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Over-65s Advised to Eat Hot Meals to Cope With Winter

If you’re over 65, two of the best ways to deal with health issues in winter is to eat hot meals and keep active, according to BBC.com. This is a good start, but even better advice is to be sure that the hot meals you eat are loaded with powerful phytonutrients that can keep you well and healthy.

One amazing vegetable that is good both warm and cold is beets and beet greens, which are high in immune-boosting vitamin C, fiber and essential minerals like potassium (essential for healthy nerve and muscle function) and manganese (which is good for your bones, liver, kidneys, and pancreas).

Other vegetables — which can very easily be tossed in a crock pot with some grass-fed beef for a good hot soup — that come packed with health-boosting properties are kale, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, mustard and collard greens, parsnips and cabbage. If you’re not a fan of some of these, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, garlic, leeks and peas are also good.

When choosing your fresh veggies, always try to get organically-grown, local products. I realize that isn’t always possible in northern climates, so when shopping the produce aisle, look for foods that are not genetically modified, that are marked as having “no added growth hormones or antibiotics,” and which do not contain artificial additives, and do not come from a factory farm (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors).