How to eat healthier in 2024
So you want to start the year off right. But for that, you need to know how to eat healthier. For the most part eating healthier is easy. Just follow these tips for healthy eating plus recipes that include healthy foods and healthy snacks.
Healthy eating without dieting
Learning how to eat better and how to eat healthier takes a little bit of organisation and some smarter choices. It's not always easy to follow a restrictive diet that involves calorie counting or food group elimination. That's why most GPs and health organisations encourage healthy eating that doesn't involve fad diets. Here are some simple tips you can follow to help you eat healthier.
- Choose a variety of wholegrain foods to include in your diet such as brown rice, wild rice, whole oats, popcorn, wholemeal pasta. Wholegrains contain important dietary fibre.
- Try and incorporate as much healthy greens into your meals as possible. Broccoli, spinach, zucchini and green beans are inexpensive and add essential nutrients to food without any calories. So load up your meals with as many of these foods as you like.
- Legumes and beans add healthy protein and good fibre to your diet. A good way to give meals extra health cred and to help keep you feeling fuller for longer, include lentils, chickpeas and beans in your salads, frittatas, curries and Mexican dishes. Keep tins of beans, lentils and chickpeas in your pantry ready to use.
- Increase your daily fruit intake by adding in season fruits to your meals such as stone fruit to salads, classic apricot chicken and shredded apple to coleslaw mix.
- Eggs are a nutrient powerhouse. With more than 11 different vitamins and nutrients in each egg, they're one of the healthiest food you can eat. Boiled, poached or fried, eggs give meals an instant super-boost, while only adding about 74 calories (310 kJ). Now that's eggscellent.
- Salads don't have to be boring. Find out how to make your salads both interesting and nutritious with these easy tips, so eating healthy throughout the year never becomes a chore.
GET THE RECIPE: Healthy Lentil and Feta Frittata by Australian Eggs
This frittata meal is a powerhouse of protein and veg. Watch how easy this one-pan healthy lentil and feta frittata is to make. The lentils add extra protein and fibre.
Everything you need to know about this deliciously healthy dish is in the title. But what's now in the title are the flavour makers such as the vegan stock used to cook the quinoa, the chilli and lime and the herbs. Herbs and spices are calorie free but flavour packed. Add liberally!
Salads get a protein and nutrient boost with whole-grains such as freekeh. It's high in fibre and a source of protein too. Cooking the nectarines helps to intensify the flavour of the fruit and the sweetness cuts through the salty goodness of the grilled haloumi.
