Winter Wellness. Eating Seasonally in the UK

Eating seasonally during the winter in the UK. Is it worthwhile for health benefits? If so, what are the seasonal foods?

You will often see advice to eat seasonally, but why? 

In our supermarket dominated food environment, it takes more effort. The same produce is available year round. It looks more or less the same too. Seasonal produce is rarely highlighted to make it easy.

So is it really worth the additional effort to choose food that is in season?

🔬 The science is frankly scarce on this. A definite answer would need to consider whether the nutritional value of foods in season was superior to those out of season. This is intertwined with the difference between local and global produce. Is local out of season better than global in season? 

However, the absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence.

Whilst there may not be hard science to follow, there are some plausible arguments in favour of favouring in-season foods.

📈 Nutrient Density

Produce grown and harvested at its natural peak may have higher levels of vitamins, minerals & phytonutrients relative to produce stored for long periods, or imported over long-distances.

📈 Flavour and Sweetness 

Similarly, foods harvested when ripe have a better opportunity for improved flavour, natural sweetness and texture. In contrast, foods harvested pre-ripe so that they can be transported or stored often suffer from worse flavour.

📉 Fewer Toxins

Foods harvested out of season may be treated with more preservatives, anti-ripening agents and waxes.

🌍 Sustainability

Aside from the values for your human health, seasonal produce may rely less on external inputs, including energy and water, to their production, transport and storage.

⛷️ Match to varying physiological needs

There is a theory that seasonal foods provide nutrition that is better aligned to seasonal needs. For example, higher carbohydrate root vegetables being more helpful in winter to help with energy metabolism and thermoregulation, and winter vegetables being rich in Vitamin C, Zinc and beta-carotone, beneficial for immune health.

Despite the scarcity of scientific evidence, I find the potential benefits sufficient to make efforts to eat more seasonally.

If you want to, here are examples of what we have in the UK from November to January (more sources in

the first comments)

UK Local Foods In Season, November to January

Veggies: Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, Leeks, Parsnips, Carrots, Swede, Turnips, Beets, Pumpkin, Celeriac 🥬

Fruits: Apples, Pears, Quince, Cranberries, and special mention here for frozen-berries, picked when fresh and frozen quickly, and often more nutrient dense than fresh berries when compared directly 🍎

Herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Chives . . .  perhaps someone could make a song to help us remember? 🎶

Seafood: Mussels, scallops, oysters (bring on the bivalves!), haddock, plaice, pollock 🦪 No image for this one. I tried, but since I could not tell the haddock, plaice and pollock apart myself, I figured to a lot of people it would just look like various unidentified fish.

What seasonal foods do you favour in winter? (Mince Pies get half a point!)

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