How can you keep the vitamins in your food intact? Not all the food you eat have the vitamins you are supposed to get. If food is mishandled, you will not get the nutrients it contains. Here are some tips to avoid this :-

• Don't soak the vegetables to preserve vitamins B and C. Simply wash them.
• Sliced fruits and vegetables lose their vitamins. Making your own fresh salad is best instead of buying sliced veggies that are ready to cook.
• When preparing veggies, use a sharp knife. Bruised vegetables lode their vitamins A and C.
• Eat frozen green beans rather than those you left to chill in the refrigerator for a week.
  

When the weather turns cold, it's tempting to dive fork-first into rich, heavy comfort foods. Want of meals that are delicious and satisfying, it's more important than ever to make sure that what you're eating is also well-balanced and nutritious.

- Cold weather foods tend to be fattening. Think of the toasts, gravies, mashed potatoes, stuffings, meat, heavy breads and rich desserts of winter. They're a lot heavier than the grilled skinned chicken breasts, salads, fresh vegetables and fresh fruits of warm weather days.

- Food also has a thermal property. Ginger, garlic, most grains like wheat, jowar, bajra, sarson, pepper, mustard and many more have a warming effect on the body. Dates, honey and jaggery are sweetners that also have a warming effect on the body. All animal products are essentially warming.

Spinach and Sprouts moisten and lubricate and therefore counteract dryness and heat. Hence they are good for menopausal discomfort. This dish, according to traditional Chinese medicine, is also prescribed for headaches, dizziness, high blood pressure and constipation.

1 table spoon olive oil or butter.

1 garlic clove, pressed or diced.

1 bunch spinach, stems removed, leaves washed but not dried

1 cup bean sprouts

Naturally fermented soy sauce or sea salt to taste

Warm the oil in a wide skillet. add the garlic, cook over medium heat until it is aromatic and turns light gold i.e. for around 1 minute.

Add the spinach, bean sprouts and soy sauce or salt and lightly cook for about 3 minutes or until the spinach is bright green and limp and the sprouts are translucent. Season with pepper. Remove to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature. Serves two to three and is a very good remedy for people suffering from the above mentioned ailments.

Juices that heal :

- Cabbage juice is used for healing stomach and duodenal ulcers.

- Carrot juice is used for liver rejuvenation and cleansing. When appied directly to a burn, it expedites healing time.

- Celery juice is used for lowering blood pressure.

- Cherry juice (especially our cherry juice) is used for treating gout, rheumatism and arthritis.

- Cranberry juice is used for treating and preventing urinary tract infections.

- Grape juice is used for edema, hepatitis and jaundice.

- Lemon juice is used for indigestion, weight loss, high-blood pressure and as a liver tonic. Drink upon arising, after a meal or following the use of antibotics or other drugs.

A cup or half a cup of fresh juice of Karela (bitter gourd) mixed with a little honey, taken once a day for three months will set right painful mensuration.

To say goodbye to constipation, extract the juice of a bottle gourd (dudhi vegetable in Hindi) and drink it. It helps in easy digestion of food and eases constipation.

Also include the vegetable in your regular diet if you have a chronic problem of constipation.