Nutritious Ontario! - A Naturopathic Doctor's Perspective

When My Backyard's Full first approached me to analyze her food plan, I though it would be easy to pick out where she cold improve. As a Naturopathic Doctor it is part of my job to identify potential nutritional deficits and deficiencies and help clients balance their meal plan and optimize their health. What I learned was that when it comes to vegetables, Ontario is tough to “beet”!

Here is my report:
Winter
If Andrea consumes all of the vegetables on her list on a regular basis, she will have more than enough nutrition for optimal health. Some common winter concerns that I regularly here are: will I get enough vitamin C without citrus fruit, iron without my greens, and potassium without my beloved banana? These concerns can be easily addressed with many of the foods on the list. For example, cabbage is extremely high in vitamin C and often overlooked for its nutritional content. Iron can be found in relatively high amounts in leeks and potatoes, and if combined with chicken, beef, or fish, you will get more than enough to meet the recommended daily intake. Potassium is plentiful in yams, squash, potato, and sweet potato so there is no need for that well traveled banana. For me, it is the sprouts and greenhouse lettuces that really round out this winter diet giving you the raw antioxidant power you need to get through the winter season.

From a vegetable perspective the winter list should give more than enough nutrition for a healthy lifestyle, however I have included a small list of tips to help get even more!

Spring
Spring is a time of rejuvenation and detoxification. The spring list should give you everything you need to maintain a healthy diet. I would however indulge in the asparagus and fresh nettles this season to help support liver and kidneys and prepare for an active summer! Remember to harvest nettles and dry them for tea all year round!

Summer
Summer is a time of abundant antioxidants. This is a time to overindulge in nutrient-dense foods. If the goal is to promote anti-aging I recommend juicing the readily available nutrient-dense vegetables like kale, beets, broccoli, celery, and carrots. The carotinoids and antioxidants found in the summer list help to protect skin from sun damage.

Fall
This is harvest time! Growing up in Niagara, in my opinion this is when Ontario produce is at its finest. Continue to focus on eating greens like rapini and brussels sprouts as winter is around the corner. Load up on Ontario tender fruit, but be mindful of pesticide use. Consider canning some peach salsa for a future winter treat!

Overall the local Ontario diet should give all the produce you need to eat a healthy balanced diet all year round!

Want more this winter? Here are my tips to maximize winter nutrition:
Iron:
1. Eat lots of lentils: high in iron, high in fiber!
2. Save your fall pumpkin seeds and eat them raw in the winter (they also make great nut butter)
3. Cook with Tumeric. By weight it is loaded with iron!
4. Drink nettle tea dried from the summer harvest: it is full of iron and other beneficial minerals.

Liver loving greens:
1. Make lots of green sauce. Freeze fresh pesto sauce and other herbs blended with olive oil, like sage and cilantro.

Antioxidants:
1. Eat your apples and pears raw. Most of your food will be cooked this winter season. Cooking can lead to the loss of some helpful enzymes and antioxidants.
2. Load your plate with sprouts, also full of beneficial enzymes.
3. Store some strawberry freezer jam this summer (low in sugar)
4. Freeze your blueberries and raspberries for delicious winter deserts and smoothies!
5. Decorate your plate with canned fruit filled chutney and salsa!

Vitamin C:
1. Hello homemade backyard tomato sauce! It is loaded with Vitamin C and the delicious flavor comes from the vine-ripened fruit!

Vitamin D:
1. Mushrooms are a significant dietary source of vitamin D and readily available in the winter.
2. Get outside and enjoy the sunshine as often as possible!
3. Consider a supplement or have your Vitamin D levels tested. Unfortunately most of us living in Ontario are deficient, and this is one supplement that I recommend for everyone.

Soluble fiber:
1. Consider consuming ground flax seeds and slow cook oatmeal. This will give you the soluble fiber you need to balance the health benefits of the insoluble fiber found in most fruits and vegetables.

Erin Wiley ND

Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Clinic Director
416-260-6038
ewiley@integrativehealthinstitute.ca
http://www.integrativehealthinstitute.ca/