Eating healthy doesn’t necessarily mean you have to completely overhaul your diet. It’s easier to make gradual changes by replacing foods you currently eat with healthier options that are more nutritious and lower in calories. Here are some healthy food swaps that will pay off with big health dividends over time.
Foods to replace: Soft drinks, sugar-sweetened drinks, and fruit juice. Swap it for Unsweetened green tea
If you’re sipping three cans of soft drinks or other sugar-sweetened drink every day, you’re taking in a whopping 450 calories before eating a bite of food. Wouldn’t you rather eat your calories instead? Lighten up on the sugary drinks and switch to unsweetened green tea instead. You’ll lose almost a pound a week without making any other changes. In addition, green tea is rich in cell-protective antioxidants. An added bonus? Sipping it regularly gives your metabolism a kick start.
Fruit juice sounds like a good choice, but even without added sugar, it’s still a concentrated source of natural sugar. When the urge to sip fruit juice strikes, bite into a piece of fresh fruit instead and get the added benefits of the fiber.
Food to replace: Iceberg lettuce in your salads
Swap it for Spinach, kale, arugula and other dark, leafy greens
Eating a fresh salad is a great way to get your “nine-a-day.” Yes, that’s how many servings of fruits and vegetables many experts recommend these days. Most people build their salad around a base of iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is low in calories but it falls short in the nutritional department. When you create a salad, substitute dark, leafy greens like spinach in place of iceberg lettuce. You’ll boost the nutritional value of your salad and add more cancer-protective antioxidants.
Food to replace: Flavored yogurt
Swap it for Plain Greek yogurt
Yogurt is a good source of immune-boosting probiotics and bone-building calcium, but some brands of flavored yogurt contain a disturbing amount of sugar. Get your yogurt fix by switching to plain Greek yogurt and flavor it with pureed berries. Greek yogurt has roughly half the carbs of regular yogurt and more muscle-building, tummy-satisfying protein too. No wonder so many grocery stores are filling their dairy cases with it.
Food to replace: Red meat and processed meat
Swap it for Fresh or canned salmon
This is a food swap that’s good for your ticker. Take a break from red meat and make the switch to salmon two days a week. Salmon contains healthy omega-3 fats that ease inflammation and lower the risk of heart disease. Some studies show that omega-3s in salmon can even improve your mood by keeping depression and anxiety at bay. Most people get too much-saturated fat in their diet from sources like red meat and not enough “good fats” from fatty fish like salmon. Many processed meats are also high in saturated fat and have been linked with a greater risk of colon cancer, possibly due to some of the preservatives they contain.
Foods to replace: Chips, pretzels and other crunchy snacks
Swap them for Nuts
Chips and pretzels are high in carbs and have little nutritional value. Even veggie chips marketed as a healthier alternative to potato chips contain more potato flour than vegetable matter. Reach for a serving of nuts instead. Nuts are lower in carbs and high in fiber, so they’re more filling. They’re also rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that lower LDL-cholesterol naturally.
What will the calories in nuts do to your waistline? Paradoxically, research shows that people who snack on nuts are less likely to gain weight over time. This is because a fraction of the calories from nuts aren’t absorbed. Good choices for snacking are pecans, a nut with lots of antioxidant punch, almonds, an excellent source of vitamin E and walnuts, a good source of a good-for-you fat called alpha-linolenic-acid.
Food Swaps: The Bottom Line?
Make the five healthy food swaps, and you’ll be well on your way to eating a more nutritious diet without making drastic changes to your diet.
References:
PLoS One. 2011; 6(6): e20456.
Obesity. 2007 Jan;15(1):107-16.
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