Are you winter ready? Or are you still working out the best strategy for conquering the cold & flu season?

This time of the year is incredibly cosy; warm blankets in front of fireplaces, holiday movie marathons, comforting bowls of soup, and Christmas decorations lighting up the streets!

However, a combination of reduced consumption of fruit and vegetables and less time spent outside in winter can decrease your daily intake of vitamins and minerals which contribute to normal immunity, energy production and good psychological function. Moreover, cold temperatures and wind can be rough on your skin, adding extra effort to your beauty routine.

The good news is that supporting your diet with vitamin C, D and A can contribute to keeping you illness-free, glowing and full of energy.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the most popular aids for anyone feeling under the weather. However, vitamin C contributes to the maintenance of multiple other body functions including protection against oxidative stress, energy and collagen production.

Unfortunately, vitamin C can't be produced naturally by the body. It's usually found in a variety of fruits and vegetables such as oranges, lemons, strawberries, kiwi, broccoli and spinach. Some of these foods may not always be accessible during winter, while many of them can lose most of their vitamin C content when exposed to heat.

You can boost (and even reach!) your recommended daily intake of vitamin C with superfoods. Our Organic Immunity Functional blend contains almost twice your RDI in just a 25g portion. You can have it at any time of the day, in a quick-to-make, delicious smoothie such as this Zingy Smoothie on our website.

Vitamin D

Although vitamin D received the nickname “sunshine vitamin” because of its main origin, it can truly bring sunshine into your life. Adequate consumption of vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune and psychological systems. Vitamin D deficiency can show as a general sense of not feeling well and excessive daytime tiredness.

As always, the most amazing health-supporting nutrients come from nature. Vitamin D is no exception to this rule – it's produced by the human body when directly exposed to the sun and it can be sparingly found in some foods. Nonetheless, getting vitamin D becomes challenging during winter months, when exposure to the sun is significantly lowered. It's also not very convenient to get your daily recommended intake of vitamin D only from dietary sources, particularly when following an Earth-friendly vegan diet.

Our favourite solution to boosting the daily intake of plant-based vitamin D during cold months is our Organic Mushroom Superblend. One teaspoon of our medicinal mushrooms based blend contains 99% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin D, the equivalent of 2.8kg of raw mushrooms!

Vitamin A

Vitamin A might not grab the headlines as often as the other two heroes in the trio, but it's no less noteworthy. Vitamin A supports the normal function of the immune system and contributes to improving dry skin conditions which are more common in winter.

The recommended daily intake of vitamin A is 900 micrograms for men and 700 micrograms for women. To achieve this from plant-based sources, we recommend consuming a variety of fruit and vegetables including sweet potato, carrot, dried apricots and spring greens. Or, if you’re looking for more convenient and delicious ways to boost your intake, try our versatile organic Acai powder in an Acai Bowl, Berry Pie or Acai Granola Bar.

Barleygrass and Wheatgrass are also fantastic sources of Vitamin A that can be used in both sweet and savoury recipes. You can now buy them at a special price on our website or find them in our Vitamin A rich Organic Immunity Blend.

Discover more superfood-boosted recipes here and get ready to live well!