The holidays are a tough time to try and stick to a healthy diet. It seems like every time you turn around someone is offering you another delicious, yet less than nutritious, meal, pastry or snack. Although it can be difficult fighting through the temptations of tasty treats, there are some very good holiday foods that can be eaten in abundance and even added to your nutritious diet plan throughout the year.

Plentiful Pumpkin

Pumpkins are associated with Halloween due to their widespread use as carved characters that decorate our doorways. However, pumpkins remain in season through thanksgiving and can even be plentifully packed into our freezers through Christmas and beyond.

Pumpkin is an excellent source of vitamin A which serves as a winter cold and flu barrier by strengthening nasal membrane. The orange pulp is also high in fiber with 8 grams in a one cup serving. And don’t throw away the seeds! Those tasty tidbits contain zinc for a stronger immune system as well as properties that are similar to ibuprofen for fighting inflammation.

Uses: Throughout the year, create pumpkin pie post-workout shakes by adding frozen or canned pumpkin, low-fat milk, rolled oats, vanilla, almond butter and spices. The roasted seeds are great additions to salads and pastas.

Cleansing Cranberries

It’s well known that cranberries are good for preventing and fighting infections in the urinary tract. Substances in the juice of these bountiful winter berries adhere to the urinary tract lining, preventing nasty bacteria from gaining a foothold. It does the same thing for your stomach which assists in deterring ulcer formation.

However, there’s even more to admire in cranberries. These red, ripe rubies of nature are also high in vitamin C and contain a horde of phenol antioxidants used in battling certain types of cancer and heart disease.

Uses: Dried cranberries are quite versatile and can be used in salads, cereals and smoothies. You can also drink a glass or two of unsweetened cranberry juice throughout the day or add a cup of it to your shakes after a workout. Zesty cranberry sauce is another delicious item to occasionally add to a meal to liven it up.

Powerful Pink Grapefruit

Another plentiful winter food is pink grapefruit. This delicious citrus has been shown to drastically reduce LDL, or bad, cholesterol as well as provide 100% of your vitamin C needs in one serving.

Although yellow grapefruit offers the same flu fighting vitamin C benefits, pink grapefruit is specifically highlighted because the substance that gives the fruit its pink hue is lycopene which is a powerful antioxidant that is also found in tomatoes. Breast cancer, prostate cancer and heart disease prevention have all been shown to be aided through lycopene.

Uses: You can drink unsweetened pink grapefruit juice (fresh squeezed or canned) throughout the year, or eat one fresh grapefruit per day, one half in the morning and the other half for an afternoon snack, with a dash of salt which helps neutralize the acidic taste.

Luscious Lima Beans

This big lug of a bean is not mentioned as often as some of its other legume relations, but it is a good one to include in your winter diet. The main reason is that lima beans are quite high in dietary fiber (approximately 5 g per ½ cup) and, therefore, assist well with weight loss.

However, the other lima bean benefit is that they supply a large portion of potassium which is used to cleanse your system of sodium. As a result of lower sodium levels, you have lower blood pressure and a reduction in bloating.

Uses: Prepare lima beans as a side item with other nutritious foods, steam and use them in salads, or sauté them and place as a topping over various dishes.