As the saying goes, "Train in the scorching summer, nourish in the freezing winter." While it's important to eat your fill and keep warm in the winter, it is also essential to wisely select some fruits for yourself and your family. So, which fruits should we eat in the winter to be healthier?
Apple
As the saying goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apples are now known to contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, as well as nutrients like malic acid, citric acid, and dietary fiber. Especially high in zinc, apples are a component of many important enzymes in the human body, promoting children's growth and intellectual development. In recent years, giving apples on Christmas Eve has come to mean sending peace. Besides the pun, it might be precisely because of apples' high nutritional value that they have become a fruit that carries many blessings and can warm the winter. Apples are easy to store, so eating one every day during the long winter is a true blessing.
Pear
The dry winter climate can easily cause discomfort in the nose, throat, and skin. At this time, the pear, known as the "king of all fruits," becomes a top choice. Pears are sweet and cold-natured, with effects such as promoting saliva production to quench thirst, relieving coughs and reducing phlegm, moistening the lungs to relieve dryness, and nourishing the stomach and intestines. They are particularly suitable for lung-heat coughs, pediatric wind-heat colds, and constipation. Moreover, pears stored in autumn are less likely to cause dampness or damage the spleen, nor do they irritate the stomach.
Some people experience stomach discomfort from eating pears in winter because they are too cold. In fact, pears can also be eaten warm. For example, simmering them with rock sugar to make crystal pear soup not only allows you to absorb the essence of the pear but also warms your body. Although pears are delicious and tasty, because they are cold-natured, you should not eat too many at once. People with enteritis, indigestion, or postpartum blood deficiency should eat them sparingly or avoid them.
Grapefruit
Grapefruit is one of the best-selling fruits in winter. It can not only regulate qi, resolve phlegm, moisten the lungs, and relieve constipation, but it is also rich in nutrients like vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, carotene, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus, which are very helpful for health care and disease prevention. The naringin in grapefruit can reduce blood viscosity, thus reducing thrombus formation, and has a good preventive effect on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Jujube
Jujubes have a long history; Wang Anshi once compared them to "red jade": "Wind-stripped red silk, sun-wrinkled red jade." In traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, jujube is one of the most common medicinal and edible herbs. Jujubes are rich in vitamin C and trace elements potassium and magnesium. Potassium can enhance the body's excitability, while magnesium can prevent excessive nerve excitement and regulate body temperature. Regular consumption of jujubes has the effects of strengthening the stomach, improving digestion, and improving blood circulation. Red jujubes are highly beneficial; whether eaten raw, infused in water, or cooked into congee, they are all good choices.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn is very rich in nutrients, with high content of organic acids and vitamin C. Organic acids can stimulate the appetite, aid digestion, and quench thirst. Hawthorn is also high in pectin. Pectin has an adsorbent effect that can remove bacteria and toxins from the intestines and bind water, thus effectively relieving diarrhea. Hawthorn is also rich in carotene, which can be converted into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A has antioxidant, anti-aging, and protective effects on the cardiovascular system, can prevent cancer, maintain normal vision, and prevent night blindness and xerophthalmia. Unripe hawthorn should not be eaten because it contains a high level of tannic acid, which can easily form insoluble tannic acid protein and stones in the stomach acid. Hawthorn should also not be eaten on an empty stomach, as it can easily cause bloating and acid reflux. It is best to eat it after a meal, 3 to 5 pieces at a time.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane has the effect of nourishing and clearing heat and is rich in nutrients. It has a certain therapeutic effect on dry stools, difficult urination, nausea and vomiting, deficiency-heat cough, and high fever with thirst. Sugarcane juice benefits the stomach, promotes saliva production, and moistens dry lungs, especially for people with dry skin. If boiled with water chestnuts, sugarcane can further clear and moisten the body, promote saliva, and quench thirst. To make this clear, moistening, and lung-nourishing sugarcane and water chestnut drink, wash and peel the sugarcane and water chestnuts, slice them, place them in a clay pot with an appropriate amount of water, bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.