When we think about winters, we especially think of remaining indoors and snuggling up with a cup of strong and tasty chai. It is the season to enjoy heavy spicy food, sweets, and an enormous variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that come into the market. It is a time to enjoy tasty and regional treats like Makki ki roti, fried pakoras, hot aloo parathas, tasty gajar halwa, sizzling rasam, and more.
Winters make all of us a little lazy and so we start looking for some easy, quick, and comfortable food options. When this type of food is ingested, it depletes one's power while bringing imbalance in the body that can direct to Kapha, Vata, and Pitta dosha. Moreover, decreased physical activity in chilly winter results in gastrointestinal discomfort or amplifies gastrointestinal disorders.
Exposure to freezing temperatures puts down the immune system and hinders down the metabolism. Keeping oneself active and healthy is the greatest challenge in this freezing cold season, hence making it essential to maintain a healthy gut during winters.
(Also Read: 5 Dietician-Approved Healthy Foods To Stay Fit This Winter)
5 natural foods for a healthy gut:
Whole Grains
Whole grains food items are the best for a healthy gut in every season. They are loaded with numerous vital nutrients and prevent us from various types of health conditions. Grains like maize, barley, oats, are just perfect to keep you warm in this chilly cold season. According to Ayurveda, the digestive fires are augmented in winters, and eating whole grains can prepare your body to split complex carbs efficiently throughout the year.
Jaggery
Jaggery which is also known as gud is the best food item to be consumed in the cold season. It is made from sugarcane and it helps in generating heat inside the body. Health specialists have always pronounced it as one of the finest digestives that have countless health benefits. It is a natural cleansing agent which might also be beneficial in curing a cold and cough. This is such incredible food that it can also support strengthening your immunity while improving the production of digestive enzymes. So, all in all, one must incorporate this wonderful food item into their winter diet.
Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds (Til) are inherently warm and loaded with good fats. These seeds are comprehended to be affluent in iron, copper, zinc, and different vitamins. Sesame seeds are so amazing that they can help you in keeping the winter flu away while supporting you to build robust immunity. The wonderful benefits of sesame seeds are the reason that one can find them in almost all the desserts made in the winter season like tilchikki and ladoos.
Add sesame seeds to your winter diet to fight various health issues
Photo Credit: iStock
Ginger
One can also call this as a magical ingredient, you can add in all food items you prepare like soup, herbal tea, khichdi, etc. It has much-needed warmness in the cold winter season. It is advised to sip warm ginger tea at bedtime to get ease from indigestion, winter sinuses, stiff joints, and even the seasonal cold & cough.
Dry Fruits
Dry fruits like Almonds, walnuts, dates, cashews, and pistachio not only do they support generating warmth within the body, but also provide you the stamina required to combat winter laziness.
Stay warm and healthy in winter with these superfoods.
About the author: Dr.Smita Naram is the Co-Founder of Ayushakti.
(This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.)