What to Eat in Spring if You're Plant-Based in Cardiff

Spring in Cardiff means longer days, the first decent produce of the year, and — for a lot of people — the start of hay fever season. If you eat plant-based, it’s also a natural point to reassess what’s on your plate and in your supplement cupboard.

Here’s what we’re thinking about at Beanfreaks right now.

Seasonal produce is back

After a winter of root vegetables and storage crops, spring brings some of the best eating of the year. Purple sprouting broccoli, spring onions, asparagus, spinach, radishes, and the first fresh peas are all coming into season in Wales through March and April.

We carry fresh organic fruit and vegetables across all three stores. Organic seasonal produce tastes noticeably different from supermarket equivalents, particularly at this time of year when everything is fresh rather than stored.

If you’re eating plant-based, building meals around what’s actually in season is one of the easiest ways to eat well without overcomplicating it. Roasted purple sprouting broccoli with tahini. Asparagus with lemon and olive oil. A spring onion and spinach frittata if eggs are in your diet. Simple food, properly sourced.

Hay fever season is starting

For anyone who suffers with hay fever, March is when tree pollen begins and the season gets underway in earnest. Two things worth having in your corner early:

Local wildflower honey

We stock Tonyrefail Apiary honey, made by a family of beekeepers in the Rhondda Cynon Taf from Welsh wildflowers. The idea behind local honey and hay fever is straightforward: regular small amounts of locally produced honey introduce local pollen into your system gradually, in the same way that allergy immunotherapy works. The evidence is mixed but the logic is sound, and many people find it genuinely helpful taken consistently through winter and into spring.

A teaspoon a day in warm water or on toast. Start before the season hits rather than after.

Quercetin

This one is less well known but worth understanding. Quercetin is a natural flavonoid found in foods including onions, apples, and capers. It works as a natural antihistamine by stabilising the mast cells that release histamine during an allergic response, essentially reducing the reaction before it starts.

You get some quercetin through diet, but supplemental quercetin is considerably more concentrated. If you find hay fever significantly affects your quality of life and you’d rather not rely entirely on antihistamine tablets, quercetin taken in the weeks before and during the season is worth trying. We stock it and can point you to the right product in store.

The combination of local honey and quercetin is something a lot of our customers use together through spring.

Vitamin D: don’t stop yet

A lot of people stop taking Vitamin D when the clocks change or the weather improves slightly. In Wales, that’s too early.

The rule of thumb for producing Vitamin D through sunlight is that you need direct skin exposure, without sunscreen, when the sun is high enough in the sky. In the UK, that doesn’t reliably happen until late April or May. A sunny day in March does relatively little for your Vitamin D levels, whatever it looks like through the window.

We still have Vitamin D3 as one of our best selling supplements right now, and for good reason. If you’ve been taking it through winter, keep going for another six to eight weeks. Vegan D3 is derived from lichen rather than lanolin, so it’s suitable if you’re avoiding animal products.

Plant-based protein in spring

Spring tends to shift eating habits toward lighter meals, which sometimes means protein takes a back seat without people noticing. If you’re training or just want to maintain muscle, it’s worth being deliberate about it.

Legumes are the easy seasonal answer. Chickpeas, lentils, and butter beans work well with spring vegetables and take on flavour easily. Beyond whole foods, we stock the Raw Sport plant-based protein range for anyone who wants a more concentrated source without resorting to whey.

Come in and ask

This is the time of year we get a lot of questions about hay fever, supplements, and what’s come into season. If you’re not sure where to start, come in and ask. That’s genuinely what we’re here for.

Find us at Roath, Canton, and Royal Arcade.