• Benefits of consuming fruit in the colder months

Benefits of consuming fruit in the colder months

We all know the importance of keeping our immune systems strong in the winter months, when the climate is more hostile and colds or flu are more common. We are well aware of the role played by the vitamins contained in fruit and vegetables in this process. The arrival of the colder months will therefore correspond to a greater consumption of fruit and vegetables, elements rich in vitamins that keep us healthy right? The statistics show an opposite trend.

Benefits of consuming fruit in the colder months
Benefits of consuming fruit in the colder months

Consumption of fruit in the winter months

Research reveals that consumption of fruits dips down in the autumn and winter months, contrary to the early spring and summer months. In September, October, January and February, fruit consumption is the lowest of the year, just when vitamins become even more important to cope with seasonal ailments and a stiffening of the climate. The precious vitamin C, for example, is ignored precisely in the months in which it would be most useful, being able to help prevent and soothe the symptoms of the flu.

Winter fruit when in season

Fruit notoriously rich in vitamins is certainly not absent in the autumn months, on the contrary kiwis, limes, lemons and oranges, the richest in vitamin C, are in season both in December and in January and February.

Therefore, the consumption of fresh fruit, recommended throughout the year, becomes essential in the winter months, where the demand for vitamins with their beneficial properties are a must.

Benefits of consuming fruit in the colder months
Benefits of consuming fruit in the colder months

What about vegetables?

If nothing else, the lack of fruit consumption during the colder months is parallel to an abundance of vegetables, which peaks in spring. However, the increase in vegetable consumption is gradual in autumn and winter, and does not compensate for the fruit vitamins in the same way.

What are we waiting for?

In short, an increase in fruit consumption in the winter months as well as possible is paradoxically more useful than in the summer months. As already mentioned, consuming fresh seasonal fruit rich in vitamins to protect us from flu and cold becomes a must

Even fruit lacking in vitamin C can satisfy the same need for protection of the immune system. Apples, for example, are rich in pectin, which favors the proliferation of bacterial flora, hindering that of pathogenic germs.