Whether we talk about winter season food or any other seasonal food, eating seasonal foods has always offered numerous benefits, one of the biggest being that they’re fresh and natural. Seasonal foods are typically free from preservatives and chemicals, making them a healthier choice. Plus, they’re often more cost-effective and add variety to your diet. Eating the same foods all year can get boring, but seasonal fruits bring excitement and spark creativity in the kitchen. For instance, mango lovers eagerly await summer for that one perfect, sweet, and juicy slice of mango! Seasonal foods are grown at the right time, allowing them to ripen naturally, which means they’re packed with mouthwatering flavour.
If you are choosing seasonal food then you are not only helping your body, but you are also supporting sustainable culture.
Winter Season Food
Every seasonal food has its own uniqueness, taste and qualities. Winter season food is usually to provide warmth and energy to our body on sluggish winter days. Some foods are rich in antioxidants to boost your immunity so that you are free from catching any winter illness. There are different foods to keep you warm in colder months. Furthermore, there are foods even for your skin health. So, you should, for sure, embrace a seasonal eating pattern.
Here are some most popular winter season food lists along with their benefits:-
1. Sweet Potato – Sweet Potato is a root vegetable. One of the very popular winter food items. Sweet potatoes are sweet in taste as the name suggests. It has all the essential vitamins to support your health. It is rich in antioxidants. It has complex carbohydrates that take longer hours to get digested, providing slow and steady energy to keep you warm. This is why, it is an ideal winter season food to include in your diet.
2. Carrot Pudding – Carrot pudding or as many of us lovingly call it, Gajar ka Halwa. It is the king of desserts in the winter season as it is made with seasonal ingredients and perfect to satisfy our sweet cravings, along with keeping you warm. Most of us have memories of our parents or grandparents, making carrot pudding for us, and it just feels right to carry on the tradition. The very reason why winter feels incomplete without carrot pudding.
3. Gond Laddu – Gond Laddus are must haves which are made at home with love and warmth of our elder ones. If you haven’t tried one, then you are missing out, one of the most healthy winter season food. These are made with super nutritious ingredients such as edible gum (gond), nuts, ghee, jaggery, seeds and many more. These are very healthy for our joints, immunity and skin.
4. Bajra Khichdi – It is a win-win winter food because it is tasty as well as nutritious. Winter foods are usually heavy but this food is very easy to digest – a great source to keep yourself charged the whole day without having the feeling of being full. Bajra is a winter-season crop packed with multiple nutrients which are iron, fibre, protein, and magnesium. So, making khichdi with this ingredient is nourishing. You can also add up your favourite veggies as it is versatile to make.
5. Beetroot – Beetroot is a reddish purple colour which I love as its colour makes my plate glow along with my skin. The reason for such glow is its high ability to detoxify your body. It is naturally sweet in taste but some people find it difficult to eat it raw. If you are one of those then you can try eating it as roasted, beetroot hummus, or you can also blend it into smoothies. Try it for sure, it has immense benefits for your whole body starting from skin to even your heart health. So, what is there to not love?
6. Leafy Green Vegetables – As the temperature starts to drop, green leafy veggies start to pop into the market. Greenery in markets. Winter season is a peak season for all green veggies like spinach, cabbages, fenugreek (Methi), kale and so on. They are superheroes for our body not only in winter but during the whole year but what makes winter greeneries special is freshness and flavor. Winter season is when green vegetables grow perfectly. Green leafy vegetables are like vitamin factories! These boost your immunity along with energy. Delicious and cosy to eat. They are versatile, so with experiments and creativity, you can have wonderful dishes on your plates.
7. Ghee – Ghee and winter are a match made in foodie heaven! Ghee is known for its priceless health benefits along with taste. Ghee is used in ayurvedic medicines and it is considered as ‘sattvic’ food which means it provides calmness and healing to your body. Eating ghee in winter will help to keep your skin healthy from the inside, which will make you glow from the outside. Ghee has healthy fats and essential vitamins to keep your bones strong and boost your immunity system for the long term. It has fats that are easy to digest eventually improving your digestive system. Usually, gond laddus and carrot pudding have ghee as their ingredients. If you want to add ghee to your diet, then you can start by adding a smear of it on a warm roti or rice. You can also add a spoon of ghee to your chai or tea.
8. Oranges, Grapefruits and Kiwi – Winters are way too harsh on your skin, especially for those who already have dry skin. Oranges, grapefruits, and kiwis are rich in vitamin C, which is essential to repair your skin and boost immunity. Vitamin C promotes collagen production which is important for healthy skin. Plus, these fruits keep you hydrated. In winter we often forget to drink water but the body needs water, so, these fruits fulfil our body’s demand. They were eventually, protecting your skin from getting dry and dull.
Conclusion
Incorporating winter season foods in your diet will benefit your health in all ways possible leading you to a healthy lifestyle. It will help you stay hydrated, warm, energised and with stronger joints. Winter season’s fruits and vegetables will boost your immunity, keeping cold and flu at bay. Moreover, sweet treats like carrot pudding and gond laddus will keep your heart and bellies warm. So, enjoy the season with seasonal foods.