4 vegetables to add to your winter diet

January 29, 2019 in Leslie's Featured Content

4 vegetables to add to your winter diet

You won’t find summer’s bounty of locally-grown, farm fresh vegetables in the produce section of your grocery store this time of year, but there are still plenty of in-season vegetables to choose from.  When it comes to all-round nutrition, here are my top four in-season picks, October through March.

Winter squash

Acorn, butternut and hubbard squash are excellent sources of fibre and potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure.  One cup of cooked acorn squash (cubes), for example, packs in 896 milligrams of potassium – as much as two medium bananas – along with 9 grams of fibre.

Winter squash is also loaded with beta-carotene, an antioxidant thought to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease. Butternut squash provides 9.3 mg per one cup, triple the daily amount experts recommend for disease prevention (3 to 6 mg).  Plus, squash provides calcium, magnesium and folate, a B vitamin that’s needed to make and repair DNA and make red blood cells. 

Spaghetti squash is a good choice if you’re looking for a lower carb vegetable – it’s got half to one-third as much starch as other winter squashes – but you also get less fibre, vitamins, minerals and no beta-carotene.

Carrots  

Carrots owe their ability to help keep your vision sharp to their exceptionally high beta-carotene content (13 mg per cup). Once consumed, some beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A, a nutrient that helps prevent night blindness. But beta-carotene’s antioxidant properties are also thought to guard against cataract and macular degeneration.

You’ll also find plenty of alpha-carotene in carrots, a phytochemical linked to longevity. Winter squash has alpha-carotene too, but carrots have more than double the amount per serving. 

You’ll get more alpha-carotene – and beta-carotene – if you eat you carrots cooked rather than raw. (Heating vegetables releases antioxidants by breaking down cell walls.)  If you prefer your carrots raw, serve them with a dip like hummus or tzatziki.  Carotenoids are fat-soluble so they’re best absorbed if consumed with a little fat or oil.

Carrots are also a good source of fibre, potassium and vitamin K.

Cabbage

This cruciferous vegetable delivers on fibre, calcium, potassium, folate and vitamin K.  And, one cup of cooked cabbage provides half a day’s worth of vitamin C, more than any other winter vegetable. 

Cabbage is also a reputed cancer-fighter, ranking right up there with broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Like its cruciferous cousins, cabbage is an excellent source of indoles and isothiocyanates, compounds that mop of free radicals and rid the body of carcinogens. To get more beneficial phytochemicals, eat cabbage raw or lightly cooked.

Beets

When it comes to folate, this root vegetable outperforms other winter vegetables supplying 33 per cent of your daily requirements (139 micrograms per one cup cooked). Beets are also a great source of potassium and offer fibre, calcium and magnesium.

Unlike other in-season vegetables, beets contain a vitamin-like compound called betaine shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties in the body.

All research on this web site is the property of Leslie Beck Nutrition Consulting Inc. and is protected by copyright. Keep in mind that research on these matters continues daily and is subject to change. The information presented is not intended as a substitute for medical treatment. It is intended to provide ongoing support of your healthy lifestyle practices.