HealthcareShake Up Your Diet With These Healthy Ideas

Does your diet need an overhaul? With the diet industry so large, and with so much conflicting information out there, it can be difficult to know where to turn to when looking for advice on eating healthier. Fortunately, we’ve compiled some useful tips to help you on your health journey. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or you’re just looking to adopt better eating habits, these tips should help you to reach your diet goal.

Fill up

The worst thing you can do while trying to streamline your diet is to not eat enough. Starving your body of essential nutrients will make you feel drained and unable to concentrate. Furthermore, it’s more likely to make you crave and binge on fatty foods later on, which just puts you back to square one again. Fill up on healthy whole grains, protein, and fibre-rich foods, such as non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, lean meats, eggs, nuts, and low-fat dairy. Not only are these full of essential vitamins and minerals, they’ll leave you feeling satisfied for longer. Start your day with some oat-based cereal and a banana, and you won’t be reaching for the biscuit tin by 11am. Lunch could be a thick vegetable broth with whole-grain bread; while for dinner, you could try a tasty omelette or a baked potato with homemade chilli con carne.

Add a healthy supplement

The term ‘superfood’ is thrown around a lot in the media, but there are actually certain supplements which have incredible benefits that are backed by science. Spirulina, for instance, is a nutrient-dense algae that’s so packed with goodness that NASA even uses it as a dietary supplement for astronauts during space missions. The supplement is thought to reduce cholesterol, help weight loss, stimulate the immune system, and tackle fatigue by boosting energy. Furthermore, just one tablespoon of spirulina powder is packed with vitamins, yet only contains around 20 calories.

Substitute foods

If you often find yourself looking for a quick pick-me-up throughout the day, consider something healthier than your usual sugary snack. A small biscuit here and there might not seem much but, over the course of a day, the calories can add up substantially. If you’ve got  a sweet tooth, then substitute chocolate with strawberries, apples, melon, grapes, or kiwi fruits. For a healthy savoury snack, swap crisps for an oat biscuit with sliced tomato and low-fat cream cheese or some unsalted nuts. Also consider replacing full-fat milk with skimmed or semi-skimmed and using low-fat spread instead of butter.

Make your own meals

Ready-made meals often contain added salt and can be surprisingly high in calories. By making your own meals, you can control exactly what you’re eating. Bring your own sandwiches to work instead of grabbing something from the shop down the road. Not only will it save you money in the long-term, it can save you on calories if you’re careful. Consider making a large pot of homemade vegetable broth that will last you a few days. Bulk it up with lentils or other pulses for a hearty soup that’s packed with goodness and will make you feel fuller for longer.

Conclusion

Shaking up your diet to be more healthy is much simpler than it sounds. A few tweaks, such as adding nutritious supplements, making your own meals that satisfy your hunger, and substituting fatty snacks for healthier options, are all you need to do.