In winter, our body suffers greatly from lack of vitamins, and immunity decreases. Read this article and you will learn what useful habits you should acquire during this winter period to stay healthy.

Don't starve yourself
If you practice fasting for several hours, be sure to coordinate this method with your doctor. Prolonged food refusal is easier to tolerate in warm weather, and in winter the body needs more energy, which is spent at low temperatures. Due to an incorrectly chosen diet, there is a risk of abruptly interrupting the diet and getting sick. In cold weather, it's better to maintain immunity without exposing the body to stress.

Increase calorie content
Winter dishes should be more nutritious. But it's important to get calories from healthy foods. Often in the cold season, the desire for flour products and sweets increases, and these are fast carbohydrates that give little energy but are stored in fat reserves. Try to add healthy cereals to salads and soups and cook protein-rich dishes more often. For easy digestion of food, prefer baking rather than frying.

Add vegetables and fruits
In winter, some products are more expensive. Include seasonal vegetables and fruits in your diet to save money without compromising health. For example, beets, pumpkin, onions, cabbage, turnips, and carrots keep for a long time. Many foreign products are cheaper now: winter is the season for bananas and avocados.

Consume berries
It is believed that berries are more often added to the summer menu, and in winter, artificially grown foreign strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries are sold. Nutritionists are sure that frozen berries are not inferior to fresh ones in useful properties, so you can store them in the freezer all winter.

Don't forget about vitamins
We get most vitamins from fruits, vegetables, berries, and greens. In winter, their number is smaller, but we need more useful substances, especially vitamins A, C, E, and B group. Watch your diet and, if necessary, consult with a therapist about taking pharmacy vitamins.

Drink water
This rule is useful for all seasons, but it's especially relevant in winter. Due to central heating in apartments and offices, moisture from the body evaporates faster, and as a result, the body suffers from lack of fluid. Metabolism slows down, skin becomes dry, and hair becomes brittle. Don't forget to drink about 1.50-2 liters of water per day. In cold months, it's good to warm up with hot drinks: teas with the addition of herbs, berries, and dried fruits.

Consume hot drinks and dishes
When it's cold outside, any person resists frost and spends a lot of effort maintaining a comfortable temperature. To help the body, you need not only to dress warmly but also to warm up from the inside. Try not to get too cold, consume hot dishes, especially soups, which are easily digested. If you can't avoid a snack on the run, drink it with hot tea or cocoa.

Don't forget about spices
Spices can diversify and strengthen the diet at any time of the year. Many of them have warming properties and accelerate metabolism, so they are usually added to winter dishes and drinks, such as mulled wine. Cloves, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper will give dishes a special aroma, and Christmas cookies with cinnamon are a mandatory attribute of winter holidays in many countries. Add a pinch of spices to the already prepared dish so that they retain maximum useful properties. Remember that spicy spices are forbidden if you have stomach diseases and inflammation of internal organs.

Don't worry about your figure
Most people gain a few kilograms in winter due to slowing metabolism. This is normal, the body creates a safe environment and survives the cold. Try to maintain usual activity, do winter sports, and don't consume too many fatty and sweet foods; this way you won't gain extra weight, and even if you have extra kilograms, then in spring you will get rid of them with increased activity.

Include nuts and dried fruits in your diet
Buy nuts and dried fruits. The latter, for example, preserve in their composition almost all the nutrients contained in fresh fruits. Dried apricots, raisins, prunes - all these are useful. There is no doubt about nuts. They will help maintain mental activity at level, strengthen the immune system, improve the functioning of the digestive system, relieve stress and tension, and improve mood. A nice bonus: they retain their useful properties for more than one season. In winter, you can enjoy them all: pine nuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts.

Of course, don't forget about other secrets of health and beauty during winter. Good sleep and physical activity should also enter your life if you want to always stay in good shape. This is the only way to give colds and diseases not even the slightest chance.