Winter is here and it may hang around for a little longer than we would like! Getting important nutrients from the foods you eat is one of the best ways to strengthen your immune system while helping your baby grow.
Four tips to practice eating well this winter season:
- Eat vegetables and fruits:
These will provide you and baby with a variety of minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals and fibre. It helps you stay hydrated, beat constipation and meet you and your growing baby’s needs. The new Canada’s Food Guide recommends making half of your plate vegetables and fruits. It also encourages us to eat different textures, shapes and colours of fruits and veggies to fit our taste.
- Opt for seasonal produce when possible:
Examples of winter vegetables are cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, beets, carrots, squash, potatoes and variety of cabbages. For fruits, you can choose varieties that were harvested in the late autumn such as apples, pomegranates, grapes and pears.
In case you had any doubt, frozen vegetables and fruits are a wonderful option to use as well. Fruits and veggies are shock-frozen at the time of harvest. This means that they are frozen at a really low temperature for a short period of time. This process helps maintain their original taste, moisture and texture. Frozen veggies and fruits can be used in smoothies, soups, casseroles or topped on salads.
- Get some vitamin D:
Our skin makes vitamin D from the sun. In long winter months, we do not get enough vitamin D from sunlight because of the weather or we may spend more time indoors.Some food sources of vitamin D include fatty fish like salmon (fresh or canned), rainbow trout, Atlantic herring, canned sardines and canned light tuna. You can also get vitamin D from milk (regular cow’s milk, fortified soy beverage, or evaporated milk).
- Make soups:
A warm hearty soup can be very satisfying on a cold day. Soups do not have to be complicated; with lots of vegetables, some beans or lentils and maybe some meat, soup is the perfect food to support your immune system against those winter bugs waiting to make you sick! Try our Ginger butternut squash soup or warm up with Curried sweet potato & lentil soup.
How do you keep healthy in winter months? Comment below and let us know!
Oh and try to take a multivitamin along with it to help with any vitamins or minerals you might be missing out on 😉 great article 🙌
The Vitamin D is so important!