During cold season the body immunity tend to go down therefore, you need to have nutritional measures to mitigate the risk of contracting diseases.
Apart from a healthy balanced diet, there are foods that you can focus on to keep you warm by regulating the body temperature and prevent development of cold and flu.
Consider taking:
Vitamin C rich foods: this kind of food are very efficient in boosting immunity thus aid in preventing colds and flu.
Sources
- Oranges
- Strawberries
- Kiwi fruit
- Lemon
- Tangerines
Ginger tea: add ginger to your tea. Ginger have got thermo genic effect on the body assisting the body generate more heat by increasing body metabolism. You can little honey to improve the taste.
Soup: all types of nutritious soup are recommended during this season; hot soup will keep the body warm and provide vital nutrients. Look for soup recipes that focus on vegetable broth, chicken broth and meat broth or water-based soup, this is to significantly boost your fluid intake also.
Water: dehydration happens in cold weather just like hot weather, it can even be worse because none of us is likely to think about taking a glass water.to keep hydrated take a lot of soup, ginger tea and sip warm water as often as possible. Remember coffee does not count in your fluid intake.
Spicy food or stew: hot pepper has a compound called capsaicin; this phytochemical induces thermogenesis-a process where the body generate heat by increasing metabolism. Capsaicin also opens blood vessels making it easier for the blood to reach body extremities.
Honey: honey have got anti-bacterial and viral properties aid in preventing in flus and colds -add honey to your ginger tea or warm water. You can replace your margarine with honey as bread spread.
Root vegetables-this type of food are slowly digested thus generates more heat compared to other foods.
Sources
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
- Pumpkin
- Squash
- Yams
- Cassavas
Dress warm and keep moving.