4 Small Steps to Healthy Eating This Summer

Enjoy these delicious, super-healthy foods.

It’s a pleasure to eat outdoors in the long, hot days of summer, whether you’re enjoying brunch in your backyard, picnicking in the park or catching up with friends at a barbecue.

Summer is the ideal time to savor juicy fruit, crunchy salads, succulent salmon and other healthy foods.

But, to eat more healthily, you don’t need to go all-out and radically change your diet during the summer months.

It’s easy to improve your diet — and your health — by adding just a few delicious, super-healthy foods each day.

1. Add Blueberries to Your Breakfast

Blueberries pack a powerful nutritional punch by:

· improving your concentration and memory because they contain very high levels of antioxidants

· enhancing your mood, regulating your hormones and increasing your energy levels, due to their high level of vitamin B6

· keeping blood sugar under control because of their low glycemic load and their relatively high fiber content, which also helps you feel fuller for longer

· improving your skin and boosting your immune system because of their high vitamin C content.

As an extra bonus, blueberries are low in calories — a 4 oz serving of blueberries contains only 65 calories.

For a great start to the day:

· sprinkle blueberries over your breakfast cereal

· mix blueberries with natural yogurt

· make a vitamin-packed smoothie combining blueberries with other fruit and yogurt or milk

You don’t need to eat a lot of blueberries to reap the benefits. Eating 3.5 oz to 5 oz of blueberries each day is sufficient.

The positive effects of blueberries have been demonstrated by many studies, including a US study among postmenopausal women, which found that both their diastolic and systolic blood pressure levels fell after they ate a cup of blueberries every day for 8 weeks.¹

2. Include Avocado in Your Lunchtime Sandwich

Avocados are packed with almost 20 powerful vitamins and minerals, including:

· monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which help stabilize blood sugar and keep you feeling full

· beta-sitosterol, a natural plant sterol that helps your body regulate cholesterol

· folate, which reduces the risk of depression and several different types of cancer, as well as protecting babies during pregnancy

· vitamin K, which helps your body retain calcium, leading to healthier bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Avocado tastes delicious when combined with almost anything on your lunchtime sandwich, including:

· mozzarella cheese and tomato

· bacon and lettuce

· chicken, apple and mayonnaise.

Since an average-sized avocado contains around 300 calories, it’s a good idea to eat between one half and one whole avocado each day. Carolyn Brown, a New York-based nutritionist, recommends limiting your avocado intake to one a day and only having it for one meal.²

3. Snack on Red Grapes or Cherries

Succulent and sweet, red grapes or cherries are a great alternative to chocolate or a cereal bar when you reach for your afternoon snack.

Red grapes and cherries are packed with antioxidants that get rid of free radicals in your body. Free radicals are substances that can damage your body’s cells and tissue over time, potentially leading to skin wrinkles, diabetes, hardening of the arteries and cancer.³

Take a tub of washed cherries and grapes to work with you, so they’ll be ready to eat when you feel a little peckish. If you’re aiming to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, 14 cherries or grapes count as one portion.⁴

4. Choose Salmon for Dinner

Salmon contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can help you feel more positive and emotionally balanced.

People with difficulty concentrating, depression and Alzheimer’s disease tend to have low levels of omega-3 fatty acids, according to Dr Daniel G. Amen, author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Body.⁵

Even one portion of salmon or other oily fish per week can reduce the risk of developing brain conditions, such as dementia.

Here are some ideas for adding salmon to your dinner:

· Serve salmon with a variety of vegetables in a range of different colors to benefit from as many nutrients as possible.

· Top salmon with pesto before cooking in the oven for an easy mid-week dinner. Serve with boiled potatoes and vegetables.

· Make a simple pasta dish combining salmon with tomatoes, peas, broccoli or other vegetables.

Boost your energy levels by adding these foods to your diet this summer. You’ll be able to concentrate better, your mood will improve and you’ll be ready to enjoy summer to the full!

References

¹ Daily Blueberry Consumption Improves Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Postmenopausal Women with Pre- and Stage 1-Hypertension: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial — reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

² How Much Avocado Is Healthy To Eat In A Day?

³ Thirteen ways to keep free radicals away, and why it’s so important

⁴ 5 A Day Portion Guide

⁵ Change Your Brain, Change Your Body — Use your brain to get the body you have always wanted by Dr Daniel G. Amen