As the seasons change, your body’s needs for certain vitamins and minerals change as well. For that reason, eating seasonally and adjusting your habits according to the seasons can make you healthier. This is what we call the seasonal diet.

How does the seasonal diet work?

The seasonal diet goes beyond simply eating the fruits and vegetables that are in season because they are there. In fact, we should eat what’s in season because it is meant to give our bodies the nutrients they need at exactly the time they need it.

Let’s take the summer for example. In summer, we spend most of our time outside in the sun, we are more active and we sweat more. At this time, nature provides us with the most hydrating foods such as cucumbers, watermelons, and berries. It also gives us foods that are rich in carbs such as corn, peach, and melon. 

The fall season brings us apples, a fruit rich in fiber that helps us digest all the food we are eating to stay warm. 

In the winter, it’s an entirely different story. The days become shorter, we spend less time in the sun, we crave less juicy foods and more warming ones. In parallel, nature gives us vegetables to make soups and stews, as well as grains, nuts, and avocado. It also brings us large doses of vitamin C through the citrus fruits to protect us against cold and bacteria during this season and strengthen our immune system. 

As winter turns to spring, we no longer crave heavy foods, rather we turn to light and fresh produce and start to cleanse our diets. Springtime brings with it leafy green vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, and kale, which are rich in antioxidants and help cleanse your intestinal walls.

Eating what’s in season will benefit your body and make it healthier and stronger, and when your body is getting the proper nutrition it needs, you will feel better, more energized, and happier.

Christelle Bedrossian
Dietitian-Nutritionist
Beirut, Lebanon