Spring is a new start for many of us. This applies to all sorts of things in our lives, but very often, that’s when we turn our attention to health. After winter, we often feel neglected, and shedding unnecessary winter kilograms becomes a key issue for us. To eat right and support your body in proper development, it is good to follow fashionable seasonal diets that best suit the rhythm of our lives.
What are seasonal diets?
Seasonal diets are nothing more than a menu based on seasonality, i.e. products that grow and mature at a given time of the year. Although currently most vegetables and fruits can be bought at the supermarket all year round, fewer and fewer consumers buy them out of season. Why? Because then they are distasteful! What’s more, artificially bred (that is, contrary to the rhythm of the seasons), they do not have half as much taste and nutritional value as the seasonal ones.
Certainly, many people longing for the flavors of summer have reached for bland tomatoes or tasteless raspberries, bought in the winter in the supermarket. Unfortunately, most often such a purchase turns out to be a failure and a disappointment. So, instead of fooling yourself that a tomato will taste the same twelve months of the year, it’s much better to eat it when there is time.
Seasonality in the diet is an old practice. This is how our grandparents and great-grandparents ate. This resulted not only from the wealth of the wallet, but also from the fact that people lived in harmony with the rhythm of nature. Completely different products were eaten in autumn and winter, and different in the period when nature was waking up again in spring and summer. This approach has a beneficial effect on our body. Thanks to it, we can be sure that we provide our body with the best and care for its perfect form.
Advantages of seasonal diets
Many specialists suggest that instead of fashionable and complicated diets, it is much healthier to eat seasonally. This is due to a simple fact. Our body has different needs at different times of the year. We must meet these needs if we want to live a healthy life and keep a slim figure.
Plants that have been grown naturally provide much more vitamins and minerals than their counterfeit (mostly greenhouse) sisters. The most important thing is to preserve the natural growing season of the plants, preferably without excessive human interference. It is also worth adding that seasonal products are not only healthier but also cheaper. By eating locally, we also support domestic businesses, but also omit all, expensive and non-ecological transport.
Although you can try to close the flavors of the season in jars, in the form of preserves, jams or frozen meals, only the fresh ones taste really special. Only in them we can also find the richest source of dietary fiber, so necessary for proper development.
There are fashionable seasonal diets that we can reach for, such as the diet of Dr. Dąbrowska, which is based primarily on seasonal products. However, you can try to set the menu yourself. It is enough to go to the nearby market, which, regardless of the season, delights with the wealth of possibilities.
Fashionable seasonal diets, or what to eat in spring and summer?
Spring and summer are intense times of growth. Thanks to this, we can use handfuls of the gifts of nature, full of intense flavors and aromas. As nature comes to life, new types of fruit and vegetables ripen each week. Delicious asparagus, plump tomatoes and new potatoes, and for dessert a handful of strawberries or currants.
In warm timesmonths are simpler and the energy demand is lower. Thanks to the fact that we can eat fruit and vegetables almost straight from the bush, cooking at this time is not complicated. This is a great time for a nutritious pasta salad with tomatoes or new potatoes with a fried egg. What’s more, a meal eaten in the sunshine in the fresh air tastes by far the best.
Fashionable seasonal diets, or why should we eat differently in autumn and winter?
The autumn and winter time is a period of intense energy demand. The body then stores the supplies it needs during the cold months, when our immunity decreases with the temperature outside the window. During this period, we should eat as many warming meals as possible. Silage, groats, as well as ginger and garlic are the basis of the winter menu.
Seasonal diet in autumn and winter also includes root vegetables and nuts that provide us with the necessary nutrients. It is worth remembering about them when composing your daily menu when it is hot and cold outside.
What do we need to remember when using a seasonal diet?
A healthy and balanced diet is a varied diet. Specialist nutritionists suggest that the plate should be colorful. The easiest way to do that is, of course, in spring and summer, but you can eat healthy and tasty during the colder months. It is also important that the products are fresh and as little processed as possible. Then we have the greatest guarantee that we get the best from them.
If in doubt about how to start a seasonal diet, it is best to consult a dietitian who will suggest the best solution for you.