Hearty meets healthy: Balance winter comfort foods with total body wellness

When the temperature drops and the days get shorter, our cravings shift toward heavy comforting foods.

We have oxtail, samp and beans, puddings day in and day out.

This is food that touches the soul and makes us feel a sense of warmth inside and out.

While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying hearty winter meals, staying vibrant and healthy during the colder months requires a unique nutritional approach.

We need to pay attention to what’s on the table and how much of it is nourishing, keeps our energy levels steady and supports our immune systems and mood.

Dr Inga Koopmann, a Doppelherz scientific consultant, says there is a “hidden connection between stress and your winter health”.

“As winter sets in and daily routines shift indoors, many people notice a familiar pattern: lower energy, disrupted digestion, increased cravings and a general sense of being run down. While cold weather is often blamed, the underlying driver is frequently less visible and that’s stress.

“Increasingly, health experts are drawing attention to how chronic stress doesn’t only affect mental wellbeing but also shows up physically, particularly in the gut. This gut–mind connection is central to understanding why stress can feel so pervasive during the colder months and why nutrition plays a more important role than ever in maintaining resilience.”

Koopmann says the idea that stress is purely psychological is outdated.

“Modern research increasingly shows that the body responds to stress in deeply physical ways, influencing everything from energy metabolism to digestive function.”

Today’s fast-paced lifestyles create what she describes as a two-sided problem when it comes to nutrition and stress.

“When we’re in this constant stress environment we don’t eat as healthily as we should. We turn to processed foods, irregular eating patterns and quick, high-energy snacks lacking in fibre. This creates blood sugar spikes rather than stable levels. In the evening, when you come home tired, you might overeat because you’re very hungry. You might drink to release pressure or smoke to help you relax. These stress-related habits can significantly impact our nutrient intake.”

She says the result is a cycle where stress influences behaviour and this further strains the body’s ability to regulate energy, mood and digestion.

“One of the most significant but often overlooked ways stress manifests is through the digestive system. The gut and brain are closely linked via the gut–brain axis, meaning emotional strain can directly influence digestive comfort and vice versa,” says Koopmann.

“In the context of modern stress, this dual action is increasingly relevant, supporting both emotional calm and digestive balance. Beyond behaviour, stress also affects how the body uses nutrients. While research is still evolving, certain micronutrients play a key role in supporting normal nervous system function during periods of pressure.

“We know magnesium is important for our nervous system, for example, and we see differences in requirements between stressed and non-stressed states. We also observe connections between vitamin C and cortisol metabolism. B-vitamins, in particular, are central to energy-yielding metabolism and normal neurological function.”

She says when demands on the body increase, ensuring adequate intake becomes especially important.

“Winter can intensify these patterns. Reduced daylight, disrupted routines and increased indoor time can all amplify stress levels, while also influencing dietary habits and energy balance. Many people report feeling more fatigued and less focused during this period, often without recognising the underlying role of stress and nutrient depletion.

“We should try to eat as healthily as possible and as consistently as possible, but when we can’t maintain optimal nutrition through diet alone, supplements can help ensure our bodies receive essential nutrients, particularly during stressful periods,” says Koopmann.

She says targeted nutritional support plays a role in helping the body cope with everyday demands.

Nutritional Performance Labs (NPL) research & development and quality control manager Andy Moore says winter means bulking season is open.

“The layers are on, the appetite is up and the standard advice is to eat big and lift big. Most people do exactly that… and still wonder why the mirror tells a different story in September.”

Here is what Moore says usually goes wrong, and what to do about it:

You’re eating more but not enough of the right things: Volume without structure is just eating. If your protein is low, your body has nothing to build with, regardless of how much food you’re moving. Fix the structure first: set a daily protein target (a useful starting point is 1.6g per kilogram of bodyweight) and treat hitting it as non-negotiable. Calories matter but protein is the one number that determines whether those calories build anything.

You’re skipping the hardest meals to prepare: Breakfast and post-training are the two windows most people cut corners on. Cooking a proper high-protein meal at 6am or straight after a [training] session takes up time that most people don’t have, so plan for that instead of pretending it won’t happen.

You think dirty bulking is a shortcut: It isn’t. Eating everything in sight adds fat as efficiently as it adds muscle, sometimes even more effectively, which is not the goal. Work out your maintenance calories, add 300 to 500 on top and hold that range. A controlled surplus is enough to drive growth without burying it under fat you’ll spend summer trying to shift.

You’re undereating on rest days: Muscle is not built in the gym. It’s built during recovery, which means rest-day nutrition still matters. Keep your protein target the same and drop calories only slightly.

You’re training the same way you did during summer: Cut-season training is built around preserving muscle. Bulk-season training should be built around adding it. Shift towards compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, rows, presses - then increase your weekly volume gradually and pull back on cardio. If your programme hasn’t changed since cut season, your results won’t either.

You’re not hitting your protein target consistently: 50g of protein per meal sounds straightforward until you work out how many wholefood meals it takes to get there three times a day, every day.

You’re not tracking anything: Gut feel is not a bulk strategy. You do not need a spreadsheet obsession, but you do need a rough daily sense of whether your calories and protein are landing where they should.

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