Spring is a difficult time for the body. Against the background of the joy of bright and sunny days, the long-awaited greenery of trees, a person often experiences fatigue, apathy and health problems. Chronic diseases can worsen, and immunity decreases. Why does this happen? 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
During the end of winter and the beginning of spring, many people enter deficient states due to a lack of vitamins and minerals.
With the onset of the spring period, not only the environment is updated, but also a complete restructuring of the body takes place. The rate of metabolic processes increases, which requires additional energy and nutrients for cell renewal. Micro-, macronutrients and vitamins are mainly obtained from food, but even it becomes less generous in spring: vegetables and fruits harvested in autumn lose significant reserves of nutrients by spring.
This is due to long-term storage, often incorrect. Each fruit and vegetable likes its own temperature, can be picky about light and humidity. In the case when the body does not receive enough vitamins for a long time, hypovitaminosis develops. Very often it is confused with beriberi, a serious condition caused by the almost complete absence of one or more vitamins in the body. The lack of nutrients against the background of frequent pressure and temperature fluctuations in the winter-spring period, a sedentary lifestyle, and acute respiratory infections are just the cause of low immunity and fatigue.
Hypovitaminosis will report itself with brittle nails, rapid fatigue, unreasonable nervousness, bleeding gums, dry skin, rashes. Dull hair, pale skin, anemia, forgetfulness are also faithful companions of vitamin deficiency. Do not rush to diagnose yourself if you are the “happy” owner of the above signs. Bleeding gums, for example, may indicate a lack of certain nutrients in the body, but may also indicate an approaching periodontal disease. Nail dissection is also a consequence of fungal infection of the nail plates, and not only hypovitaminosis.
It is mistakenly believed that hypovitaminosis is not worth fighting. In a difficult spring period for a person, it is necessary to support the body as much as possible and create all conditions for painless preparation for the summer season. The tips below will help you balance your diet, place emphasis on maintaining health and understand which food groups should be given attention in the spring.
#1. Do not try to mask the problem and deal with the symptoms. 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
Rough skin of the hands is a signal from the body about a problem inside or external factors (hard water, the use of household chemicals). Even the most nutritious cream will only temporarily change the situation, but it will not remove the cause. Listen to the quiet voice of the body, decipher its requests for help and choose a solution.
#2. Products with minimal processing
Try to enrich your diet with products with minimal processing: unpolished rice, bread made from coarse flour, unrefined vegetable oil. Foods such as sliced fruits and vegetables, bagged salads, leafy greens and roasted nuts are examples of foods with minimal processing. Products with minimal processing are natural products modified as a result of such processes. Such as removal of inedible or undesirable parts, drying, crushing, grinding, fractionation, filtration. As well as roasting, cooking, pasteurization, cooling, freezing, placing in containers, vacuum packaging or non-alcoholic fermentation.
#3. Fresh herbs. 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
Fresh herbs are useful to add daily to salads, vegetable casseroles, omelets. By the way, it is very easy to grow greens at home. This way you can consume an eco-friendly product with maximum nutritional value. If there is no time to do “apartment gardening”, the greens can be frozen in the summer. This will save most of the vitamins.
#4. Vegetables and fruits. 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
You can freeze not only greens, but also vegetables and fruits that you have grown in the summer. They will be very useful in the spring. This way it is possible to preserve their natural benefits as much as possible, and cook such vegetables much faster.
# 5. Healthy snack
Nuts, seeds, bran, honey and dried fruits, unlike fresh fruits, retain healthy substances much longer. They are rich in vitamin A, B vitamins, carotene, proteins, fats, carbohydrates. Try to pamper yourself with such healthy snacks every day: it’s satisfying and delicious. They can also be added to cereals and desserts, making dishes healthier and more colorful.
6. Sprouted grains
Sprouted grains are a living and healthy food. Vitamins E, C, B groups, carbohydrates, vegetable proteins, fats, fiber, minerals are not a complete list of their riches. Chromium and lithium contained in the seedlings have a beneficial effect on the nervous system. Potassium will take care of the condition of the muscles, including the heart muscle. Fiber improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and gives satiety.
Wheat (more often than others), buckwheat, pumpkin, flax, barley, oats, corn, lentils, peas, soy, sesame are germinated. And then – it’s up to your imagination. Sprouted grains can be mixed with honey, raisins, nuts (an option for a sweet tooth), added to salads, and also eaten as an independent product.
