial bacteria is called lactic acid fermentation. It is lactic acid that inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria. Thanks to this, vegetables and perishable foods can be stored for a long time without the use of refrigerators and freezers.
Both fermented milk products and cabbage produce beneficial probiotics during fermentation. They have a beneficial effect on the immune, digestive and endocrine functions of our body. Carbohydrates are converted into alcohols or organic acids.
In addition to probiotics, sauerkraut contains antioxidants and dietary fiber, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamins K, C.
What exactly is sauerkraut good for?
- She is the “supplier” of probiotics necessary for health. During fermentation, lactobacilli are formed, which enrich the microflora in our intestines. They help prevent indigestion and promote the absorption of the nutrients we get from food.
- It improves the function of the immune system. A healthy gut activates and maintains the immune system, which acts as a protective barrier against microbial infections.
- It prevents the development of inflammatory processes and allergies, contributes to the fight against autoimmune diseases, increases the level of NK cells – the natural defenders of our body.
- Helps to produce antioxidants that protect us from the harmful effects of the environment.
Baked apples
This familiar fruit is available all year round and is grown all over the world. Apples contain many vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, C, E, H, PP. B6 and its special form, pyridoxine, have the greatest benefit. It is involved in the active metabolism of amino acids. One of the main advantages of this vitamin is its resistance to high temperatures. And this means that even after heat treatment, apples remain useful for us. And what could be better and easier than baking a sweet fruit on a cold winter evening?
Let’s look at the health benefits of baked apples. It is enough to eat one baked apple to clean the teeth of accumulated bacteria and plaque. The blood supply to the gums improves, bad breath disappears.
The active substances in the composition of the fruit affect the functioning of our body. Sodium contained in apples regulates blood pressure in nerve and muscle tissues, participates in water metabolism and activation of digestive enzymes.
Potassium affects the functioning of the liver, the correct heart rhythm, and muscle function. Magnesium has a positive effect on the nervous system, is involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Calcium and phosphorus strengthen our bones, teeth, tendons. Therefore, doctors recommend eating apples for sprains, microcracks.
Baked apples regulate bowel function, help with constipation. By helping to remove cholesterol from the body, they help combine free radicals, which contain a large amount of pectins.
Beetroot
Most often, beets are associated with borscht or herring “under a fur coat.” However, recently it has been gaining popularity as a real domestic “superfood”. And not in vain.
Beetroot has many health benefits.
- Beet juice helps lower blood pressure, which was proven in a study in 2015. For 68 people with high blood pressure, daily consumption of 250 milliliters of the drink produced positive results. Their blood pressure dropped.
- Regular consumption of beetroot juice is an excellent prevention of heart failure, strokes, heart attacks and other life-threatening complications of cardiovascular disease.
- Beets contain an antioxidant called alpha-lipoic acid. It helps lower glucose levels and improve insulin sensitivity.
- Beets are rich in fiber, which is beneficial for normal digestion and intestinal health.
- Drinking beetroot juice improves the absorption of oxygen by the muscles during sports training.
- Beets are a natural source of vitamins A, C, folic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
To give a brighter taste, beetroot juice can be mixed with orange, pineapple, lemon or others. But it is worth considering that this may increase the sugar content in the drink.
Convinced of the benefits of “boring” products that are well known to us, you can safely go to the market to get them, or maybe even get your grandmother’s cookbook out of the closet and recall family recipes for beetroot, sauerkraut and apple desserts.