Everyone wants excellent health during the winter, however, for many their health seems to decline in the winter. Thankfully though, our intelligent Creator has got us covered! There are many whole foods to help maintain excellent health during winter.
While winter seems to bring about so much more of the flu, sneezing, coughs, and colds, there’s no concrete answer as to why this happens. There seem to be so many extra germs and grossness flying around in the winter months. Some suggest the viral infection sticks around longer because of the cold; others because we tend to be inside more frequently during winter and there are more germs to catch. It’s also been proven that getting the flu shot actually weakens the immune system, which means a higher chance of catching a cold.
With a weakened immune system, extra germs and less time outside, our bodies are the perfect virus breading spot. Hence why you’ve got to stay on top of eating healthy, whole foods all winter long.
7 Whole Foods for Excellent Health
Thankfully, our incredibly intelligent Creator has provided us with many natural and delicious whole foods that help not only strengthen our immune system but also powerfully fight off germs, viruses and even diseases.
These 7 whole foods are not only key for excellent health, they’re actually pretty easy to add to your everyday diet. They’re so great I believe all of them should be a part of our diet all the time, not just when we feel a cold or flu coming on.
Here are my top 7 favourite whole foods for excellent health during winter and all year ’round.
1. Garlic
Garlic is such a powerhouse when it comes to the qualities it possesses. It’s an incredible antibacterial agent and is actually touted as the world’s most powerful natural antibiotic.
It has the ability to stimulate cell growth and activity as well as dissolves cholesterol in the bloodstream. This health-building herb is also known to help reduce high blood pressure, relieve diarrhea, earaches, allergies, and colds. And it’s really great for toothaches too!
From a nutritional standpoint, garlic is high in B1, potassium, and zinc and contains vitamin A, C, sulphur, calcium, copper, and manganese.
For everyday use garlic can be used in cooking and salad dressings. In our house, we add garlic to pretty much everything: stir-frys, soups, sauces, dressings, etc. When a cold or some kind of virus is going around I make a homemade cold remedy with fresh crushed garlic, ginger, lemon, raw honey and more. I also crush it up, put it in a light cloth with a bit of olive oil and hold it to the neck/throat for about 15 minutes. This works wonders on helping with the pain and inflammation of a sore throat, especially if you’ve got a cough!
If you’re kinda nerdy like I am and like to read the studies, head on over to GreenMedInfo for loads of abstracts and garlic related articles!
2. Ginger
Ginger, zingiber officinale. This root is great for such a variety of things. It’s incredibly good for the respiratory system and it helps to relieve congestion, headaches, indigestion and upset stomach as well as aches & pains. Ginger is known to be a great cleansing agent through the bowels, kidneys and even the skin. It’s a great anti-inflammatory and is used to help relieve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. And ladies, if you’re suffering from morning sickness ginger tea has been proven effective.
Amazingly, there’s a study showing a specific component of ginger is actually 10,000x stronger than chemo.
Nutritionally speaking, ginger contains vitamins A, B, C, protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium.
To add this wonderful root into your everyday diet try making ginger tea, adding it to your juices and smoothies (mango, pineapple, ginger, and turmeric is a delightful combo!). You can also add it to your cooking in a variety of ways, such as a glazed salmon sauce, squash soups, in kimchi, salad dressings, and even stir-frys. One of our family favourites is ginger molasses cookies, yum!
A great tip, combine ginger with other herbs to enhance their effectiveness!
3. Turmeric
There’s a reason they call this gold. I’m actually blown away by all the research and incredibleness this root brings to the table.
The most popular benefit of turmeric it’s known for is its anti-inflammatory properties, however, it’s so much more than that. Being naturally anti-inflammatory is great enough on its own, but studies show specific compounds within turmeric inhibit the growth of cancer cells, inhibit carcinogens and protect against age-related brain damage. Turmeric has also been used in treatments of gallstones, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoarthritis, and psoriasis. It’s also known to fight free radicals, aid circulation, protect the liver against toxins, lower cholesterol levels and more.
I’ve been consuming turmeric consistently for about a month or so and now when I knit or write I no longer get major pain in my right hand like I usually do! It’s also helped reduce the minor pain I was getting during my menstrual cycle. Seriously. I’m sold.
It’s best to take turmeric in its whole form rather than just take curcumin as a supplement, and it’s important to understand absorption is key, therefore, it’s recommended to add some black pepper along with the turmeric to whatever you’re adding it to.
Thankfully, turmeric is really easy to add it to the diet. In our house, I put it in our morning elixirs, soups, stews, smoothies, and cookies. I also take it as a supplement. One of my children especially loves it in our chocolate elixirs and we all love it in the Soothing Butternut Squash soup by the Living Kitchen.
If you’d like to read even more about turmeric check out all the studies & articles on GreenMedInfo, and there’s an entire website devoted to just turmeric: https://www.turmericforhealth.com/
4. Elderberries
If you haven’t heard about elderberries yet, well now’s your chance. These guys are full of vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants, which help reduce oxidative stress {always a plus!}. Elderberries help support the immune system, fight harmful bacteria, are anti-inflammatory and help to reduce cholesterol, uric acid, and blood sugar levels.
Elderberries are highly recommended for upper respiratory tract infections, are known to have cancer-inhibiting properties. Amazing I know. Our heavenly Father has truly thought of it all!
The berries are most commonly used for making a syrup with, however, they can also be used for tea, tinctures, jam, pie, and to flavour kombucha, gummies, and even wine.
