Sometimes we are so consumed with all the subtractions that we need to make to our diet that we are easily overwhelmed. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that. It just gets old. I know a candy bar a day won’t keep the doctor away, but seriously, I struggle! While we battle our failures, let’s work on seeing a few fast successes. Instead of focusing on our subtractions, let’s focus on some additions. Let’s feel like the winners we are!
Here are 10 yummy additions you can make to your diet in 2015 that will give you a huge nutritional boost and maybe even help you manage your weight.
1) Chia Seeds
I seriously love chia seeds! They are absolutely the best on ice cream! I’m not going to do away with ice cream completely, but with chia seeds I can add a super-shot of nutrition. These nutty-flavored little beasts are stuffed full of fiber, protein, antioxidants, Omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and a whole host of other nutrients.
Look for them in the bulk food section of your grocery store or check them out here on Amazon.
Easy ways to use them: In your morning cereal, in your yogurt, in your grain breads, on top of your baked goods, in your oatmeal cookies…okay…now I’m hungry!
2) Cacao Nibs
Pure, unadulterated cacao is in fact a super-food. Add some milkstuffs and a whole lotta sugar and we call it chocolate. Retrain your pallet just a smidge and enjoy all the disease-fighting flavonoids without shame. In addition to all the antioxidants, these babies promote heart health and are stuffed full of fiber, along with magnesium and potassium.
Just remember when purchasing to triple check they are pure cacao nibs. I once bought a sugar-laced bag. While they were delicious, that wasn’t the point. Check these out on Amazon.
Easy ways to use them: Oatmeal cookies just aren’t oatmeal cookies without chocolate chips. So why not split it 50/50 with cacao nibs? Add them in this ridiculously tasty cookie recipe. Chuck some in your morning cereal or yogurt or anything else that can use a good crunch.
3) Brewed Cacao
Speaking of cacao: have you heard of Choffy? Maybe you have heard of Crio Bru. They are both pure roasted cacao meant for brewing. I’m seriously addicted to this stuff and I don’t think I have a brand preference. You are looking at all those benefits of the cacao nibs in drink form! If you are addicted to coffee then this is a perfect substitute. Again, you need to retrain your taste buds. It’s like coffee, but it’s not coffee. It’s bitter and has a similar appearance to a weak coffee. Cacao has theobromine as opposed to caffeine which is a milder stimulant. Jitters and the like aren’t associated with theobromine. Of course this is still a drink to have in moderation because it is still a stimulant.
Right now I’m on a bag of Peppermint Crio Bru which I purchased on Amazon. There are a number of other flavors available. I really find Choffy and Crio Bru to be of equal quality so shop with confidence!
Whatever you do, do not let your dogs get into any cacao products. Theobromine is the substance that can be fatal to dogs.
Easy ways to use it: It’s best brewed in a french press though a Keurig or fancy espresso machine works too if you already have one. I usually use the grounds twice. Mix it with coffee grounds to make a chocolate coffee with no sugar. Add a bit of vanilla and sugar to taste if you like. There are a whole host of recipes you can check out here.
4) Jalapeños
Oh my goodness, we are jalapeno junkies at my house! Our latest craze is hallowing out whole peppers, stuffing them with cream cheese and broiling them! Raspberry jam is an awesome accompaniment. Last weekend Hubbs blew me away with a jalapeno cream cheese stuffed chicken breast with nutritional yeast on the outside!
The awesome ingredient in jalapenos, and other chilli peppers for that matter, is capsicum. The spice in the pepper is a proven metabolism booster! Additionally, a 2010 study showed that rats fed a high fat diet with capsicum burned more fat than rats with a low fat diet and no capsicum. Read more about that here. Besides capsicum, another substance in the peppers called capsaisin is a known pain-fighter. If you can take the heat add the peppers!
Easy ways to use them: Add them to everything! Okay, maybe not everything. Stuffed jalapenos are super easy to make. Add them to soups, chili, and rice dishes.
5) Garlic
I love garlic, but do not eat enough of it. I’ve been meaning to try roasted garlic but I can’t think of anything particularly wholesome to spread it on. As it turns out, it’s no big deal because well cooked garlic practically nullifies the health benefits.
