How to diversify your diet if you want to eat right

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you still think that proper nutrition is steamed chicken breast and cucumbers, then you definitely need to read this article.

Many of you probably made more than one attempt to switch to proper nutrition, but did not last long. Most people have breakdowns in the first week because they just don't know how to make their diet balanced and varied.

A healthy approach to food does not imply a meager and boring diet of only buckwheat and chicken breast. Proper nutrition can also contain desserts, sandwiches, and much more.

1. Add new shades to familiar dishes

A regular salad or side dish can easily be turned into something more by adding oil, sauce, or marinade.

• For example, olive oil is great for salads and side dishes. Just one drop of sesame oil will add a delicious flavor to your meal, while coconut oil is great for frying or desserts. It can also be added to cereals.
• Homemade pesto sauce based on basil, parmesan, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic goes well with any pastas and side dishes, as well as salads based on tomatoes or delicate cheeses such as stracciella.
• Lemon juice goes well with many salads.
• Tomatoes and basil make an excellent sauce for meat dishes and pasta. Also, a sauce based on natural yogurt, cucumber, garlic, dill or cilantro will be a great addition to meat. You can also use it as a salad dressing.
• If you really want to, you can make homemade yolk-based mayonnaise.
• Now about the marinades. A little soy sauce won't hurt any meat or vegetables. Before cooking, meat or poultry can be marinated in kefir with cilantro, and red wine will add a pleasant shade to red meat. Also try marinating fish, meat, or poultry in a mixture of red onions, spices, and natural herbs. We say exactly, you will not regret it.

2. Try new healthy foods

You can add a little variety to the diet with the help of healthy and tasty products, which are now easily bought in any large supermarket.

• Fresh spinach is a great addition to salads, and stewed to make an incredible side dish.
• Broccoli and cauliflower can be added to omelets or used as a complete garnish.
• Asparagus is another idea for a light, healthy side dish. Dry it a little in a skillet without oil, or use the grill.
• Quinoa is added to salad or also served as a side dish. This cereal goes well with sesame oil.
• Celery is a treasure trove of vitamins that can be added to salads. Celery is also squeezed out of juice: try mixing it with apple, carrot or tomato juice, or adding spinach.
• Avocados can be sliced into a salad or mashed for a whole grain bread sandwich.
• Arugula, iceberg lettuce, frieze - these greens will help decorate side dishes or diversify the usual salads.
• Mangoes are added to cottage cheese, made into smoothies, and cut into salads to give the dish a tropical flavor.
• Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, cranberries, and lingonberries can be found in stores all year round. Berries are a great addition to cereals, cottage cheese and various desserts.
• Sesame is also added to salads and desserts. You can also sprinkle it on whole-grain avocado toast.
• Matcha is a wonderful drink, if you have not tried it yet, then get better soon. It invigorates better than coffee and goes well with coconut milk.

3. Learn new ways of cooking

If you think that food can only be fried and boiled, then you are deeply mistaken. Different cooking methods will give your food a new flavor.

Baking

Suitable for meat, fish, vegetables, fruits (for example, apples with honey), as well as their various combinations in the form of casseroles.

When baked, the natural taste and aroma of the products, their juiciness and nutrients are preserved. Also, with this cooking method, it is not necessary to use oil - foil or baking paper is enough.

Extinguishing

Suitable for meat, vegetables and cereals. You need to stew correctly: over low heat under the lid, and cut the vegetables into equal portions so that the dish cooks evenly. You can use not only water for stewing, but also sauces and broths.

This cooking method, in contrast to cooking, preserves more vitamins and minerals in food.

Steam cooking

Suitable for everything except mushrooms. You can even make steamed rolls or pancakes.

Just like stewing, steaming preserves the maximum useful properties of products, unlike cooking or frying, the dish turns out to be juicy and low-fat. If you have a steamer or multicooker with this function, then steaming is very easy. Another plus is that the dish is almost impossible to spoil, it will definitely not burn.

Drying

Suitable for vegetables, mushrooms and fruits. The dried product becomes dehydrated while retaining its beneficial substances.

Dried fruits will be a healthy snack: they help to normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. And in winter, dishes made from dried vegetables and mushrooms will fill the kitchen with unforgettable aromas and memories of warm summer days.

Also, do not forget about the electric grill, brazier, multi-baker, non-stick pans and other useful things.

4. Use herbs and spices

Your friends will be: dried garlic, dill, parsley, bay leaf, black pepper, bell pepper, red hot pepper, turmeric, Provencal herbs, pink salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, curry, coriander. This is a versatile set that will definitely come in handy in the kitchen. And here are the specialized recommendations.

• For meat dishesWork well: basil, turmeric, oregano, coriander, thyme, parsley, ginger, nutmeg, mustard seeds, chili peppers, rosemary and tarragon.
• For fisha mixture of dried herbs, rosemary, marjoram, all kinds of pepper, nutmeg, thyme, dried garlic, sage, mint, tarragon, thyme are excellent.
• For dessertsCondiments such as cinnamon, vanillin, ginger (for cookies and pies), cardamom, star anise for fruit drinks and decorations, nutmeg, cloves, rosemary, and saffron are ideal.

5. Add variety to your drinks

To make it easier and more enjoyable to maintain water balance, take note of simple recipes for healthy drinks:

• 1 liter of water + 1 lemon + half a cucumber + mint to taste;
• 1 liter of water + 1 grapefruit + rosemary to taste + 1 tablespoon of honey;
• 1 liter of water + 100 g strawberries + half a cucumber + basil to taste;
• 1 liter of water + 1 lemon + 50 g of fresh ginger + mint to taste;
• 1 liter of water + half a cucumber + 100 g of strawberries + half a kiwi;
• 0.8 liters of water + 0.2 liters of green tea + mint to taste + 1 lime;
• 1 liter of water + half an orange + half a lemon + half a lime.

What else can you drink?

• Tea - black, green, herbal - the choice is yours.
• Coffee perfectly tones and invigorates, the main thing is to know when to stop. Try to make it in a Turk by adding 2-3 grains of natural vanilla to the ground coffee (before pouring the water). As for coffee with milk, it should be borne in mind that there are as many as 150 kcal in a standard cup of cappuccino.
• Freshly squeezed juices: you can drink vegetable juices with almost no restrictions. Just do not forget that you should always add a drop of cream or butter to carrot juice, otherwise the nutrients will simply not be absorbed. But with fruit, be careful, as many of them are high in carbohydrates.
• Berry fruit drinks without sugar.
• Homemade lemonades without sugar.
• Mineral water.

We hope that now you can enjoy gastronomic pleasure every day. Let the right nutrition be easy and varied for you!