Easy foods to add to your diet

Was it quinoa or kale you meant to buy at the grocery store?

There are a lot of food trends and newly crowned super foods that fall in and out of style every few months and it can be tough to keep up with them all. Sometimes a back-to-basics approach to your food can be a great place to start cleaning up your diet. Although there are tons of healthy, fun foods out there to try that haven’t always been forefront in Western diets, that doesn’t mean some of the old guard isn’t good for us any longer.

If you’re looking to clean up your diet a bit, try swapping in some of these tried and true foods a bit more often.

Generally switching some more processed foods out for produce, whatever the variety, is going to be a fine idea, so we’ll start with a staple:

Apples

Who needs trendy new produce? Apples are about as close to the ultimate snack food as it gets. They’re delicious (so much so that a popular variety even has the word in it’s name), they’re high in pectin fiber which helps keep LDL levels low, and they pack a lot of Vitamin C. Also, you can take apples anywhere and they require no prep; just bite in.

Next time you need a quick snack on your way out the door, grab an apple, and be sure to eat the skin. Most of the health benefits of apples are in the skin.

Nuts

Another great snack to keep you energized, lots of nuts sometimes get bad reps because they’re high in fat, but the monosaturated fat in nuts is good for heart and blood health. While it’s true they’re high in fat and pack lots of calories, that can be overlooked because the the levels of omega-3 in nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, or peanuts, can have notable benefits later in life.

Keeping a bowl of mixed nuts out on the counter is a great way to combat bad snack choices in the kitchen. Instead of something less healthy, grab a handful of nuts, and don’t worry about the extra fat in them. Some studies have shown those who eat nuts regularly were less likely to gain weight.

Also, like apples, eat the nuts with the skin on. It’s better for you.

Beans

Beans and legumes are packed with protein and fiber. They’re also one of the few foods which are eaten pretty well anywhere you go on earth. There are no other food groups that contain so much fiber and protein together.

The high fiber in beans and lentils will keep you feeling full and prevent overeating and prevent blood sugar spikes after meals. They’re also low in fat, which means you can worry less about those nuts you ate earlier.

Beans can be cooked at home or bought in a can and, unlike most fruit, the canned version isn’t really any different, health-wise, from booking them yourself. You don’t lose a lot by buying them canned, so they also make a great meal when you need something quick.

Tuna

Tuna can be a controversial choice, as many fish are, because of the levels of mercury in it, and as such fish isn’t a food to eat every day, but a few servings of fish each month can be a great addition to your diet.

Tuna is high in protein and B vitamins and has plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, but what really sets it apart is that it has a ton of selenium, an important antioxidant found in fish and seafood, but none more so than Tuna.

Also, like beans, tuna is practically as healthy canned as it is cooked yourself and can be eaten as a great lunch food with sandwiches.

Milk

Milk has plenty of bone-building calcium and Vitamin D that can be tough to come by in some diets.

Also, the chocolate variety is one of the best post-workout recovery drinks. Milk is high in protein and simple carbohydrates which your muscles need shortly after a workout.