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TopAdding Superfoods to your Diet
Include superfoods in your diet
There isn’t one superfood that will improve your diet, but including many healthy foods is a great idea to help you stay well now and into the future.
What is a superfood?
The term “superfoods” is not a scientific or nutrition-related term with a specific meaning. Rather, it’s a marketing term that’s used to describe healthy foods that contain lots of vitamins, minerals, fibre or antioxidants. Sometimes superfood claims are exaggerated or embellished for particular items in hopes of selling more for profit. For example, there are some “superfood” berries like acai and goji that are very costly, but local blueberries are just as healthy and filled with antioxidants.
The best diet is one that contains an array of healthy foods. This includes:
- Vegetables and legumes
- Protein sources like meat, chicken, fish and seafood
- Fruits, nuts and seeds
- Whole grains
- Water as the main choice of beverage
- Calcium-rish foods like milk, soy beverage, cheese and yogurt
A good diet cannot be improved by simply adding more of one superfood, such as kale or salmon. What you eat daily is what matters most. A burger and fries with a side salad made with spinach cannot be called a superfoods lunch because of the spinach!
Eat more leafy greens
If you do want to use the word “superfoods,” than the first candidate in line would be leafy green vegetables. Antioxidant-rich with a slew of vitamins and minerals, these versatile greens are great raw or cooked. They contain calcium, iron, vitamins A, C K and folate, plus important fibre.
Some top greens include:
Kale, spinach, collards, turnip greens, swiss chard, mustard greens, rapini, arugula, romaine lettuce and dandelion greens.
Eat more berries for your best health
High in fibre and vitamins but low in calories, a bowl of berries makes a great addition to breakfast or a wonderful snack. You can also use them on top of salads, yogurt or cereal, or be really creative and try a child strawberry soup. Keep frozen berries on-hand when they are out of season.
Add any or all of these to your meals and snacks:
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Strawberries
- Raspeberries
- Cranberries
- Kiwi - yup - it's à berry!
Greek yogurt is super for you
Yogurt has always been prized for its health value and high concentration of probiotics, which help protect the digestive and immune systems. Greek yogurt is twice-strained yogurt, and this extra straining removes more of the natural sugars and leave more protein. The resulting Greek yogurt is extra thick and creamy, with double the protein and half the carbs of regular yogurt. It still contains probiotics and calcium.
Here are 10 delicious ways – both sweet and savoury – to add more Greek yogurt to your diet:
- 1. Mix a cup for Greek yogurt with a whole sliced banana and a drizzle of honey.
- 2. Swirl Greek yogurt into finish a pureed vegetable soup.
- 3. Use it instead of sour cream on mashed potatoes and add some chives.
- 4. Make a layered parfait with Greek yogurt, berries and granola.
- 5. Bake moist muffins with Greek yogurt.
- 6. Use it on fish tacos or fajitas.
- 7. Make a tzatziki sauce to pair with souvlaki.
- 8. Add it for the creamiest-ever mac & cheese.
- 9. Make a healthy fruit smoothie with 1 cup fruit and ½ cup Greek yogurt.
- 10. Use it instead of mayo in tuna or egg salad.
Have turkey tonight
Often relegated to Christmas and Thanksgiving, turkey does not make an appearance on your dinner plate as often as chicken does, right? You don’t need to cook a 20 pound bird to reap the benefits of this original superfood. Try turkey breast roast, ground turkey or turkey cutlets instead. Highly nutritious, low in fat, inexpensive, versatile, and always available, the turkey has finally come into its own. Skinless turkey breast is one of, if not the leanest meat protein sources on the planet. Turkey also offers a rich array of nutrients, particularly niacin, selenium, vitamins B6 and B12, and zinc. Try these Turkey cutlets.
Beans and lentils are nutritious
If you are looking to enhance your meals with added health value, start by eating more beans and lentils. Whether you like chickpeas made into hummus, lentil soup, kidney bean chili or black-eyed peas on your leafy greens, these small but mighty legumes add fibre, iron and protein to daily meals and snacks. Use and array of them – all are versatile, nutritious and delicious!
Is chocolate a superfood?
Wouldn’t life be sweet if every chocolate bar we ate made us healthier? Sadly, that’s not quite the case, but cocoa powder and dark chocolate do have some health benefits! The key to enjoying chocolate without any detriment is to keep your intake low (less than 100 calories) and to choose chocolate that does not have a lot of added sugar. That means dark chocolate – and it’s a bit of an acquired taste. Remember, milk chocolate and white chocolate don’t have the same health benefits as dark chocolate, which contains polyphenols which may marginally contribute to lowering blood pressure.
Healthy bite
- Onions and garlic are considered superfoods for their anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.
- Orange vegetables and fruits are high in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that’s important for good vision.
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