Winter fruits and vegetables: our tips to boost their benefits
Focusing on seasonal products helps to limit the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their transportation. It also allows you to eat fruits or vegetables harvested at maturity, when their flavor and vitamin content are optimal. To enjoy 100% of these good nutrients, there are a few rules to follow: limit preservation, avoid soaking in water, peel or cut them at the last moment, cook them just the necessary time, preferably in steam or smothering. And to multiply their benefits, it is enough to prepare them with food that will boost their beneficial effects on health.
The apple: good for the heart
Its assets: its flesh is colored by quercetin, an antioxidant polyphenol protecting the arteries which also lowers the tension. Studies associate high consumption with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. It provides pectin, a fiber that reduces blood levels of “bad cholesterol” (LDL).
Good combinations: Eat it with nuts, whose omega-3 lowers triglycerides (other fats) and prevents clots by thinning the blood. Or oatmeal, including beta-glucans (fibers), which also lower cholesterol.
Squash: special fragile intestine
Its advantages: it does not harm the intestine, since its fiber content is not very high and it is pectin, a “soft fiber”. The orange-fleshed butternut variety is concentrated in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that protects the digestive mucosa.
Good combinations: cook it with rice or potatoes, whose starch (sugar) is well digested. Cook it without fat (cooked fat can be irritating) and accommodate a drizzle of virgin olive oil, which has antioxidant vitamin E synergistic with beta-carotene.
Orange: Immune defenses at the top
It is known for its vitamin C, anti-fatigue, anti-oxidant and essential for boosting the white blood cells of immunity. An average orange of 120 g represents 50% of the recommended intake. It has good levels of potassium and calcium, which help regulate blood pressure.
Good combinations: combine it (in carpaccio) with squash, flax or sesame seeds, rich in zinc, or spinach (in sweet/salty salad), rich in B9 vitamins, these two nutrients being also involved in the defenses.
Leek: a boost to microbiota
It contains inulin, a fiber that nourishes the gut microbiota (flora). It is one of the most iron- and calcium-rich vegetables. 100 g (= 1 medium leek) provides 60% of the recommended intake of vitamin K, useful for bone health, 20 to 25% of antioxidant beta-carotene, and vitamin B9, essential to the immune system.
The right combinations: top it up with crème-fraiche, whose live lactic ferments contribute to the microbiota’s balance. And lemon, rich in vitamin C, which boosts iron absorption from plants.
It’s cabbage season too
White cabbage, red or curly cabbage, cauliflower, have in common specific sulfur compounds, isothiocyanates, which give them their strong taste, but also preventive virtues of cancer. Studies show that eating it with grilled meat or fish neutralizes possible carcinogenic “heterocyclic amines”. Other advantages are that they are rich in well-assimilated calcium, vitamins B9, C and K. Eat them preferably cooked in case of a sensitive intestine.
Enjoy French kiwis
French kiwis are now available throughout the winter. These fruits are full of vitamin C, 75% of the recommended intake in an average kiwi of 100 g. They also provide good proportions of fiber (effective for boosting transit), potassium, vitamins B9, E and K.
