5 Important Foods for the Holiday Season
We are about to enter into the holidays and with that comes more to do and very little time to get it all done. In addition, the cold and flu season will be upon us at the same time. Thus, it’s vitally important that these five important foods are enjoyed more often during the holidays to keep us strong and vital, all winter long. These important foods help boost the immune system, which enables us to enjoy the holidays with a good mood and lots of vitality.
5 Important Foods for the Holiday
Elderberries
Elderberries are one of the five important foods, usually harvested in the fall. They are either dried, frozen, or made into syrups and capsules by the time the holidays roll around. Elderberries are a powerful food for the holidays. A study in 2004 showed significant improvement in flu patients who were given elderberry extract. Elderberry has antioxidant properties and boosts the immune system helping with bacterial and viral infections. Elderberries also contain anthocyanin, which is a good anti-inflammatory agent. Plus, elderberries also contain Vitamins A, B and C as well as amino acids, carotenoids, and minerals.
Elderberry juice and extract can lower cholesterol and especially LDL or bad cholesterol caused by all that rich food during the holidays. It also helps to lower blood sugar and is effective in treatment of colds, coughs and congestion and protects against cardiovascular and heart diseases. Elderberry is good for improving our eye sight and for stress reduction, and many of us tend to experience stress during the holidays.
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is one of the five important foods made from cabbages, which grow during the fall and even throughout the winter in some areas. To preserve the cabbage, it’s naturally fermented into sauerkraut, so it contains lots of probiotic bacteria to boost our immune system. These probiotics help us stay healthy during the holidays by protecting us from colds and flues.
Probiotic bacteria keep our GI tract healthy with good bacteria. With the lactic acid in sauerkraut, it also soothes the GI tract helping to prevent diarrhea and inflammation of our GI tract. Sauerkraut also contains Vitamin C to fight off viral and bacterial invaders. In the old days, sauerkraut was enjoyed all winter long. Perhaps, it’s time to go back to eating lots of sauerkraut during the holidays.
Garlic
Most people have dug up their garlic for the season and have them in a cool dry place for the winter. Therefore, we can have lots of fresh garlic during the holidays when we need garlic the most. This is one of the five important foods because it contains allicin, which in double-blind studies has been shown to cut our probability of coming down with a cold or flu by 50 percent. However, allicin must ingested in its raw, natural form as fresh garlic for it to be effective. In addition, garlic has been shown to lower and help manage blood pressure for long periods of time.
Garlic contains lots of B Vitamins, A and C Vitamins and zinc to boost our immune system and lots of other trace minerals, such as iron and copper for anemia, and tryptophan for helping us get a good night’s rest, which is vitally important during the holidays. Garlic is a good antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral agent making it great for preventing and curing all kinds of diseases. Garlic is one of the best all-around preventatives for disease on the planet.
Furthermore, Garlic Tea is powerful as it is a wonderful tea for healing colds and flues during the holidays. Garlic contains diallyl disulfide, quercetin, nitrosamine, aflatoxin, allin, ajoene, and more great antioxidants that slow the aging process and protect our DNA. Take two fresh cloves and cut them up. Swallowing them with honey will sooth away gas, indigestion, sore throats and boost our immune system during the holidays.
Sweet Potatoes
Now that the holiday season is upon us, perhaps we need to be reminded of the great health benefits of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are one of the five important foods because they are full of B-6 Vitamins, which is good for reducing inflammation and arthritis, cardiovascular problems, and strokes. Sweet potatoes are filled with a good amount of iron that helps our blood transport more oxygen and powers up our muscles, boosts our immune system, and also helps with stress. Most people don’t get enough magnesium, which helps us feel relaxed.
Subsequently, we can obtain lots of Vitamin D from sweet potatoes, which is vital for enhancing our mood and giving us a real boost of energy. Sweet potatoes are full of beta-carotene, which is a great anti-oxidant that helps with free radicals. Sweet potatoes break down into glucose much slower than other starches thus making them important for diabetics for stabilizing blood glucose. Bake them, mash them, grill them, make long strings out of them with a peeler and make Sweet Potato pasta. However you choose to cook them, sweet potatoes are great food for the holidays.
Pumpkin and Winter Squash
Pumpkins and winter squash are another of the five important foods to include over the holidays, and will keep well all winter long if kept in a cool dry place. During the holidays, pumpkins are important because they contain lots of nutrients that boost our immune system and help with stress.
Pumpkin is just one type of winter squash. This family also includes Butter Nut, Hubbard, Turban, Kabocha, Acorn, Spaghetti Squash, White Pumpkins, Blue Kokkaido Pumpkins, Cheese Pumpkins, Red Kuri Pumpkins, Sweet Dumpling Pumpkins, and other less know winter squash. These orange-fleshed squash have amazing amounts of beta carotene and Vitamin A. In fact, they contain 300 times the RDA of Vitamin A, which is a powerful antioxidant.
Also, pumpkin contains lots of fiber, which creates a wonderful place for probiotic bacteria to grow and boost our immune system. Winter Squash works wonders for staving off disease because they are packed full of great antioxidants that protect us from colds, flues, cardiovascular disease, strokes, and even cancer. One cup of winter squash provides over 18,000 micrograms of beta carotenoids, a powerful antioxidant.
Pumpkin also contains cucurbitacin, which is a great anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent that kills invading bacteria and viruses.
Enjoy a few foods that we normally have around during the holiday season. Eating what we have during specific seasons is important because Mother Nature is trying to keep us healthy with her bounty of great foods.
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About the Author
Dr. Paul Haider has been a Master Herbalist and Spiritual Teacher for over 25 years. His mission is helping people to recover and feel healthy. You can also find Dr. Haider on Facebook under Dr. Paul Haider, Healing Herbs, and at: www.paulhaider.com
