Eat This Now

Top 5 foods to include in 2013

Monday, 7 Jan 2013

Week 1 of the new year’s over and done with… which means it’s time to start breaking those resolutions – not!
If you want to get the better of nutrition (let’s face it, it’s a tough one to crack), keep a look out for our Monday nutritional guides, written by our dietitian girlfriend, Natalie Edwards.
This week’s topic? The top five food you need to get chomping on, stat.
Nuts
If you swap a 50g bag of potato chips for 50g of nuts you will get three times more protein, with nearly half the saturated fat, a fraction of the sodium, twice the fibre, plus vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium!
Eggs
Eggs are a natural source of 11 different vitamins and minerals. The protein in eggs is considered to be of the highest quality. Eating up to 6 eggs a week is recommended as part of a healthy, balanced diet.
Spinach
Spinach is high in beta carotene, vitamin C, E, folate, and fibre. It’s also a rich source of non-haem (non-meat) iron. Speaking of which, iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. It can cause fatigue, poor concentration, and poor condition of your hair, skin, and nails.
Tip: Replace lettuce for spinach leaves in salads and have a glass of orange juice with your spinach salad (Vitamin C helps increase iron absorption). Also include some lean red meat in your diet as haem iron (meat iron) absorbs better then non-haem sources.
Wholegrain bread and cereal
Wholegrain bread is the best type of bread as the grain is processed intact. Usually wholegrain breads and cereal have a lower GI and all the fibre and most of the nutrients are preserved. Chose wholegrain breads and cereals that are fortified with iron.
Tip: Add some berries on top of your iron-fortified wholegrain breakfast cereal; not only will this give you a good dose of antioxidants, but the vitamin C content in the berries will help with the absorption of the iron.
Low fat milk and yoghurt
B vitamins, calcium, zinc, and magnesium are all found in dairy products. Make sure to get enough calcium while you are young as this aids in preventing osteoporosis. Good news for us: new research suggests a glass of milk could be a girl’s newest BFF when it comes to maintaining healthy body weight. Apparently, girls who drink milk are more likely to carry less body fat, so enjoy a smoothie or yoghurt for good health!
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