Targeted Food Swaps to Make You Healthier
Targeted food swaps not only help with your weight loss, but can make you healthier too. With a bit of know-how and a trip to the grocery store, you can be eating healthier in a flash.
Fat Swapping. It’s important to remember that not all fat is bad for you. When possibly choose unsaturated fats over saturated fats. A practical way to do this is to swap butter for olive oil or canola oil.
Grain swapping. Refined grains are everywhere these days, but so are whole grains, if you look close enough. Opt to replace refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pasta, for whole grains, such as brown rice, wheat, oats and barley.
Sodium swapping. Many people love salty foods. Unfortunately, sodium can raise blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Americans should consume only 1 teaspoon of salt (2,300 grams) daily, according to the USDA, so it’s important to love other spices to replace salt. Dried spices and chopped fresh spices can wake up food flavor, that you may be surprised that you don’t even miss the salt.
Dairy swapping. Although dairy products are a good source of calcium, which is needed for bone strength, be careful about choosing the full-fat varieties. Instead, choose low-fat or no-fat dairy products to get your calcium with less fat. Swapping out full-fat dairy can help with your weight loss goals too.
Protein swapping. Steak is a great source of iron and protein; however it’s also loaded with saturated fat and should be eating in moderation, if at all. Why not trade a serving of red meat for a serving of salmon? Just a three ounce portion switch will result in a reduction of about 8 g of saturated fat. Salmon is also heart-healthy as it’s a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.
