New Infographic: 5 Healthy Food Swaps You Need To Try Now
Hey everyone!
Making healthy food choices can be quite a hassle, because we still want to enjoy food when we are taking care of our body! I thought I could help you out with five of the easiest SUPER healthy food-swaps EVER (in my experience) with this awesome homemade infographic:
Of course, there is always the option of swapping from white starches to whole-grain and complex carbohydrates, but I used mostly carbohydrate-free solutions for all those uber-health-nuts that like eating a staple diet consisting of: vegetables. Cauliflower rice and zoodles (zucchini noodles) will make your favourite rice and pasta meals completely guilt-free! (If you do not own a spiraliser, see below for a link to a video tutorial on making zoodles)
Next, whenever I am in the mood for baking, I have a lot of trouble trying to substitute all the different healthy flours to match white flour. I do still use coconut flour when a recipe calls for it particularly (mainly because it is so absorbent so will completely change the texture of the products) but find that almond flour is by far the best solution. If you're allergic to nuts, need something less expensive or need some carbohydrates to balance out the baking texture; rolled oats are the way to go. Blend them to get a flour consistency or throw them in whole when making crumbles or cookies for some more substance. Although they are carbohydrates (which may cause some to avoid them), oats are still really healthy and an excellent source of (especially) protein and fibre.
Next: sugars. The absolute best substitution for the sweetness would be fresh or frozen fruit. Bananas, berries, kiwi and apples are your best little go-tos for this. (Note that fresh or frozen fruit does not include dried fruit, as it is pretty much just processed fruit that has had its nutrients all dried out of it: just leaving the sugar. ) However, fruits may just not be enough for sweetening healthy dessert recipes, and in these cases the easiest and best sweetener to use would be small quantities of maple syrup. It is an incredibly effective sweetener, so you only need a small quantity in sweets. You may argue that stevia and rice malt syrup are both 0% in fructose and therefore better substitutes, but I decided to include maple syrup instead because it is what most people have stocked in their pantry. Limited research has been carried out on stevia and because of this (and how it is commonly mixed with sugar alcohols like ethritol) that I don't tend to use it too often. Rice malt syrup still contains maltose, but it may be of preference to people who prefer complex carbohydrates over sugars.
Finally, the juice and smoothie swap. The easiest swap, but incredibly effective- and for one reason only: fibre. Smoothies have it, but juicing extracts the fibre from fruit and just leaves a lovely sugary soft drink provided by nature. If you find smoothies too filling, try fruity or herbal teas to tease your taste buds! (My favourites include ginger, liquorice and peppermint!)
Using my infographic, you may now enjoy your new stress-free life of easy health!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
matterofthyme xx
How-to links:
This post was written by Dusk.