Tag Archives: Nutrients

Seasonal eating: spring foods

Spring is finally here. Days are getting longer, the air – warmer and the sun – brighter. Your body craves crispy cool salads, light soups, plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs to rejuvenate every cell.
Although nutritional values and foods vary from area to area, it is clear that seasonal eating is the best way to obtain more nutrients. For example, vitamin C content of spinach is three times higher in summer comparing to that in winter.
It is very easy to forget about seasonal eating these days, but spring is a wonderful time to start fresh and make new rules when it comes to grocery shopping and meal planning.
Shop locally or order organic food boxes to enjoy best seasonal crops.
Start your day with a raw vegetable juice.
Change your winter breakfast for something more refreshing and cleansing like a fruit salad or a smoothie. If porridge is your must-have, add chopped fruit or berries.
Have a lovely salmon salad or fish and steamed vegetables for lunch and make ratatouille for a comforting dinner – it’s so simple, healthy and will get your taste buds going.
Snack on fruits and raw nuts to top up your vitamin and mineral levels.
Remember to go with the rainbow of colours – nature has got every possible hue ready to be picked and enjoyed.
April foods
Vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, jersey royal new potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, rocket, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, watercress, rosemary, wild garlic
Fruits: bananas, kiwi
Meat & poultry: wood pigeon
Fish & seafood: cockles, cod, crab, halibut, john dory, salmon, sea trout, sea bass
May foods
Vegetables: artichoke, asparagus, aubergine, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, fennel, jersey royal new potatoes, mange tout, peas, radishes, rocket, runner beans, sorrel, spinach, spring onion, watercress
Fruits: cherries, elderflowers, kiwi, strawberries, gooseberries
Meat & poultry: wood pigeon, lamb, duck
Fish & seafood: cod, crab, Dover sole, haddock, halibut, herring, john dory, lemon sole, mackerel, plaice, salmon, sardines, sea trout, sea bass.
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Natalia Ashton is a Horley-based nutritional therapist specialising in weight loss, women’s health, skin problems, vegetarian and vegan diets, digestive complains and sports nutrition.
For more information and details visit www.optimumnutrition4u.com