Tips For Adding More Whole Foods To Your Diet
If you’re reading this, you probably already know all about the health benefits of whole foods. But deciding what constitutes whole foods and how best to add them to your diet can be very confusing. Whole foods are as close to their natural forms as possible while remaining edible, as they’ve gone through minimal processing or none at all. They include foods like whole grains, legumes, tubers, vegetables, and fruits. While adding some whole foods is pretty straightforward, it can also get complicated. The following tips will help you add them to your diet easily.
- Create a meal plan based on whole foods
You don’t want to wake up each day scratching your head and racking your brain about what to prepare for the day. So, take the time to plan and create a weekly or monthly menu of various recipes you can try using whole foods. You don’t want to make the whole process feel like torture, so be sure to go for ingredients, foods, or recipes you’ll love to eat.
Thankfully, there are tons of exciting and delicious recipes out there you can try. For example, if you love a good turkey meal, you find a simple recipe like the stuffed bell peppers with ground turkey an excellent addition to your menu, as it is both flavorful and gluten-free.
- Let your meal plan guide your grocery shopping
After creating your meal plan or menu, it’s time to shop for the products you need to make those meals. Before you go shopping, find out if there are any local farms or fresh farm produce you can purchase near you or even online. Otherwise, be sure to stick with the whole food products from your local grocery store. It is important to note that adding more whole foods to your meals is not the same as changing your meals entirely to whole foods unless you’re going on a strictly whole-food diet.
- Don’t forget your beverages
While you love your drinks and beverages, you need to take care to reduce how many processed products you allow into your system. Instead of stocking up your refrigerator with soda and carbonated drinks, for example, go for non-sugary drinks like water. Of course, water is hardly something you can sip on to enjoy as a snack. So, try mineral water, green tea (hot or iced), soy or skimmed milk, or fresh juice. Or, you can do your best to prepare your own whole food, plant-based beverages, or smoothies.
- Switch from white flour
Unfortunately, many of the baking recipes include white flour. But using white flour comes with many health issues like congesting the system, slowing down digestion, and often leading to weight gain. But that’s not all; because white flour is usually refined, it is mostly nutrient deficient.
You can replace half of the baking recipes that call for white flour with alternatives like whole-wheat four. And when baking, try to do your best to significantly reduce the amount of sweetener you use.
