Maintaining a balanced diet is one of the keys to healthy living. Keeping track of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamins and nutrients, planning meals ahead of time, and ensuring that each plate contains adequate amounts of proteins, starch, fruits, and vegetables, are some of the steps that you can take to have well-balanced meals.
However, planning meals can become a tedious process. Consuming the same food for the week may also cause loss of appetite due to the repetitive taste. This is why it is a good idea to introduce these five foods that will add flavour, colour, and more vitamins to your meals.
Balanced meals do not have to be boring. Tossing in alternative sources of vitamins and nutrients not only gives more excitement to your meals, it also brings out the creativity in you. The next time you go grocery shopping, consider listing down something different but equally healthy.
However, planning meals can become a tedious process. Consuming the same food for the week may also cause loss of appetite due to the repetitive taste. This is why it is a good idea to introduce these five foods that will add flavour, colour, and more vitamins to your meals.
- Grapefruit-If oranges are your primary source of vitamin C, consider replacing them with grapefruits. A piece of small grapefruit has 31.2 mg Vitamin C (52% of DV) and 1.6 g dietary fiber (6.4% of DV). Although grapefruits do not beat the 53.2 mg Vitamin C content of the same amount of oranges, grapefruits have antioxidant and blood regulating properties which make them a tasty replacement for your favourite citruses.
- Green tea-Homemade smoothies or freshly squeezed fruit juices usually take the role of drinks in the average diet meal plan. Although these are great ideas, you may want to try green tea as a replacement. Green tea has a cleansing taste and contains antioxidant properties, and studies have proven that consuming a significant amount of green tea effectively decreases the risk of adults acquiring heart diseases.
- Garlic-Do not make the mistake of overlooking the health benefits of humble garlic. Garlic has anti-cancer properties and is a great source of vitamin B6, which has a significant role in converting digested food into usable energy. Furthermore, garlic is found to be healthy for the heart as it helps in regulating blood flow. Use more garlic for your meals or discover garlic recipes for an exotic, unique meal.
- Cinnamon-The next time you have a cup of tea or coffee, skip the honey or sugar. Try adding cinnamon instead. Considered as one of the healthiest spices, cinnamon lowers blood sugar, contains antioxidant properties, and most of all, it is delicious. Create recipes or simply add it to your drinks in your next diet meal plan. Cinnamon is effective against heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer, and is tasty. What’s not to like?
- Avocados-We all love almonds for their crunchiness and vitamin E, but they can taste bland when we eat them repeatedly. A great and delicious alternative source of vitamin E is avocados. What’s more, avocados are loaded with higher levels of potassium (compared to our favourite bananas), fibre, and healthy fatty acids. Avocados are also very flexible. You can make guacamole, smoothies, and a nice bowl of creamy salad.
Balanced meals do not have to be boring. Tossing in alternative sources of vitamins and nutrients not only gives more excitement to your meals, it also brings out the creativity in you. The next time you go grocery shopping, consider listing down something different but equally healthy.
