Healthy eating for wellness during colds season

• By Times’ Junior Journalist Katherine Zuo

Even though winter is at an end, the flu season isn’t over yet.

This raises the question: can the foods we eat help us stay healthy in the winter and colds season?

From nutrients and fun food ideas, Sarah Kennedy has shared some tips on eating healthy for winter wellness.

She’s an associate registered nutritionist and part of the Wellness Team at Howick’s local Crawford Medical as a health coach.

Kennedy says many people think supplements are the go-tos for staying healthy, but try getting all the nutrition from foods before going for supplements.

If you use supplements, be smart about it. In winter, our body burns more energy to maintain temperature.

This increases our appetite, and we often crave more energy dense foods. The dark and miserable weather outside can sometimes affect our mood.

These emotional triggers can lead to people eating more in the winter. There are no specific foods that prevent common winter illnesses like the cold and the flu, but nutrition can help support your immune system.

In winter, some people will become deficient in vitamin D. We can get small quantities of it in foods such as fatty fish and eggs.

There are also products fortified with vitamin D such as margarine. There are also supplements for it.

A key nutrient is vitamin C, an antioxidant, meaning it promotes production of white blood cells, which are your body’s natural immune response.

Examples include broccoli, dark green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, and capsicum.

Probiotics are also really important for immune health as they’re food for your gut – 70 per cent of your immune system is in your gut.

Things that are rich in probiotics include yogurt, sour dough bread, sauerkraut, and miso.

Fibre is also essential. This includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.

Antioxidant-rich foods are amazing. Aim for 30 plant-based foods weekly, not just fruits and veggies, but also whole grains, herbs and spices, and legumes.

Young people need more energy to maintain muscles and bones. Sustained sources of energy are what they need.

This can come from complex carbohydrates and whole grains such as oats, starchy vegetables, and whole grain breads.

Iron and calcium-rich foods are also important, such as meats, dairy products, almonds, and dark-green leaf vegetables.

Older adults need more protein. Paired with exercise, this can help them maintain muscle mass. Dairy, meats, and eggs are great choices.

Kennedy has shared some great tips to make sure picky eaters can still get all the nutrition they need.

She says often, picky eaters don’t like food because of the texture. It can take 15-20 tries for them to get used to it.

You can mix the foods into smoothies, soups, or sauces. If you bake, you can include it in your baking.

For children, you can pair the food with food they already like, starting with small doses.

It doesn’t have to be as boring as it sounds. You make it into a celebration, sharing food with everyone you love, make the food look pretty with lots of colours and shapes, or having themed nights with different cultures.

Doing things a little differently and being a little more creative can make eating healthy for winter wellness a simple joy.

• Katherine Zuo is in year 10 at Macleans College.