What is seasonal food? Seasonal food is produce that is purchased and consumed around the time that it is harvested. Seasonal eating includes eating fresh fruits and vegetables that haven’t been processed chemically or transported long distances. Processing foods includes things such as tinning, blanching and dehydrating foods to enhance their life span.

For example, during Monsoon our body becomes vulnerable to waterborne infections and diseases. Hence our health takes a toll. Fruits and vegetables like pumpkins, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, sweet potatoes, corn, eggplant, cauliflower, cranberries, blueberries, apples, beets, ginger, garlic, Brussel sprouts etc. are good during this season.  Corn, gram flour and chick peas are considered drying foods and are better to eat during the rainy season. Herbal teas are a nice and healthy way to stay warm during the rains. Hot soups are also a good idea; you can even add some garlic to your soup so that it can improve immunity.

In winter, the most warming vegetables that are good for our body are root vegetables like carrot, potato, onions, garlic, radish, yams, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, etc, and hearty winter greens like palak, methi, sarson, muli, pudina, etc.

In summer season, make spicy buttermilk, or sweet lassi. You can also make raita and can eat it with your food. Another option to eat curd is by adding seasonal fruits in it or by making lip-smacking smoothies. Coconut water is the best summer drink. Besides, berries, pineapple, watermelons, pears, passion fruits, and peaches are good for our immune system.

Seasonal foods are environment friendly: When we eat seasonally, the farmers get a support from us because of our dependence upon local produce. Also, logistically the need for transportation, refrigeration, and hot houses comes down making seasonal foods environment friendly.

Nature’s suggestion: According to many nutritionists, it is nature’s proposition for people to eat locally and seasonally as all foods in nature give energy. Fruits in monsoon are naturally rich in vitamin-C which is needed to fight infections that we are prone to in that season. Oranges, lemons, berries, kiwi, broccoli, and sprouts are the best to consume. Mother Nature wants us to eat and be healthy in each season whatever she gives. Eating off-season foods is a very recent practice. Our ancestors did not have many choices available. They depended on the bounty of the seasons to fill their plates. Diets consisted of what could be grown, foraged or hunted. Every season offered valuable contributions to the pantry.

Seasonal food is fresher, tastier and more nutritious than food consumed out of season: Even though we all like to eat strawberries year round, the best time to eat them is when they can be purchased directly from a local grower shortly after harvest. Seasonal fruits and vegetables produced on local farms are fresher, as they do not require long distances for transportation. Also, unlike out of season produce which is harvested early in order to be shipped and distributed to our local retail store, crops picked at their peak of ripeness are also better tasting and full of flavor. What’s more, studies have shown that fruits and vegetables contain more nutrients when allowed to ripen naturally on their parent plant.

Local food benefits the environment: Purchasing locally grown foods helps support local farms and maintains farmland and open space in your community. A recent USDA study also found that direct-to-consumer producers were less likely to apply pesticides and herbicides to control weeds and insects than conventional producers. Local food supports the local economy. The money you spend on products from local farmers and growers stays in the community and is reinvested with other local businesses. In addition, food grown locally, processed locally and distributed locally generates jobs and subsequently helps stimulate local economies.

Local farmers can tell us how the food was grown: In the 21st century, most of us have become victims to instant gratification; we get what we wish to and we eat what we wish to. Even though this sounds like a dream come true, it is important to realize the importance of eating seasonal foods when they are available rather than opting for off-season foods.
It is worth understanding that tomatoes cannot be produced in winters without the help of technology? It is inevitable in this case that the nutrition level of off-season foods goes down. The foods that are available to us round the clock are made available through various processes like cold storage and cannot even be compared to foods that are freshly produced.

Wellness first: In winters, our body demands fruits and vegetables that are high in citrus and Vitamin-C. These are important for preventing infections that you are prone to in winters. Winter vegetables are perfect for hot meals and soups. Similarly, the fruits and vegetables in summers are usually very watery in order to keep the body rejuvenated and hydrated.

Transportation of food does not just lead to a drop in taste but also exposes the food to a risk of contamination. A lot of other countries may not have very strict rules against the use of pesticides, wax coating etc. Some agriculture areas are also known to have a lot of heavy metal and toxic contaminates because of industrial sites and agriculture sites inhabiting the same space. Soil contamination tests are also necessary to check soil and land quality but are not being done at a lot of places. It is important to be careful on this front since this can lead to serious health hazards.

Guava also commonly known as Peru is a tropical fruit that’s subtly acidic sweet in taste that intensifies as you eat your way to the center. Its scientific name is Psidium Guajava.

It is available throughout the year but found scarcely in summer season. Being very resilient, it gives a guaranteed crop even with very little care.  It requires little amount of fertilizer, little irrigation and plant protection. It grows well in the backyard of home. Further its nutritive value is very high.  Therefore, it is an ideal fruit for the nutritional security.  In India, the best quality guavas are produced in Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Allahabad region.

This somewhat round or pear-shaped, light green, yellow, or maroon in color fruit is very tasty, very yummy. It’s appetizing; it has white or maroon flesh and lots of small hard seeds enveloped in very soft, sweet pulp. Eat it raw by sprinkling little salt and chili powder on its pieces. Oh it’s mouthwatering.

The health benefits of guavas are unlimited. This popular fruit is a source of power of nutrients. If the traditional adage says that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” in Europe and Americas, the phrase is probably changed to “A few guavas in the season keeps the doctor away for the whole year”. Naturopaths advise eating guavas regularly.

Guava is very helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. It is very high in roughage and rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals, but it has no cholesterol and a low number of digestible carbohydrates. It is a very filling snack and satisfies the appetite very easily. In a related benefit to blood pressure mentioned above, an intake of guava can also help those patients who suffer from diabetes.  The high level of dietary fiber in guava helps to regulate the absorption of sugar by the body, which decreases the chances of major spikes and drops in insulin and glucose in the body.

Guavas are extremely good sources of vitamin-A, which is well known as a booster for vision health.  It can help slow down the appearance of cataracts, macular degeneration, and general health of the eyes. It can not only prevent degradation of eyesight, but even an improvement in eyesight once it has begun to degrade.

One of the most important benefits of guava is – its ability to inhibit the growth and metastasis of cancerous cells. There have been numerous studies done in recent years on guava’s effects primarily on prostrate cancer, breast cancer and oral cancers. Guava leaf oil is extremely successful as an anti-proliferative substance, and has actually been shown to be more effective than some leading modern medicines in reducing cancerous growth. Guavas are also rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to be wildly successful in reducing prostate cancer risk.

Guavas have the naturally high levels of vitamin C in them, which are four times higher than the levels found in an orange (the traditional vitamin C powerhouse) which boosts the immune system with its antioxidants. These are the major lines of defense against the proliferation of free radicals in the body, which are one of the main causes of serious conditions like cancer and heart disease. Therefore, adding guava to your diet has numerous ways in which it helps you stay health and cancer-free. They are helpful to curb diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, cough, cold, skin care, high blood pressure, and scurvy. It has a good source of copper in it and therefore it helps balancing the thyroids as well. I suggest all of you to eat guavas in raw form to get the maximum benefit of it.

Raita:

Ripened Guava – 2

Ripened Bananas – 2

1 small spoon mustard (mohari) powder

1 small spoon cumin (jeera) powder

Chopped coriander leaves

Pinch of Salt and 2 spoons of sugar for taste

Cut guavas and bananas into small pieces (after removing skin of bananas) add mustard powder, cumin powder, and little salt and 2 spoons of sugar together. Garnish the raita with coriander leaves and delicious raita is ready.

What are you waiting for? Go, get some guavas and enjoy eating them.