The link between what we eat and being healthy is well established. Following a healthy balanced diet will help you feel good on the inside and look good on the outside. Sometimes when deciding what to snack on, cook for dinner, or just what to put in the lunchbox, it can seem difficult to get the balance right and make the meal tasty! Using our easy to follow guide will help you choose the healthier ‘Feel Good’ foods for you and your family.
- Go for Brown….chose wholegrain bread where possible. This will boost your fibre intake and help provide you with a slow release of energy.
- Pick a lean protein rich food e.g. chicken, turkey, egg, tuna, prawns, Edam, ham, smoked salmon or lean roast beef.
- Try including some hummus, low fat cream cheese, relish, mustard or low fat mayonnaise instead of butter…save yourself some fat calories while boosting flavour.
- Add lots of colour! Include leaves, tomato, peppers, beetroot, onions, grated carrot and more. The more salad you include the healthier and tastier your sandwhich will be.
- Many of us eat too much salt so be aware that too much salt can raise your blood pressure leading to increased risk of health problems.
- Still hungry? Why not include some fruit, fresh juice or vegtable soup with your lunch?
- Feel like a salad, opt for a low calorie dressing or even better have it on the side…that way you can decide how much you serve yourself.
Not all snacks are bad for us; sometimes we just need some help to identify which are better than others.
A Feel Good Snack should contain:
- 200 calories or less
- 7g or less of fat
- 0g of trans fat
- 15g or less of sugar
- 0.2g or less sodium
- No artificial sweeteners
*Nuts and seeds are excluded from this limitation. This is because nuts and seeds contain monounsaturated fat, which are considered heart healthy fats, which can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol.