2015 Fashionable Foods

We all know that fashion trends come and go, but the last few years have seen the emergence of trends in foods too. Enlightened by my visit to the Expo manger santé et vivre vert in March, I invite you to discover the top food trends for 2015.

Fermented foods

Kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut are all fermented foods that promote good health.

Benefits: these foods balance the intestinal flora, enhance digestion, and boost the immune system.
Use: kefir can replace yogurt or milk in lots of recipes, like smoothies, muffins, and vinaigrettes.

Coconut oil

This oil has been a top trend for quite a while, but its high content in saturated fat is subject to controversy. To date, research has not been able to confirm the effect of coconut oil on heart health, though it does not appear to be negative.

Use: it can be used as a substitute for butter in recipes and to replace other oils for cooking as its smoke point is quite high. Choose virgin coconut oil.

Quinoa and kaniwa

Quinoa has steadily increased in popularity over the last two or three years. It is a highly nutritious pseudocereal. Try baby quinoa or kaniwa too. It contains twice as much fibre and 25% more iron.

Benefits: a good source of iron, fibre, and protein.
Use: as a salade, in soup, instead of oats (gruau), or simply as an accompaniment.

Kale

Kale is undeniably in the “power food” category. It can now be found in several forms, like juice, chips, and salad.

Benefits: an excellent source of vitamin A and a very good source of antioxidants, calcium, vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin K.
Use: as a salad, in a smoothie, or even as chips!

Vegetable drinks*

These drinks are great alternatives for those persons who cannot or do not wish to drink cow’s milk. A drink made with cashew nuts is this year’s new vegetable drink.

Benefits **: rich in calcium, vitamins B2, B12, and D, as well as zinc.
Use: replaces milk in smoothies, cereal, puddings, and all recipes containing milk.

*Note that vegetable drinks supply no protein, except in the case of soy drinks.

**Make sure you choose and enriched drink.

Chia

This seed has been popular for quite a while.

Benefits: Excellent source of fibre and omega 3, and a good source of protein, folic acid, iron, calcium, and antioxidants.
Use: pep up your salads, yogurt and cereal with chia or make a good pouding de chia (chia pudding) for dessert.

And, of course, gluten-free and dairy-free foods are still the fashion, two foods that have been making headlines for a couple of years. Sadly, many consumers choose these products without even knowing what gluten is or why dairy products may be bad for your health.

Before choosing these food items, I strongly advise you to discuss them with your nutritionist or consult another reliable source or else you may be headed for serious nutritional deficiencies.

So tell me, what is your favourite food in 2015?

Karine Séguin, nutritionist, Dt.P.

Reference
Passeport santé. (n.d.). Le kéfir, une boisson à découvrir! En ligne. http://www.passeportsante.net/fr/Actualites/Dossiers/DossierComplexe.aspx?doc=kefir-boisson-decouvrir. Page consulted April 6, 2015.

2015 Fashionable Foods is a post from Nautilus Plus. The Nautilus Plus blog aims to help people in their journey to fitness through articles on training, nutrition, motivation, exercise and healthy recipes.
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