This is the first year I made my own homemade elderberry syrup, and I am so happy I did! Not only was it easy, but it was also much more cost-effective. I made a variation of Wellness Mama’s recipe. I love to purchase my elderberries through a B.C. company, Harmonic Arts. Make sure to grab yourself some elderberries from them, they are excellent!
5. Fermented Foods
Fermented foods are not only tasty, but they also provide numerous health benefits. They are best known for promoting gut health and improving digestion. Fermented foods are also known to be anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and to have anti-atherosclerotic activity.
Aside from the probiotics, many fermented foods are also a source of B vitamins, fiber, and some even contain a high amount of vitamin K2. Fermented foods help with natural detoxification in our bodies, building our immune systems, maximizing nutrient absorption and curb sugar cravings by regulating our gut microbiome. They also help to reduce inflammation, which is beyond helpful these days!
Adding fermented foods into our diet is really simple. If you’re first starting out and don’t want to experiment with making your own just yet, many stores carry high-quality, organic raw fermented foods. Sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, and pickles are easy to add to the diet. Apple cider vinegar can be added into salad dressings {or taken on its own before bed!} And homemade kombucha and water kefir are wonderful drinks!
6. Berries
Apparently, if you look up all the different types of berries out there, you’ll learn that strawberries aren’t actually berries, but bananas and watermelon are. Crazy I know. For this list we’re going to keep things simple and stick with fruits we commonly know as berries 😉
Strawberries, blueberries, haskap berries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries, boysenberries, goji berries… it’s actually a huge list. While each individual berry has a variety of benefits there are some top ones that can be lumped with all berries. They are anti-inflammatory and full of vitamins and fiber. They’re also full of some big named important nutrients: antioxidants, phytonutrients, polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins. At the basic level, this means they are really great for your heart health, your brain health, and to protect against cancer.
Berries have been shown to help with diabetes, Alzheimer’s prevention, Parkinson’s prevention, lower blood pressure, help maintain weight, and fight urinary tract infections.
I get that winter isn’t berry season per se, however, thankfully, you can go berry picking in the summer and pick extra’s to freeze. Or purchase extra’s if you’re unable to pick them and freeze them. Or at the very least, purchase organic frozen berries from the store. I personally am grateful for Costco when it comes to this!
Berries are incredibly easy to add into your diet as well: raw, in smoothies, on salads, dried in a trail mix, in cobblers, stewed, frozen in a bowl of homemade hemp milk…It’s so great how easy these are to add in! In our house, we love to cook up frozen berries and add chia seeds (making sure to let them sit long enough to gel up) and cinnamon.
If you want to read about berries, I highly recommend checking out GreenMedInfo’s 800+ articles and abstracts.
7. Dark Leafy Greens
I absolutely love my greens. Spinach, all varieties of kale, collards and especially swiss chard. Chopped up and sauteed with organic ghee, garlic, ginger, turmeric and a bit of salt & pepper. Mmm. So good.
I not only love them because of their great taste, but I also love them because of how nutrient-dense they are. While greens are similar to berries in that they each have their own superpowers, they also have collective ones. Greens contain vitamin K2, lutein, nitrate, and folate. Many have B vitamins, polyphenols, anti-inflammatory properties, iron, fiber, vitamin C, and even calcium.
Eating greens daily is a powerful thing: one study shows eating one cup of leafy greens a day keeps your brain 11 years younger compared to someone who doesn’t! They’ve also been shown to help prevent cancer, are necessary for your natural detoxification system, are good for your cardiovascular system, eye health and help lower cholesterol.
There’s a huge list of dark leafy greens that can be easily added into your diet via sauteeing, stir-frys, smoothies, soups, stews, sauces, salads, etc.. Some of my favourite greens are Swiss chard, collards, watercress, kale, and spinach. I also really love Chinese cabbage, beet greens, chicory, arugula, bok choy, and broccoli rabe.
Looking for a quick way to add more greens to the diet? I personally love this Green Power Blend. Add it to your smoothie or drink it in the morning in some filtered water and fresh lemon juice. Great way to start the day!
A Few Bonus Ones
There truly are so many delicious whole foods that are excellent for our health! A few more I love to include are fresh organic veggies like carrots, a huge variety of cruciferous veggies, red, orange & yellow peppers, and mushrooms. I also love to include homemade veggie/bone broth made from all my organic veggie leftover ends and (organic, pasture-raised) chicken bones.
So there you have it! Instead of considering the flu shot again, think about its effectiveness versus all the amazing benefits we get from the food our gracious heavenly Father has blessed us with! He’s provided whole foods for us to have excellent health. Personally, I am so incredibly grateful our Creator has granted us the pleasure of enjoying so many unbelievable foods that not only taste good but are nutritious and helpful for keeping us in good health.
Let me know in the comments below how you love staying healthy during the winter months! Do you incorporate any of the foods above? I’d love to hear your favourite way of consuming them, so let me know below 🙂
References Used
Today’s Herbal Health by Louise Tenney
The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Third Edition by Michael T. Murray, N.D., & Joesph Pizzorno, N.D.
Miracle Food Cures From the Bible by Reese Dubin
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/elderberry
https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/incredible-health-benefits-berries
Morris MC, et al. Nutrients and bioactives in green leafy vegetables and cognitive decline. Neurology. 2017 90:e214-e222. Research supported by NIA grants R01 AG031553 and R01 AG17917.
https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/why-daily-greens-are-real-fountain-youth#_ftnref1
https://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/green-leafy-vegetables
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