To maintain health and function efficiently, our bodies need 13 vitamins and 16 minerals as well as fat, carbohydrate, protein and water. Water though not a nutrient; our bodies need it in plenty. In winter one should drink water like its June; cold weather muffles your body's thirst signal, so it's easy to become dehydrated.
During winter we should eat food, which has high thermic effect, (increment in energy expenditure above our resting metabolic rate) as it boosts our metabolism, and keeps us active and warm through out day. High protein food like poultry, fish, pork, ham etc and complex carbohydrates food like wholegrain products, green and colored vegetables etc have high thermic effect.
Eating a variety of food in sensible proportions one can obtain optimum level of every nutrient needed to maintain good health. A balanced diet in winter should include:
- l 6 (six) daily servings of complex carbohydrates,
- l 5 (five) servings of frui+ or yoghurt (including calcium rich soymilk),
- l 2 (two) servings of protein,
- l 15-25 gms of fats and oil
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The Above Nutrients are all One Needs to be Well Nourished
'Almost anything I like is sinful, illegal or fattening' Oscar Wilde once said. The medical profession which bans you from eating, drinking has been unearthing the evidences that many of things regarded in popular wisdom as 'bad ' can often have beneficial implications especially during winters. For example:
Red Wine: it keeps you warm, and the key are two antioxidants found in the skin of grapes - reveratrol and anthocyanins as they help to neutralize the free oxygen radical that damages the artery and has potent anti cancer effect.
Coffee: A hot cup of magic beans has caffeine, considered a major source of antioxidants that help lower the risk of diabetes, and has been linked to reduction in colon cancer for women, lower risk of gout in men. So, Café Coffee Day, here I come.
Chocolate: Dark chocolates are better because of high cocoa content which is packed with flavonoid they prevent heart disease and cancer.
Saffron: One can also spice up health with exotic Crous Sativus (saffron); it improves digestion, stimulates circulation and reduces high blood pressure. A study published in journal of Ethnopharmacalogy, said saffron works the same way as anti depressant, Prozac. It enhances the activity of mood boosting neuro- transmitters, dopamine and nonrepinephrine.
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