Consuming nutritious foods is necessary for a healthy lifestyle, and that includes healthy snacks too. Usually snacks are packed full of unhealthy fats, but people think if they’re only eating a little bit, it doesn’t matter. But it does matter – all of your food choices matter in the long run.
Following a balanced diet reduces your risk of developing diseases and at the same time, keeps the body healthy and strong. Fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious staple foods are sources of vitamins and minerals. Having a healthy diet means sustaining the body’s functions.
The organs can function effectively because of important elements like protein, calcium, fiber, and other minerals. Therefore, if you want to maintain your body, eating staple health foods is key. Up next we have five staple health foods that you should stock in your kitchen.
Fruits
Fruits are sources of many nutrients like vitamin C, fiber, potassium, folate, and antioxidants. Consuming a few of the healthiest fruits like avocado, banana, mango, oranges, and apples is linked to a wide range of health benefits like maintaining blood pressure and helping with digestion.
Eating fruits daily nourishes the body and reduces the risk of developing bone loss, kidney stones, and heart diseases. Aside from eating fruits raw, you can also make smoothies and add milk for a healthier snack.
Nuts
One of the staple health foods that are considered nutritional powerhouses are nuts. These contain an array of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and fiber, which promotes good heart health. Additionally, consuming nuts improves blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Some of the nuts to buy are almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, and pecans. These nuts contain magnesium, vitamin E, protein, and fiber. Moreover, nuts are good sources of antioxidants, which neutralize free radicals in the body.
Eggs
If you want to build stronger muscles, you should add more eggs to your diet because it contains massive amounts of protein and minerals. Eggs are a good source of high-quality protein, vitamin B2, selenium, zinc, iron, and copper.
Incorporate this to your diet to prevent the breakdown of body tissues and to boost the immune system. Eggs are simple to prepare and you can also be creative in incorporating it to your diet by frying, boiling, and baking.
Meat
Just like eggs, meat is an excellent source of protein. As you know, protein serves a number of functions including building the muscles, healing wound, and boosting the immune system. However, moderate consumption is needed to avoid health problems later on.
You can cook meat to make snacks such as burritos, sandwiches, and more. Take note to take it easy on red or processed meat to avoid health conditions that result from too much fat in the body.
Nonfat Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is packed with probiotic, protein, and vitamin B12 and contains few calories and provides healthy bacteria for the digestive tract. One serving contains a host of minerals like potassium. You also get healthy fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
You can buy small snack portions of yogurt and stock them up in the fridge for the week. This is a great snacking option as it involves no preparation, unless of course you want to get fancy and fruits and such on top. You can also add things like granola and oatmeal if you want a heftier snack.
Takeaway
Eating healthy requires a commitment to avoiding junk foods like foods high in sugars and saturated fats. If you think of your body like a car, you know that if you put good quality food in, you’ll get quality performance, but if you fill it up with junk, you’re going to get a clogged up vehicle that can’t do much.