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Anyone strolling through the weekly market these days can see the endives with their green leaves shining from the tables. The salad is currently in the high season in Germany and not only tastes delicious as a fresh side dish: the endive also stimulates the appetite and digestion.

The late summer salad

In the period from September to November, the supply of endive from domestic cultivation is particularly large. There are two types of lettuce: the smooth-leaved escarole and the curly-leaved frisée. Both variants are equally suitable as starter salads because the endive stimulates the appetite and digestion.

Appetizing & digestive

This type of lettuce owes its typically bitter taste to the bitter substance lactucopicrin it contains. This stimulates the appetite and digestion and has a slightly diuretic effect.

Endive is so healthy

In addition to the bitter substances, the endive contains a large amount of beta-carotene, which is particularly good for the eyes and skin. In addition, the lettuce leaves score with potassium, calcium, phosphates, and folic acid. The latter is one of the B vitamins and is involved in important growth processes, cell division, and blood formation.

Kitchen tip

If you don’t like the bitter taste of the endive, you should soak the leaves in warm water before serving or add a little sweetness to the salad dressing – for example with honey or a pinch of sugar. Removing the thick ends of the leaves can also counteract the bitter taste of the endive. The salad is best stored in the refrigerator.

When stress or worries hit our stomachs, sometimes even our favorite dish can’t motivate us to eat. But you can easily combat a short phase of loss of appetite: with these foods and preparation methods!

Loss of appetite? These 3 foods will help

While the persistent loss of appetite with accompanying weight loss must be extensively clarified with the doctor in order to rule out physical and psychological illnesses, a short, temporary phase of loss of appetite is nothing unusual and threatening. When you are stressed or worried, you often lose your appetite for a few days.

But there are foods and preparation methods that can help to slowly stimulate the appetite again. This includes fruity and light meals – even liquid or soft foods are easier to eat if you just can’t get a bite down. The meals should also be easily digestible and consist of as many fresh plant-based ingredients as possible. Here are three examples:

Smoothie

Even cut into bite-sized pieces, fruit and vegetables don’t want to end up in your stomach? Then smoothies could help against the loss of appetite: Prepared with your favorite fruits and vegetables and finely blended, they are easy to drink and also practical for those who can’t get a bite down early in the morning.

The drinks provide the body with important vital substances and can also be spiced up with oatmeal, nuts, and seeds. This also ensures a robust taste and provides an extra portion of protein and complex carbohydrates, which keeps you full for longer.

Yogurt

Natural yogurt provides the body with protein in top form – as well as vitamins A and D as well as calcium and magnesium! Its lactic acid bacteria contribute to a healthy intestinal flora. The creamy consistency of the yogurt makes for a great mouthfeel; eaten chilled, it is a real refreshment and makes the start of the morning easier.

You can start with a 150-gram cup and spoon it slowly. If you like it sweeter, you can snip fresh fruit rich in vitamins into it. It gets crunchy with nuts or seeds! Serve your fruit yogurt with love, because it is a well-known fact that you eat with your eyes.

Fruit juice

Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, pomelos, or grapefruit are considered natural stimulants and can stimulate the appetite. They also provide vitamins and promote the absorption of the mineral iron. The fruit can be eaten pure or pressed into a juice. Be careful with ready-made juices from the supermarket: they can contain a lot of added sugar.

Researchers report that junk food not only harms body weight, but also our brain’s performance. Other foods, on the other hand, can promote concentration and memory skills.

Unhealthy food only increases the craving for it

The Macquarie University scientists studied 105 young, healthy volunteers who normally ate a balanced diet and divided them into two groups. One group ate junk food, i.e. foods high in sugar and saturated fat, for eight days. So there was toasted sandwiches and milkshakes or Belgian waffles for breakfast, later a main meal from a fast-food chain. The control group ate their usual meals.

Both groups could choose unhealthy snacks before and after breakfast on the first and last day of the experiment. It was to be tested how great their desire for it was and – after trying it – how good they had tasted it.

Other environmental influences also affect the hippocampus

Factors that occur primarily in the western world – insomnia, stress, environmental toxins, depression and type II diabetes – have a negative effect on the hippocampus. Combined with an unhealthy diet, this could mean both acute and long-term damage to this brain region.

Fish, nuts, and whole grains are better choices

In order to promote the ability to concentrate and memory through nutrition, long-chain, complex carbohydrates, such as those found in whole grain products, should be used. Omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish, nuts and rapeseed and walnut oil are said to have a beneficial effect on the nerve cells and their interaction. Proteins from fish, seafood, lean dairy products, legumes, and whole grains are also considered beneficial.