To keep you healthy and fit you don’t need to eat trendy and expensive foods. In fact there are a horde of less expensive and under-recognized food items that can really provide your family with a higher pack of nutrients.
The ongoing studies keep on changing the advice quite often that requires you to keep update with the healthy eating tips.
For instance, recently a new study has shown that porridge can help save you from the harms of cancer and the so-called expensive super-foods are not always better than cheaper equivalents.
We have talked to some specialist dieticians to short list those under-recognized less expensive super healthy foods, which can really pack a powerful health punch. Read on to enjoy a healthy and fit body:
Healthy Eating On Budget
1. Porridge Oats: Porridge is the King of Super foods, chockfull of goodness; it has a varied range of proven health benefits. Porridge oats have a very low Glycaemic Index, which means they are slowly absorbed into the body’s blood stream – so keep the blood glucose levels steady, avoiding peaks and troughs. Porridge is known to lower cholesterol, prevent heart disease and boost serotonin (this is widely believed, among other things, to help prevent depression (particularly in the dark winter months). Unlike other sugary cereals porridge contains a wide range of vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Oats porridge has the maximum protein content out of all cereals. Oats contain around 10g of protein per each 100g serving.
2. Eggs: Eggs are so nutritious that they’re often called as “nature’s multivitamin.” They contain unique antioxidants and potent nutrientsthat many people are deficient in. Whole eggs are exceptionally nutritious, containing a very large amount of nutrients compared to the calorie load.
Eggs are an incredible source of protein, with all the essential amino acids in the right proportions.
Eggs used to have a bad reputation, deemed too full of cholesterol to be part of a healthy diet. But some studies have shown now that eggs may on the other hand improve the cholesterol profile. They raise HDL (the good) cholesterol and increase the size of LDL particles, which should lower the risk of heart disease.
Choline is an essential nutrient that 90% of people in the U.S. aren’t getting enough. Egg yolks are an excellent source of choline.
Like porridge, eggs make a healthy breakfast choice. Best is to have them boiled, poached or scrambled in olive oil with a bit of milk.
3. Carrots: Include in your diet deep-colored orange or red crrots. They contain large amounts of beta-carotene and vitamin A, both of which promote good eyesight, healthy skin and resistance to infection. It’s other contents, like potassium helps in moderation of blood pressure and fiber helps maintain a health intestinal tract, controls blood sugar and promote healthy cholesterol levels. Carrots are also rich source of calcium, vitamin C, iron and vitamin K, which all together promotes healthy blood coagulation.
For best results steam them or add them to stir-fries or even eat them as a snack.
4. Natural Yogurt – The Original Health Food: Yogurt provides you with incredible nutritional value; an 8-ounce cup (227 grams) provides you with as much as half of your daily requirement for calcium. The same serving size also provides 57 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin B12, 10 percent of your daily requirement of magnesium and 12 percent of your daily requirement for potassium. Yogurt also contains all nine essential amino acids, making it a convenient source of complete protein. If you choose low-fat or nonfat yogurt, it’s also a source of lean protein.
All yogurts are packed with lactic acid bacteria that reinforce your immune system, keep a healthy digestive system, save you from food poisoning and strengthen bones.
Family Fitness Tips:
(i) Don’t get carried away with the hype created these days by the ones marketed as probiotic as they are in no way better than your own homemade natural curd.
(ii) Try to avoid yogurts that are loaded with sugars or flavors to make them taste good, and instead go for full-fat plain yoghurt instead.
5. Apples: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is an old famous Welsh proverb. Although, this may not be totally true, but a US study last year found that people who regularly ate apples took fewer prescription medicines. Apples are highly rich source of essential antioxidants, flavonoids, and dietary fiber. The phytonutrients and antioxidants in apples may help reduce the risk of developing cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.
Total Fitness Tip: Apples are amazing snacks as they are chock-full of vitamin C and its skin is an insoluble fiber that helps to keep a healthy gut.
6. Cabbage: Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, kale, and broccoli are known for being chock-full of beneficial nutrients. If you are trying to improve your family health and fitness, cruciferous vegetables should be at the very top of your grocery list. Although, kale is the present-day must-have when it comes to leafy greens, very few people know that recent studies have shown plain old white cabbage is just as nutritious. It’s not only low in saturated fat and cholesterol, but is a rich source of fiber as well. It also contains large amounts of vitamins C and K and crucial minerals such as phosphorous, iron, magnesium and potassium which help control the heart rate and blood pressure.
7. Strawberries: Full of fiber, vitamin C and potassium, strawberries make a better choice than higher-calorie foods. Strawberries are a source of antioxidants that help fight disease causing free radicals, which you acquire through normal exposure to pollution, chemicals, the environment and certain foods. The antioxidants in strawberries can play a role in lowering cholesterol as well.
Strawberries are often ignored in favor of trendy blueberries and goji berries. But a recent study found that strawberries contain more vitamin C than expensive gojis. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that also helps in tissue repair and wound healing.
Fitness Tip: Don’t get into the current trend of putting all your berries into smoothies – for better results try to eat them, as your body will absorb more of its nutrients.
8. Milk – Ever Green Super Food: Milk, being a natural source of balanced sodium, carbohydrate and protein is best to help the body retains fluid. It is cock-full of calcium to keep your bones strong and healthy. On top of that it’s a great source of lean protein, so you must include it into your diet.
9. Garlic: Don’t overlook it because of its smell. In fact it makes your food taste better. It’s gam-packed with vitamins C, B and Selenium (an antioxidant). Studies have found garlic can help to have a positive impact on high blood pressure and heart diseases.
Fitness Tip: There is not much evidence that support the intake of garlic supplements to improve health. Rather use raw garlic instead of salt for flavoring for best results.
Enjoy the above foods that not only will make you fit and healthy, but fit into your tight budget as well!
