4 trendy foods

Here are four foods that have been in the spotlight lately. While the following are certainly good for you, keep in mind that super foods don’t exist and that variety is the key to health!

Kale

Kale is gaining some well-deserved popularity. It is a great source of vitamins A, C and K, and calcium (good for your bones and for healing wounds). It is a great add-on to omelettes, salads, soups, and stir-fries. My favourite way to eat kale is to bake dry leaves with a little bit of olive oil to make chips.

For variety, try rapini, collards, turnip greens, or Swiss chard.

Greek yogurt

Given that Greek yogurt is twice as high in proteins as the traditional yogurt, it is a great way to include protein in your breakfast. When buying your yogurt, aim for 2% fat or lower and below 15 g of sugar for a serving size of 175 g. The best product you can buy is a plain, 0% fat Greek yogurt, which you can mix with honey or vanilla and add in smoothies, with French toasts or crepes, in cereals, or with fruit!

Hemp seeds

Hemp seeds are a great source of omega 3 and omega 6, which can help lower the risk of heart disease. It’s also a good source of protein, as it contains twice as much as the other super seeds chia and flax (for two tablespoons, it contains 7 grams of protein). They can easily be incorporated into cereals, baked products, oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, and salads.

For variety, try chia seeds or flax seeds.

Quinoa

This gluten-free grain is used in soups, salads, as a hot cereal, and as a side dish. Traditional quinoa is white but there are different colors available. Black quinoa is sweeter and red quinoa is great for salads. On top of the nutrients found in other cereals, quinoa is especially rich in fibre, proteins, and minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Another benefit of quinoa is its short cooking time; simply rinse the quinoa to remove bitter taste, add double water, and cook for 15 minutes.

For variety, try barley, amaranth, spelt or bulgur.

Which one will you try?

By Alyssa Fontaine, P.Dt. Nutritionist

Reference

“All about Kale.” EatRight Ontario. Dietitians of Canada, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2014.

“Find out about Flax Seeds.” EatRight Ontario. Dietitians of Canada, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2014.

“Quino Quoi? Quinoa!” Extenso. Université De Montreal, 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 Sept. 2014.

4 trendy 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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