Reading about garlic is almost mystical. Garlic is actually accepted as cancer preventing. It is also anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory, promotes heart health, prostate health and general health. Check out this article for more info. The kicker is, garlic needs to be crushed and subjected to as little heat as possible to maximize beneficial properties.
Easy ways to use it: Add fresh to salad, add at end of cooking soup, add to burgers, mix in cream cheese and use as a spread.
6) Salsa
Oh myyyyyy salsa! I could eat it all day long. On chips, on eggs, on burritos, on potatoes. The best part of salsa is that it’s practically salad sans leafy greens. You can have all your favorite flavors from cilantro to garlic to onion and the only calories are the very few associated with the yummy veggies. Caution when making your selection though! Grocery store salsa can have all sorts of sneaky preservatives in it. My favorite salsa only has vinegar with the veggies. Others only have citric acid. Keep away from added sugars and miscellaneous chemical additives.
Easy ways to add it: On chips, on eggs, in burritos, on potatoes, on a spoon.
7) Nutritional yeast
Have you heard of this stuff? It’s pretty much news to me. We’ve only been using it for about the last year but it has grown to be a regular part of our diet. These yellow flakes are packed with B vitamins including thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and B6. Most are fortified with B12, plus it has folic acid, fiber and protein.
Nutritional yeast flavor is very cheesy and makes the perfect substitute in recipes not requiring the cheese texture.
Easy was to use it: Substitute for cheese is sauces, substitute for parmesan cheese, add to air-popped popcorn, use as a crust for chicken, add it to olive oil and eat on bread.
8) Warm water with Lemon: Lemons are awesome at flushing your body of the junk it doesn’t need such as uric acid, which builds up in joints causing pain and stiffness. It also keeps things flowing in the front and the back, if you know what I mean. It’s considered best in the morning to get those “juices” flowing.
Water temperature unfortunately does matter. While hot water is super soothing, the heat can destroy the enzymes that are making the lemons work. Ice cold water hinders the digestive benefits while the body works harder to heat the water up for processing.
Easy ways to add it: Squeeze half a lemon in a glass of warm water first thing in the morning. Drink 30 minutes before a meal to get that digestive system ready to receive. I add a slice to my glass in the morning and refill it throughout the day, only refreshing the lemon when it is worn out.
9) Green Tea: One of the best parts of winter is tea season. This past year tea season was extra long. We actually had to turn on the heat in both June and August! While I will complain about the heating bill, I won’t complain about the tea. Once upon a time I really couldn’t stand green tea. It tasted weird to me, then I discovered the plethora of flavors from lemongrass to peach to lemon ginseng. Finding a love for green tea worked out to my advantage because my health now benefits. Green tea is an awesome source of antioxidants which can help decrease the risk of certain types of cancer. Additionally, green tea boosts metabolism similar to jalapenos, which helps us lose weight. Perhaps one of the most awesome possibilities for green tea are studies showing that drinking green tea reduced blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of Type II Diabetes.
Easy ways to use it: Heat that water and drink up! Find your favorite flavor and roll with it! Iced green tea in the summer time is mighty refreshing as well!
10) Stock: Stock has changed my kitchen! I skipped over countless recipes calling for stock all because there was no way I was going to pay through the nose for sodium water. As I became more and more limited by not using stock I decided it is time to get off my butt and make my own! As I started looking for more information I was shocked to see how nutrient-dense homemade stock is. Not only are you sucking all of the nutrient content from all of the vegetables you choose straight into the broth, using apple cider vinegar, the nutrients and minerals are leached from the bones also. Using body parts high in gelatin, such as chicken feet, give an additional nutrient boost. Gelatin is awesome for your skin, nails and hair, but also for your joints and digestive track. Seriously, it’s gross, but chicken feet broth is our staple stock.
Easy ways to use it: Use it as the base to rice dishes, add fresh vegetables to it for a light, filling soup, use it for this awesome recipe, or this one.
This post contains affiliate links to help you find and choose quality products.