The best food to eat to stay warm and healthy this winter

While you may be all bundled up with your new electric blanket or big, fluffy sweater, you may find that you are still cold. Instead of reaching to turn the thermostat up, move into the kitchen! Food is a great way to raise your body temperature, provide the energy you need to beat the winter lethargy and keep you healthy and full.

Below, we have listed the best foods for all five meals of the day that will keep you warm and healthy this winter.

Digestion and Body Heat

Before we get started, there are some things you need to know about what kinds of foods can keep you warm.

When you eat a lot of food that’s high in healthy fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, your body will take longer to digest. This longer digestion process raises your internal body temperature, which warms you from the inside out.

Breakfast

Start your day off right with a hot bowl of oats. Oats are not only filling and high in fiber and zinc, but they are also quick and easy, perfect for the busiest mornings. Top your steaming bowl of oats with fruits and nuts for added benefits and flavor.

Coffee, iced or hot, surprisingly, will also give you a warm start to the day because of the caffeine content. Caffeine speeds up your metabolism, and a faster metabolism often leads to raised body temperature.

Lunch

For lunch, indulge in soup, one of the supreme comfort foods. From chicken noodle soup, filled with delicious vegetables and tender chicken, to roasted butternut squash soup, rich in thick cream and potatoes, you can’t go wrong with a tasty soup.

To drink, treat yourself with a nice cup of water. That’s right. Water. If your body is dehydrated, it can not properly maintain its internal temperature, which leads to a colder core, which means a colder you.

Healthy Snacks

For a healthy and diet-worthy snack, choose one of the following to keep your caloric intake low and your internal temperature high.

From onions to beets to carrots, root vegetables will become your best friend this winter as they slow your digestion, which warms you up.

Fruits and nuts will generate heat in your body, which is helpful whether you’re anemic, iron deficient, or just plain cold.

If you’re looking for something lighter to hold you over until dinner, ginger tea helps keep your body warm as it increases blood flow and your metabolism.

Dinner

There is a reason movies depict the cold Nordic regions where the Vikings lived as always having red meat at their banquets. Red meat is filled with iron, which carries oxygen through your body and provides you with a strong immune system to fight off winter colds and cases of the flu.

If you’re looking for something a little bit unique to add to your regular diet, try sushi. Sushi is filled with a lot of the vitamins you miss out on from the lack of sun and the spicier the tuna, the warmer you’ll be.

A vegetarian option for your dinner could be a loaded sweet potato bar. Not only is it a root vegetable that raises your core temperature, but it also boosts your immune system and keeps your digestive track clean.

Dessert

One of the most important meals of the day, dessert, has a few delicious and heat-inducing foods to sink your teeth into.

Brownies, warm and straight from the oven, are one of the ultimate comfort foods. Make your tray of brownies healthier by using sugar substitutes like dried dates or honey, so you still get your sugar fix, but at a healthier price.

Hot cocoa is also a way to warm both your hands grasping the mug and your belly. Use coconut or almond milk as your base and find the darkest cocoa you can get your hands on. Don’t be afraid to add peppermint or vanilla to your sweet drink as well!

Keeping warm this winter can be both tasty and healthy. Don’t waste your time and calories on chips and soft drinks when you can be enjoying the finer, more comforting foods of the season.

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