15 Most Powerful Spring Superfoods

Foods in season are at the peak of their nutritional value — which is why spring is the perfect time to stock up on produce.

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Superfoods, basket of artichokes
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Superfoods: Artichokes

While some superfoods are available in cans year-round, fresh artichokes are at their prime in the spring — and they’re packed with nutrients. Just one artichoke provides about 25 per cent of your daily fibre needs alongside plenty of potassium, magnesium, and vitamin C. Potassium and magnesium are both needed to build proteins, support energy production and metabolism, and maintain healthy nerve and heart function.

Artichokes are also rich in polyphenols, beneficial plant compounds that act as antioxidants. Research has found that the polyphenols in artichokes can help protect against breast cancer, while fibre and inulin in the thistle (yes, it’s in the thistle family) act as prebiotics — they feed the healthy bacteria in your gut.

Here is your healthy gut diet plan.

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superfoods, bunch of asparagus tied with string
Andrea Karr

Asparagus

Asparagus popping up in farmers markets and on grocery store shelves is a sure sign of spring. The popular spring veggie has just 20 calories per cup, but over half of your daily needs for folate and nearly double your daily needs of vitamin K. Your body needs the nutrient to clot blood; it also helps your bones get the calcium they need to stay strong and healthy. Folate contributes to a healthy metabolism and neural development, so it’s especially important for pregnant women to support a baby’s developing brain. Asparagus is also a great source of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that can help protect against many types of cancer.

Try this creamy Potato and Asparagus Soup.

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Superfoods, green onions on a wooden table
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Spring onions

Also known as green onions, these superfoods are a great source of phytochemicals like quercetin — an antioxidant that can help prevent heart disease and cancer. Spring onions are also high in sulphuric compounds that research suggests can reduce the incidence of chronic disease. These sulphuric compounds are especially effective when you eat them raw — not a problem since spring onions have a milder, sweeter flavour compared to white or red onions.

We love this Sweet Potato Noodle Stir-Fry with green onions.

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Superfoods, green peas in their pods
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Sweet peas

These tasty superfoods are one of the first vegetables to come into season in the spring. A cup of peas has 7 grams of fibre and 8 grams of filling protein, with about 100 per cent of your daily needs for vitamin C and 25 per cent of your vitamin A requirements. Green peas’ vitamin A content coupled with their high content of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin make them great for eye health.

Here are some other foods you should eat for healthy eyes.

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Superfoods, bowl of cut up rhubarb with rhubarb stocks lying next to it
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Rhubarb

Rhubarb stalks look a little like pink celery, but they’ve got a very tart flavour that works well in sweet recipes. Rhubarb is in season from April through June, when the veggie is loaded with vitamin A, vitamin K, and B vitamins. Vitamin A is helpful for immune, skin, and eye health, vitamin K is essential for bone health, and B vitamins support a healthy metabolism.

What you’re doing to slow down your metabolism, and how to stop.

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Superfoods, box of organic fennel
Andrea Karr

Fennel

Fennel’s refreshing anise flavour makes it a great vegetable to enjoy as the weather gets warmer, especially since it has much more than flavour going for it. The flowering plant has been used for its medicinal properties for centuries to solve digestive problems like cramping, bloating, and gas. Fennel is also a good source of anethole, an essential oil that has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

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Superfoods, bowl of fava beans
Andrea Karr

Fava beans

Fresh fava beans are in season from March to early May and are a great source of protein and fibre. One cup of fava beans has 9 grams of fibre and 10 grams of protein, making them great for building muscle and refueling after a workout while helping to lower levels of LDL cholesterol.

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Superfoods, bowl of watercress on a chopping board
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Watercress

This leafy green is a cruciferous vegetable in the same family as kale and broccoli. Since watercress greens are delicate, they thrive in cooler spring temperatures and wilt under summer’s harsh sun. The CDC considers cruciferous vegetables to be “powerhouse” vegetables, which help reduce your risk of chronic disease. One cup of watercress has just 4 calories, about a quarter of your daily recommendation for vitamins A and C, and over 100 per cent of your daily recommendation for vitamin K.

Cauliflower, another cruciferous vegetable, has some amazing detox properties.

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Superfoods, bowl of cut up radishes with full bulbs lying next to it
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Radish and radish greens

Crisp radishes come into season in the spring, and you can eat their roots (the part most commonly sliced and eaten) and greens — they’re both nutrient-packed. Radish bulbs are crunchy and peppery, and they get their red skin from antioxidant pigments known as anthocyanins. Radish greens and bulbs are great sources of vitamin C, and the greens also deliver calcium, vitamin K, and potassium.

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Superfoods, fresh garlic scapes
Andrea Karr

Garlic scapes

These are the bulb’s flower stalks that emerge in spring; they have a mild garlic flavour without the spicy bite. Garlic scapes share many of the same nutritional benefits of garlic, such as glutathione, sulfur compounds, and other flavonoids that reduce the oxidative stress linked to cancer, liver and kidney disease, and other illnesses.

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Superfoods, bowl of fiddleheads
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Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads, sometimes called fiddlehead ferns, have a short mid-spring season, unlike some of our other superfoods. They have a flavour similar to asparagus with the crisp texture of green beans. Fiddleheads provide about three-quarters of your daily recommendation for vitamin A and about a third of your daily needs for niacin. Niacin is a B vitamin that’s essential for a healthy metabolism, nervous system, hair, skin, and eyes.

7 Smart Ways to Spring Clean Your Eating Habits

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Superfoods, basket of mint
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Mint

Like many fresh herbs, mint flourishes in the spring as the weather warms up. Used for centuries as a digestive aid and to treat headaches and nausea, mint’s medicinal properties continue to be researched today. Peppermint, in particular, is high in menthol, a compound that soothes inflammation and may ease gastrointestinal symptoms. Here are some other benefits of peppermint you didn’t know about.

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Superfoods, bowl of sorrel
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Sorrel

Sorrel is a tart, lemony flavoured green that’s in shines in spring. Each half-cup serving of sorrel greens has 2 grams of fibre and half of your daily recommendation for vitamin C. Your body requires vitamin C to make collagen, which keeps your skin springy and youthful-looking; collagen is also key to wound healing. The nutrient is also an antioxidant that helps prevent chronic diseases.

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Superfoods, cooked spiced salmon on a plate
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Salmon

You can easily find wild Pacific salmon in late spring, so be sure to add one of our fave superfoods to your shopping list. The fish are a great source of omega-3’s —  unsaturated fats that may protect your heart, your brain, and more thanks to the fat’s anti-inflammatory benefits. A 3-ounce serving of wild salmon has over 2,000 mg of omega-3’s, which is quadruple the American Heart Association’s daily recommendation for healthy adults. Salmon plays a prominent role in many of the best diets for heart health, as do these foods.

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Superfoods, plate of kelp with chopsticks
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Kelp

Sea kelp beds thrive between April and June, producing lots of nutrient-rich seaweed. Kelp is exceptionally high in iodine, a mineral vital to healthy thyroid function; your thyroid regulates hormones that keep your energy levels high, control your weight, and boost your mood. Most table salt is now fortified with iodine, but if you’re looking to cut back on salt, kelp is a great way to get more iodine.

Here’s the real reason you should eat more seaweed.

The Healthy
Originally Published on The Healthy

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