5 Swaps You Can Do Now to Start on a Path to Healthier Eating Habits

Are Your New Year’s Resolutions to Eat a Healthier Diet Losing Steam?

Here are 5 Quick Changes You Can Make to Get You Back on Track

1. Swap artificial sweetners for pure stevia as a sweetener (see my blogpost on “Why you should (finally) abandon artificial sweeteners“). Not all stevia is pure so read the label. My favorites: SweetLeaf (in powder form) and NOW’s liquid stevia.
2. Swap low fat and 0% products for whole food, full fat products: if you eat dairy, think butter not margarine, whole yoghurt not low-fat (see my blogpost on “Why the (right) Fat in Your Diet is Your Friend“)
3. Swap out afternoon coffee for green tea. Green tea is full of polyphenols, plant anti-oxidants which may provide protection against many chronic diseases.
4. Swap wine for water. Have “No Alcohol” days. Wine is not really a health food – even red wine.  It’s mostly liquid sugar: The amounts of resveratrol in one glass are so low you’d be better offer taking a resveratrol supplement. I live in France, so it’s not fun for me to write this (#depressed).
5. Swap some starchy carbs for vegetables, or “Eat the Rainbow”. (sounds nicer than Eat Your Veggies). Unlike a dog or a horse, you were born with a sophisticated eye -capable of perceiving many colors -for a reason: not to find the M&M’s faster, but to be attracted to the many colorful fruits and vegetables available. Color in plant food indicates their phytonutrients, substances which protect them from bacteria and viruses. By eating these plants with their protective substances they in turn protect your health.^1,2

So there you have it: if life events have thrown your healthy diet goals off target, get back on track with these quick switches: switch to pure stevia, switch from low fat to full fat products, toss the afternoon coffee and get some green tea in your life, up your veggies and lower your alcohol consumption.

How about you? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions to improve your diet?

Have you been able to stay on track and make the changes stick?

 

Photo by Jack Anstey on Unsplash

Sources:

1. Advanced Nutrition, Slavin and Lloyd, July 2012, “Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649719/
2. Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, Heidi Godman, November 2013: “Adopt a Mediterranean diet now for better health later.” https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/adopt-a-mediterranean-diet-now-for-better-health-later-201311066846