Making the right choice of foods can help you warm up in the winter cold. For example, it is no coincidence that in winter we prefer to cook hearty soups and serve them with black bread and lard. Such a meal warms you up perfectly after a walk in the frost.
However, there are foods and drinks that are better to avoid in winter, as they can cool the body down. Even if they are served hot. Nutritionist Zhanna Tikhanycheva explained what is not recommended to consume in frosty weather:
Smoothies and Fresh Salads
It is not advisable to get carried away with fresh vegetables, salads, fruits, and berries, as well as to prepare smoothies. These products cool the body, while our goal is to achieve the opposite effect. Therefore, it is better to bake vegetables and root crops, boil broths, prepare pureed soups, and add baked or stewed fruits to morning porridge. Berries can be used to make fruit drinks, infusions, sauces for meat dishes, or to bake pies.
Summer Berries
In winter, many summer berries that children love can be found in stores. However, I do not recommend buying fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and similar products. They are often brought from afar, treated with pesticides and nitrates, and harvested unripe and treated with chemicals for transportation. The same goes for grapes and exotic apples, which may have a layer of wax to extend shelf life. It is better to consume seasonal local fruits and to use frozen berries.
Milk and Bananas
In winter, many suffer from viral and cold illnesses, often experiencing a wet cough and runny nose. To avoid the accumulation of excess mucus in the body, I recommend minimizing or temporarily excluding such mucus-forming products as bananas, sugar, dairy products, oatmeal, starchy vegetables (such as potatoes), pasta, and bread. Even such a healthy product as avocado should be consumed in smaller amounts in winter, and if you really want it, combine it with warm food and spices.
Green Tea
Leave drinks like Ivan tea, matcha, and green tea for the summer season, as they have a cooling effect, even when served hot.
Do not drink chilled water and do not add ice to drinks — this will only intensify the cold. Instead, it is better to drink warm water, brew rose hips, hawthorn, and if desired, black tea with thyme.
By following the basic rules of seasonal nutrition, you will be able to surprise yourself with the results — colds, runny noses, low energy levels, and feeling cold will be a thing of the past. You will be active and full of energy in any weather.
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