Chicken Soup, Vegetable Salad, and More: Foods to Eat in the Fall

As fall arrives and temperatures drop, not only our wardrobe changes but also our diet. According to Chinese medicine, it should be neither too cold nor too hot, combining fresh and cooked dishes. To maintain good nutrition during the season of falling leaves, here are examples of foods recommended for this time, from chicken soup to vegetable salad.

Fresh chicken soup to strengthen the immune system

Fall is certainly a time to begin soup season, led proudly by chicken soup, whose basic ingredients are fresh chicken pieces, onion, carrot, and parsley. This soup is considered a traditional home remedy everyone eats when they have a cold or flu. It is also worth eating to help prevent these illnesses because it contributes to strengthening the immune system. The chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, released into the broth during cooking. This amino acid breaks down proteins that accumulate in the lining of the lungs and encourages the removal of excess mucus, while also providing a substantial serving of protein. However, to enjoy chicken soup's benefits, it is important to choose fresh, healthy chicken with a green label, without hormones or antibiotics.

More than chicken soup

Besides chicken soup, any soup containing plenty of vegetables is good to eat in fall. If you think the minerals and vitamins in vegetables are lost during heating, know that this is not true: the absorption of some minerals and vitamins actually improves through heating, such as vitamin A. The vegetables' nutrients also pass into the broth itself.

Every vegetable in the soup has its own properties and qualities. Cooked carrots, for example, contain a high amount of beta-carotene, essential for the immune system, alongside a good amount of phosphorus and dietary fiber. Potatoes provide a substantial amount of potassium, while onions supply a substantial amount of potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Cooked parsley provides a high level of dietary fiber and plenty of vitamin K, important for the circulatory system and bone formation.

Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit

Alongside cooked dishes, include a variety of fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables in your fall diet, and continue eating a fresh vegetable salad daily, just as in summer. In fall, for example, it is worth eating plenty of pomegranates, which contain abundant antioxidants and vitamin C, considered excellent for the vascular system. This season is also a good time to add avocado to salads. It supports good cholesterol and contains abundant dietary fiber, a large amount of potassium, and little sodium, alongside various amino acids, vitamins, and minerals.

This is general news information and is not a substitute for personal advice from a doctor or dietitian.