While piling on the layers is a method to keep the winter chill away, specific foodstuffs can help warm us from the interior. Warm soups and hot drinks are a natural, but some foods really excite heat production more than others.

As temperatures drop, appetites liven up. The cold, dark days of winter often bring on longings for hearty comfort foods, warm drinks, and more spicy dishes that held less appeal in the warm summer months. Our biology drives us to consume more calories in case food should become scant, and to add a tiny extra padding to help us stay warm. But unlike our traditional ancestors, we reside in heated houses and food is widely available – so we do not have to pack away those additional calories. Whenever we eat and digest a meal, the body temperature rises in a method called diet-induced thermogenesis, or DIT for short, asserted Dr. Luigi Gratton, VP of medical affairs at Herbalife.

But some foods excite heat production more than others. High-protein foods, as an example, increase DIT more than starchy or greasy foods, so they’re more ‘warming,’ adds Gratton. Pungent ingredients like spicy ginger, chili, pepper and garlic can help circulation and generate heat.

We are more inclined to drink liquids when the weather is hot but we need masses of liquids in winter to heat and humidity cold, dry winter air. So, let your warm winter coat warm you up from the outside, and try these pointers to generate some heat from the interior out : Protein heavy dishes fuel the furnace to keep us warm. But select fat free proteins fish, chickens and lean meats, or protein powder in soups or oatmeal – to avoid blubber and calories. Turn to heat teas and soups to help hydrate you and keep air passages moisturized. Add an additional dash of spices and seasoning to your winter dishes. If you catch a cold or influenza, remember the chicken soup. Studies prove that it works better than other hot liquids to speed up the flow of mucus. It’s thought the conventional savory seasoning in the soup – like onion and pepper – travel in the vapors and help to open clogged nasal passages.