The cold is just around the corner, which means it’s time to take care of vitamins and your immunity. Moreover, finding healthy vegetables and fruits on store shelves is not a problem now.
What should be done to get less sick in the cold season? First, strengthen your body, including including more seasonal vegetables and fruits in your diet. Doctors say they do us the most good. And secondly, take care of the preparations: many components of the “vitamin pantry” retain their valuable properties when frozen, dried or certain types of canning. Read our instructions and plan a bright interesting winter without colds and thermometers.
Pumpkin
The benefits of pumpkin can hardly be overestimated. After all, it was even used as a love spell. The bright color of this amazing vegetable speaks of its richness with vitamins. Moreover, we are talking about both pumpkin pulp and pumpkin seeds. Given the high potassium content, pumpkin is recommended for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal tract. By the way, pumpkin seeds are especially recommended for men – they contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which have a positive effect on the level of male hormones.
Figs
The sweet fruit has many beneficial properties. It is very rich in iodine, it is not without reason that it is recommended for people with thyroid problems. The easiest way to preserve figs and all their beneficial qualities is to send them to the freezer. To do this, you must first rinse the figs, dry, cut and put in a bag for freezing. In a cold winter, it will be very useful to add fruits to oatmeal porridge. This is how the champion’s breakfast starts!
Nuts
Nuts contain up to 70% vegetable fats. However, unlike animal fats, vegetable fats do not contain cholesterol. In terms of minerals, nuts contain iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, selenium, phosphorus, and that’s not the whole list! The immunity benefits are clear. In addition, just one serving of nuts a day (no more than 30 grams) can help reduce the likelihood of diabetes by 27% and blood cholesterol levels by about 5%. It is best to store nuts in the refrigerator to avoid rancidity. They will not take up much space, because you need to eat them very little.
mushrooms
It is no secret that mushrooms contain a large amount of protein, according to experts, even more than meat. Along with this, mushrooms retain a rich supply of trace elements and vitamins. Picking mushrooms in the forest is a separate pleasure. However, you can buy, and then dry, pickle or freeze. There is a whole collection of recipes on how to preserve mushrooms for the winter in the most delicious and healthy way.
plums
One of the healthiest and most popular seasonal fruits. The composition contains a fairly rich spectrum of vitamins and minerals, in addition, the low calorie content allows you to indulge in sweets. Especially recommended for those with diabetes or potassium deficiency. And what is especially good, plums can be eaten fresh with equal success (the main thing is that they are ripe) or canned, the taste and benefits do not disappear anywhere. By the way, plums have another incredible property – they protect the body from aggressive types of cancer.
Eggplant
Eggplant can do anything: make you lose weight, strengthen bones and lower cholesterol levels. These fruits contain a large amount of potassium, which our body needs. A high concentration of minerals and healthy fats will help to take care of beauty: hair will get a special shine, and nails will become stronger. By the way, this vegetable is often recommended for people with diabetes, as well as diseases of the heart and blood vessels. And for the winter, eggplant is stored both in the form of canned food and freezing, you just need to cut it into cubes or circles.
Grapes
In winter, as a rule, the lack of vitamins in the body can be noticed by the dryness of our skin. Moisturizers help solve the problem, but not only them. Eat more grapes during the harvest season: they are rich in zinc, which has a positive effect on the skin, nails and hair. There are also antioxidants in grapes that help cleanse the blood of cholesterol, normalize the heart rate, and also remove unnecessary toxins and toxins from the body. In winter, when we move much less than in other months, such properties are especially relevant.
Cranberries
If you regularly use this sour berry, you can save yourself from viral infections for the whole winter. The forest cranberry has a huge number of useful properties, for a long time it has also been used as an antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agent. You can simply freeze it for the winter, or you can skip it through a meat grinder by adding a little honey and lemon. And on cold evenings – a couple of spoons in tea!
Sea buckthorn and rose hips
A powerful supply of various vitamins (especially vitamin C), trace elements, essential oils and organic acids. And even more so in a duet. Sea buckthorn freezes perfectly, you can also make jam or syrup for fruit drinks from it for the winter, and it is better to just dry the rosehip so that it can be brewed with tea in cold weather. By the way, “winter tea” is a great way not only to invigorate the immune system, but also to keep warm. It’s also delicious.