When you’re looking to start adding some healthier foods to your diet, it’s not always clear which options you should choose. There are lots of healthy foods that bring a range of benefits, but where do you start? There’s an approach for everyone and there are more healthy and delicious ingredients out there than you might be aware of.
That’s why we’re going to talk today about some of the options you might want to consider if you’re looking to make healthier adaptations to your diet moving forward. There’s a lot to learn about and many different options to consider, so read on now if you want to find out some of the healthiest foods that should feature more heavily in your diet going forward.
Black Beans
If you want to get more fiber into your diet, beans are one of the best ways to do it. They also offer a lot of the protein that you might be looking for if you’re trying to cut down on red meats. They can offer the protein benefits you need without the negative factors that meat offers. That also makes them ideal for vegetarians and vegans as well, of course. Black beans are better than many other types of beans out there because they also contain magnesium and antioxidants, both of which are great for your body.
Whole Grain Pasta
When it comes to the carbs you consume, it’s almost always better for your body if you’re choosing whole grain options over the regular white bread, white rice and regular pasta that tend to be the most common and most popular. Whole grain pasta in particular is great for your body and it’s particularly good at offering you the fiber that your body needs so badly. And you can make any pasta dish with it, the same way you would with just about any type of pasta or carbohydrate. So this is a swap you should certainly think about making.
Kale
Kale is one of the healthiest greens you can add to your diet. And there are so many different ways to make use of it if you want to make your diet healthier. There are lots of meal ideas out there that involve kale; you can mix it with mashed potato and cook it up in all different kinds of ways. Or it can be the perfect green garnish for a meat-based meal. It’s up to you but it’s certainly worth eating more of it because it has so many great properties, including healthy antioxidants.
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Walnuts
Walnuts are important for your body in so many ways, and they’re really useful for anyone looking for a slightly healthier snack. You should think about adding them to your rotation of healthy snacks if you haven’t done so already because they’re so much better for you than chips, chocolate and other snacks that you might ordinarily turn to. They’re great at lowering your cholesterol levels and they also contain omega-3 fatty acids and we all know how important those are for your health. A handful of walnuts is just about the healthiest snack option out there.
Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is full of probiotics, and that’s why you should try to get more of it into your diet if you’re not doing so already. It’s something that you can add to a desert or you can pair it with fruit, nuts and oatmeal to make a healthy snack or breakfast. It’s really up to you how you use it and there are so many great options to consider. You can even cook curries and things like that with Greek yogurt or use it as a marinade for meat. Your digestion and immunity will both be boosted when you consume more Greek yogurt.
Eggs
Eggs offer so many health benefits and yet they’re often overlooked when we talk about healthy foods. They offer choline which we know is very important for your health; it’s a nutrient that’s particularly beneficial to the brain and nervous system, so if you’re not getting enough of it in your diet, that’s certainly something that you should look to change. Eggs offer you the ideal way to do that, and there are so many things you can do with eggs, and they’re so affordable too.
Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are definitely something that you might want to add to your diet if you’re looking to change the way in which you consume carbs. Lots of people find that potatoes are too heavy and that they create a blood sugar spike. That’s obviously not what you want to happen, so you should think about switching to sweet potatoes instead. When you do this, you’ll find that there’s less of an impact and the energy release is more spread out. It’s also true that sweet potatoes count towards one of your five fruits and vegetables per day.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are great for your health, and the great thing about mushrooms is that there are so many different types. You might not have even heard of all of them yet, but there are amazing mushroom health benefits for your well-being that you should certainly be making the most of. It’s a good idea to do some research into the different types of mushrooms out there and what each of them can do for your health. It’s another food that’s pretty easy to add to your diet as well.
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Avocado
If you want to add more fiber to your diet, one of the very best ways to do that is to add avocados to your diet. If you don’t yet have much of a taste for avocados, there are lots of different recipes that you could try moving forward. Their health benefits are well known and they include the ability to lower a person’s cholesterol and they also offer the healthy fats that we need as part of our diet. Try avocados on toast with a little soy sauce and lime juice and you’ll immediately see what so many people love about them.
Spinach
Spinach is definitely something that you should think about adding to your meal plans if you don’t tend to eat much of it right now. It’s one of the healthiest greens out there and something you should definitely be consuming on a regular basis. There are so many great nutrients in spinach that you won’t find in most other foods. These include folate, iron and lots of very important and very beneficial flavonoids. You can eat it with most dishes or you can blend it into a fruit smoothie. There are so many options.
Wild Salmon
Salmon is one of the best protein sources out there, and if you’re looking to consume less red meat and you still want a great source of animal protein, wild salmon is the way to go. It’s also another really healthy source of omega-3 fatty acids which we all need. But why is wild so important? Well, wild salmon is much better for us because it contains fewer toxins than farmed salmon, so when you have the option to choose between the two, you should always go for the wild option because it’s simply better. Salmon is perfect for any meal, whether it’s for breakfast with avocado and toast or an evening meal of smoked salmon; it can be consumed any time.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The oils we cook with and the oils we use to dress things like salad will have a big impact on our health. The very best and most nutritionally beneficial type of oil out there right now is extra virgin olive oil and it’s the one you should try to prioritize if you’re not doing so already. It offers even more of those omega-3 fatty acids that we’ve talked about so much already. And on top of that, it’s free of some of the nastier and unhealthy things that are included in oils such as canola oil.
Blueberries
Another healthy snack that you definitely shouldn’t overlook is blueberries. They’re great for your health, they’re packed with healthy fibers and they’re also very rich in antioxidants at the same time. There’s a lot to love about them and of all the healthy berries out there, the general consensus is that these are the best. You should try to eat them as snack or incorporate them into healthy deserts with yogurts, nuts and other fruit and berry options. It could be exactly the kind of thing you’re looking for if you want to be healthier but have a sweet tooth.
As you can see, there’s no shortage of foods you can start adding to your diet if you want to improve your health moving forward. Each of these healthy foods offers a range of benefits that you shouldn’t be missing out on. In order to get more of them into your diet, think about how you can use them in new recipes. It doesn’t have to be difficult.
