When we talk about healthy eating, we cannot forget to mention the importance of seasonal foods. Those foods that grow and mature naturally under the climatic conditions of a particular season, with the characteristics of the environment, and that, as nature offers them to us, are the most suitable foods for our body at that particular time and place.
Seasonal foods are also usually organic and locally grown. With these two added characteristics, we obtain higher quality, better tasting, healthier, and more nutritious foods.
> Benefits of choosing seasonal products
Like any other choice, the decision to consume seasonal products has consequences that are significant on a global level.
- Care for the environment.
As I have mentioned before, seasonal foods have the perfect conditions for their growth, so if we encourage their consumption, we are helping to:
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- Reduce the resources needed to obtain the final product at the right time for consumption.
- Reduce the amount of fertilizers and chemicals needed for food to grow, even when conditions are not suitable, and which remain suspended in the air, in residual form in the soi,l and then filter into the water.
- Furthermore, by consuming seasonal products, we are choosing local foods, which means we are also helping to reduce pollution caused by the transport of products from other places.
- Care and promotion of the local economy.
When we choose seasonal and locally produced foods, we are nourishing and promoting the economy of our area and local producers.
- Taking care of your finances.
When conditions are right, food grows in abundance, and as a direct consequence, there is a drop in price in the market.
If we add to this the fact that production is local and therefore transport and intermediary costs are reduced, the cost price is reduced, and the final price of the product is much more affordable for the end consumer (that is, for us).
> Benefits of eating seasonal foods
In terms of health, choosing foods that are seasonal also brings us important benefits that are worth considering:
- They are more ecological and healthier.
The fact that the right conditions for growing, breeding, or cultivating food are naturally present means that these products do not need any chemical “help” to mature and survive adverse conditions. They will therefore be more ecological foods, with less chemical content and therefore much healthier for our bodies.
** There is still much disagreement about the effect that chemicals used in food can have on our bodies. But one of the clearest signs of the impact they have on our body’s health is the growing number of allergies to chemicals and additives that are currently appearing.
- They are more nutritious.
One of the functions of injecting chemicals into food is to allow it to absorb large amounts of water and thus achieve the perfect size and shape for sale. And the more water it contains, the less nutrients it will have.
But as we have seen, in the case of seasonal and organic foods, chemicals are eliminated, so the food grows and matures naturally and with its full nutritional load.
It is also worth noting that each season offers us the most suitable foods for our body to cope with the climate of each season. For example, in summer we have vegetables and fruits loaded with water that help us stay adequately hydrated in the face of high temperatures; and in winter, fruits and vegetables have a large amount of vitamin C, which helps prevent flu and colds.
- They are tastier.
As a result of the above points, we can say that seasonal foods are much tastier foods.
How many times have you eaten a tomato in winter that tasted like polystyrene? Or how many times have you heard that children don’t like fruit and vegetables? Well, these are some of the consequences of eating food that is out of season or out of its natural habitat. They look like the products we want to consume, but they are very different on an organoleptic and nutritional level.
If we opt for local and seasonal foods, we ensure that in addition to taking care of our health, we are also taking care of our palate.
> Seasonal foods for September
September is a month of transition, it is the month when summer ends, we enter fully into autumn, and everything begins to change.
Water-filled vegetables that keep us well hydrated are beginning to disappear, and are being replaced by others that are loaded with vitamin C. Foods that help us keep our immune system strong in order to prevent colds, ffluand winter illnesses.
The season for fish from colder climates begins, with more fat and Vitamin D (which our body has a harder time producing in winter because it has less contact with sunlight).
Below I leave you the fruit and vegetable, and fish and seafood calendars for this month of September so that you can take them with you when you go shopping, and you can consciously choose which foods are best for you to buy and consume at this time of year.