7. Food processing. 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
Food processing plays a huge role. The more gentle it is, the more vitamins it is possible to preserve (raw food is out of competition). Stewing, steaming, and baking in the oven are much more important than roasting. Multivarkers, steamers and pressure cookers can be useful devices – as a result of one click of a button, they will fulfill any culinary request, while saving time.
# 8. Drinks
Drinks can be delicious, but also healthy; and in the cold spring they will also add warmth. A drink made from rosehip and honey fruits, ginger and green tea, chicory, tea from echinacea and other herbs strengthen the immune system, relieve stress, fight fatigue, improve digestion and intestinal function. They are especially useful during viral infections.
# 9.Weight loss in spring. 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
Often in the spring, women have a desire to “lose a couple of kilograms” by the summer with the help of a diet or, even worse, pills. For the body, restrictions on food at the end of winter are extremely harmful. At this time, it is more necessary than ever to take care of proper nutrition. The figure can be put in order in the gym, swimming pool and with the help of lifestyle normalization.
#10. Move as much as possible
Nature intended for a person to be in constant motion, and not be chained to an office chair. If you cannot leave the office during the day, then move as much as possible after the end of the working day. Instead of the elevator, go up the stairs, if work is close to home – arrange a walk, in the evening it will also be useful to get some air.
# 11.The psychological attitude to the positive
No matter how you are overcome by the spring blues, do not dwell on the unpleasant symptoms. Indulge yourself with your favorite things, relax with your loved ones, drive away bad thoughts, devote yourself to hobbies. The psychological attitude works wonders! You will not notice how you feel better.
#12. A walk in the fresh air. 12 tips for health and vigor in spring.
Spend more time outdoors — in the park, in the forest, outside the city and enjoy the rays of the spring sun! After all, nothing strengthens health like a good mood!
What foods should I look for vitamins in?
Vitamin D: fish oil, sea fish (especially halibut, cod, herring, mackerel), chicken liver, egg yolks, butter. Vitamin D can also be produced in the body through sunbathing.
Vitamin A: liver of marine fish, fish oil, chicken liver, carrots, pumpkin, red pepper, sweet potato, sea buckthorn, viburnum, rosehip. Important: it is absorbed in the presence of fats, so animal sources are the best representatives of vitamin A. Vitamin C: rosehip, black currant, sea buckthorn, bell pepper, kiwi, parsley, dill, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, lemon, orange, spinach, strawberries.
Vitamin B1: wheat germ, oatmeal, brown rice, bread made from whole grain flour, beans, peas, lentils, pistachios, cashews, spinach, offal.
Vitamin B2: offal, peas, buckwheat, oatmeal, greens, almonds, mushrooms, chicken eggs.
Vitamin B6: sprouts of cereals and legumes, walnuts, hazelnuts, garlic, pomegranate, greens, cabbage, chicken liver.
Vitamin B9: peanuts, chicken liver, beans, spinach, walnuts, hazelnuts, broccoli, lettuce, almonds, buckwheat.
Vitamin B12: offal, chicken eggs, cheese, mackerel, sardines, tuna.
Important! An accurate confirmation of a vitamin deficiency is only a laboratory blood test.
Remember that a balanced diet should become a habit throughout the year, and not just in moments of ill health. This way you leave less chance for vitamin deficiency to take over your well-being! Sunny days and strength for you!
(1) – “Low levels of vitamin D lead to low bone calcium stores, increasing the risk of fractures. If vitamin D did nothing more than protect bones, it would still be essential. But researchers have begun to accumulate evidence that it may do much more. In fact, many of the body’s tissues contain vitamin D receptors, proteins that bind to vitamin D. In the intestines, the receptors capture vitamin D, enabling efficient calcium absorption. But similar receptors are also present in many other organs, from the prostate to the heart, blood vessels, muscles, and endocrine glands. And work in progress suggests that good things happen when vitamin D binds to these receptors. The main requirement is to have enough vitamin D. “
(1) – Harvard Medical School; Vitamin D and your health: Breaking old rules, raising new hopes; September 13, 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/vitamin-d-and-your-health-breaking-old-rules-raising-new-hopes
