Start your day with a healthy slow-release breakfast, which will keep you full of energy until lunch. Warming oats are a great way to start your morning, try topping with nuts or seeds and some seasonal winter fruit like apples, pears cranberries or dates.

When the weather is cold, eating or drinking something hot increases the sensation of being warm. An added benefit of a home-cooked, hot meal is the kitchen — and often the entire house — becomes warmer. This makes the home feel more welcoming when the air outside is frigid. If you do not have time to spend preparing a meal, plenty of recipes for roasts, soups and stews use a slow cooker, reducing hands-on work to about 10 minutes. For a different take on “hot” foods, making your meals spicy can make you feel warmer as well.

Mood Food

A lack of sunlight, common in cold weather and cold climates, can cause “winter depression” in many individuals. This is also known as S.A.D., or seasonal affective disorder. Cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods are common when affected by winter depression. Rather than reaching for cake or cookies, choose a healthier option — such as complex carbohydrates. Some of the best choices for complex carbs include whole grain breads and pastas, brown rice, legumes, millet and whole oats.

Foods for Hydration

In the cold, the last thing on your mind is likely a glass of cold water or iced tea. However, you become dehydrated just as easily in cold temperatures as you do in warm weather. To combat winter dehydration, a cup of warm tea is an excellent choice. Drinking tea counts toward a healthy daily intake of eight 8-ounce glasses of water. Ginger tea is a particularly good option, as this spice naturally warms your body. If you do not enjoy ginger tea, any spiced tea is a good substitute. A cup or two of coffee is fine to drink but it does not count toward your day’s water intake.

Foods with Healthy Fats

A layer of fat on your body acts as insulation to protect you from the cold, but that is not why fat is important during the winter. Your body uses fats to facilitate the absorption of vitamins A, E, K and D. Vitamin deficiencies, particularly vitamin D deficiency, can contribute to depression and damage your health.

During the winter months, we can come into contact with viruses that can cause colds or flu. So, it’s important that our immune system functions normally and zinc contributes to this. Foods such as spinach and legumes are good sources of zinc.