I tweaked my winter eating plan by continuing with my plant based diet. Years past I would reduce my veggies consumption during the coldest times of the year and substituted soups, hot oatmeals and some cold prevention diet formula. I’d barely get by with the dreary season, accompanied by seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which was so hard with my emotional moods. The cloudy days had not been helpful in tackling an under the weather feeling especially in January. 😕 I would take Gaba Plus, a dietary supplements, at the start of Autumn season to support my SAD mood. It’s an effective supplements. However, I cannot take it long term as it has a side effect of chest pains when I take it everyday for a month.
Surprisingly, this time of the year when I would suffer from SAD, it was not an issue and I don’t feel emotionally down at all. I was astonished as I have so much energy throughout the day. I started realizing that veggies and fruits are giving these wonderful, welcome changes in what would be a dreadful season.
“Eating vegetables and fruits not only improves your physical health but also improves your emotional health. This has been proven through research conducted by the University of Queensland. Aside from that, fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C which is an important factor in the production of dopamine which is a neurotransmitter that regulates movement, learning, memory, emotion, happiness, sleep, and cognition. The antioxidants found in vegetables and fruits are also shown to protect a person from depression.”
VOILA! That is the answer!
“Fruits and vegetables contain high levels of vitamins and minerals. Vitamins that work together with enzymes bring important benefits to body functions, including in producing energy. Minerals support the forming of bone composition, blood, and maintain the function of body cells. So, by consuming vegetables and fruits, we will feel our body more fresh and energetic.“
That is so true about feeling fresh and energetic! That’s why I feel a new person in Spring and Summer. I thought it was because there’s more sun during these two seasons. The sun energizes me but with vegetables and fruits that I’ve been eating, the fresh feeling and my energetic mood are really the results of the plant based food I’ve been consuming!
“Fruits and vegetables have a content that can lower your blood pressure. For example, fruits and vegetables such as bananas, potatoes, beets, carrots and other fruits or vegetables that have a high enough potassium content can normalize your blood pressure.”
Veggies and fruits normalize my blood pressure. I do intermittent fasting so I only have one meal a day which consists of a grapefruit, or apple with peanut butter to start my morning, and lunch is always with big portion of veggie salad, my small main course of either fish, or lean pork, or chicken with small cup of white rice or brown rice. I would have a fruit dessert or two and some nuts and seeds or a small piece of an organic cocoa dark chocolate.
The fruits I eat in spring and summer have more varieties as those are the times they are in season. In winter, I can have apples, pomegranates, pears, persimmons, bananas, mangoes, avocadoes, all organic; and so with veggies we eat.
“Vegetables and fruits contain fiber that works to facilitate the digestive system in our body. We can also avoid hemorrhoid disease. However, for those of you who already suffer from hemorrhoid disease, consuming fruits and vegetables can cure the disease.”
“Vegetables and fruits contain antioxidants that are molecules capable of slowing or preventing other molecular oxidation processes. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals that can cause damage to the cells of the body.
However, with the help of thiols and vitamin C that act as antioxidants, our bodies can be free from those damages. Fruit especially has a very important benefit that is to support the ability to remember and process information in the brain and prevent Alzheimer’s.”
With eating vegetables and fruits, I don’t experience brain fog: “People who experience brain fog often describe it as a sense of confusion or disorganization, disorientation or feeling scattered. A diminished ability to react and difficulty thinking, expressing your thoughts or thinking through complex situations or calculations can all be considered brain fog.” My mind is sharp and clear ever since I eat veggies and fruits everyday. I eat more than four cups of veggies and at least two or three fruits a day.
“Eating fruits and vegetables helps your body avoid one of the leading causes of death, coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is caused by the inhibition of blood flow to the heart by fat. One way to overcome this is to get the content of folic acid.
Research has proven that this folic acid can serve to reduce levels of homocysteine, a substance that increases the risk of coronary heart disease. You can find this folic acid in fruits. In addition to folic acid, fruits also contain vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, and also phosphorus that are very beneficial to the body.”
This is so true! After a nuclear test I did in October, last year, my cardiologist told me that my heart is in very good condition. I told him that the veggies and fruits I’ve been eating are helping my heart! And he said: “That goes without saying! Definitely they are helping your heart! They are good natural blood thinners.
“A study has proven that people who only eat fruits and vegetables have the strength and endurance of the body 3 times greater than those who only consume meat.“
In my experience in the past, when I was eating more meat and bad carbs everyday and seldom eat veggies and fruits, my body dragged. I experienced heartburn, bloating, weight gain, high blood pressure, and poor night sleep. Consuming veggies and fruits daily, I do not experience headaches or migraine. When I’ve been eating veggies and fruits daily, I’m regular with bowel movement which is very important which helps in maintaining my weight and overall health.
The results of a study showed that people who consume five apples and skin at once for a week have better lung function and more protected from allergies. This is because the apple skin contains antioxidants that have antihistamine.
I haven’t been eating apples everyday, but it’s one of the fruits I eat that is included in my two to three fruits per day. One thing I’ve noticed is that since I’ve religiously been eating fruits and vegetables, (mostly raw), this winter, I have not gotten a cold nor seasonal allergy sneezing! I always get an allergy in Spring because of tree pollen; so I will find out for sure this Spring if I contract an allergy. Maybe then, I can consume an apple everyday to prevent pollen allergy: Pollen allergies can trigger allergic reactions, which affect the sinus and respiratory tract of those with this allergy. Symptoms can include watery eyes, runny nose, rhinitis, sore throat, coughing, increased mucous, headaches and asthma. I don’t get all of these symptoms, except sneezing, runny nose and watery eyes.
Fruits and vegetables have a fairly low calorie content, fat-free foods, and contain good fats for our health. Thus, a decrease in caloric intake is one of the health benefits of eating only fruits and vegetables.
I definitely able to maintain my weight. If I gain a pound or two, with regular daily consumption of veggies and fruits, I am able to lose the extra pounds and still able to not starve myself. With intermittent fasting, it gives a boost with losing weight without diet hardships.
Not all the nuts are in the can. ~Saying
I would end my meal with some nuts and sunflower seeds before I stopped eating for the day.
To top off all these amazing plant based eating benefits, the fiber from these veggies and fruits allow my immune system to thrive. And when I feed my microbiome: these little microbes, or I call them good tiny soldiers, they take good care of my cells and organs in my body and guard them like hawks and they make me feel good. I treat them good, these tiny soldiers repay me back with great health and well being. They are great fantastic guards!
The gut microbiome plays a very important role in our health by helping control digestion and benefiting our immune system and many other aspects of health,
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All the quoted paragraphs on the benefits of fruits and vegetables are excerpts from:
Greatest GIFT - Naomi Jeremiah 