Five Easy Swaps for a Healthier Diet

Five Easy Swaps for a Healthier Diet

I believe one of the reasons most people are reluctant to make a change to their diet is because they feel overwhelmed by all the information out there.  Every day there are new studies about the food we eat, and most of those studies contradict a study we read last week.  It can get confusing to try to keep up with all of the latest dietary recommendations.

That’s why I say don’t do it.  I know that sounds surprising coming from me, but I truly believe it’s a waste of time and effort to keep up with all those studies.  For instance, one study I just read said that people who didn’t eat a snack between breakfast and lunch lost more weight than people who did.  Another study, on the same website, said to eat a snack every 2-3 hours if you want to lose weight.  Just remember this: scientists aren’t doing all those studies out of the goodness of their hearts.  Someone is paying those bills.  And that someone is usually benefited by the outcome.  So please, don’t trust everything you hear, especially when it comes to your health.

photo courtesy of honey-bee, via flickr.com

The path to eating a healthier diet is very simple.  Just eat natural foods, the way they were intended to be eaten.  Artificially created ingredients are not good for your health.  Period.  The only thing they’re good for is the manufacturer’s bottom line.  They are cheap, easy to recreate substitutes for real food.  But eating a diet of all natural foods doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you love either.  Believe me when I say that for every single artificial processed food product you purchase at the grocery store, there is an all natural alternative out there.  You just need to know what you’re looking for.  (My Six Week Challenge can teach you what you need to know and help you make the changes in manageable stages.)

To prove to you how easy it is to get more nutrition from your diet, here are five very simple things you can start doing today:

1.  Eat more salads, and make half of each salad using baby spinach. Raw greens are one of the healthiest foods you can eat – they fight cancer, add fiber, and are super easy to prepare.  Adding baby spinach increases the nutritional value and cancer fighting power without changing the taste.

2.  Use ground flax seeds (flax seed meal), wheat germ, or a combination of those, instead of breadcrumbs.  You can also add both of these ingredients to pancakes, granola, smoothies, muffins, and almost anything else you bake.  (Flax seeds are great for people who are gluten free or low carb.)

3.  Instead of sour cream, use plain Greek yogurt.  Or at least substitute it for half the sour cream.  Make sure you use a brand that has “live and active cultures”.  This adds not only protein, but probiotics to your food.

4.  Use 100% whole wheat pasta instead of plain.  Same goes for bread – always “100% whole wheat”, which is NOT the same as “whole grain”.

5.  Stop using refined sugar.  Use honey, maple syrup, raw agave nectar, or palm sugar instead.  These natural sweeteners are not highly processed, add trace minerals and vitamins to your diet, and are lower on the glycemic index.

See how easy it is to achieve a healthier diet?  Have you made any healthier switches lately?

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