In case you haven’t been beaten over the head with this message enough, let us send it home for you. Your health is incredibly important right now. And while you may be working hard to keep all of the bad things out of your body, are you focusing on putting good things in? Your diet is one of the easiest ways to take advantage of to boost your health and wellness. By implementing the right foods in your diet, you can give your body key nutrients to get you feeling good and living your best life! Not all foods are created equal though. That’s why we’ve got some superfood suggestions for you to try. So put on your cape, grab your blender and away we go!
The Superfood Suggestion: Apple Cider Vinegar
ACV easy as 1-2-3!
Image: @wellandgoodeats
The Low Down: The taste of it may be hard to swallow, but the benefits go down easy! It is associated with maintaining a healthy weight and containing some lovely B-vitamins. It even has probiotics to help seal the deal!
How We Like It: Okay hear us out. Instead of starting your morning with your typical latte or whipped coffee, try a cup of warm water with the juice of half a lemon and a tablespoon of ACV, and then chase it with your coffee. It is going to taste awful, but your skin and hair will thank you for it. If you can’t stomach that (which is fair) you can make some delicious salad dressings with it or even use it to pickle vegetables! If you aren’t riding the pickled red onion train already, it is a great time to hop on!
The Superfood Suggestion: Leafy Greens
Popeye was ahead of his times (and we too are definitely in a committed relationship with olive oil).
Images and Salad Recipe Featured Here.
The Low Down: There’s a reason “eating your greens” has been made into a popular phrase. They are full of fiber and a plethora of vitamins. They can help regulate your blood sugar and even have cancer-fighting properties. Sign us up!
How We Like It: Smoothies and juices are a fantastic way to get leafy greens into your diet more often. We recommend using spinach and baby kale for their milder taste, but that’s no excuse to not try other leafy greens! Pair it with your favorite fruit, and you’ll have no problem slurping down your greens! And just while we’re here, put frozen avocado in your smoothie.
Another more traditional form of green consumption is through salads. While you may roll your eyes at this, there are so many ways you can turn salads from meh to marvelous! Add some protein, get some crunch in there with chickpea crisps, throw in some feta. The sky is truly the limit for greens to carry you up, up and away!
The Superfood Suggestion: Turmeric
If you’re not talking anti-inflammatories, we don’t wanna talk!
Photo: @palmpike
The Low Down: We should start this off by saying that this root is the Indian secret to clear skin. If that doesn’t entice you enough, let’s just spout off a few more health benefits turmeric provides. It is anti-inflammatory and full of antioxidants. It supports heart health, digestion, immunity, the female reproductive system, the liver… we could go on. If turmeric were in your group project, it would do all the work without asking and laminate your presentation notecards.
How We Like It: Believe it or not, this little lady is a very versatile spice! You can put it in scrambled eggs, your grain of choice, smoothies, and there are some lovely turmeric teas in just about any grocery store. One of our favorite nighttime rituals is a cup of golden milk to help us catch our beauty sleep! Looking to spice up your health and wellness? Turmeric just might be the superfood suggestion for you!
The Superfood Suggestion: Green Tea
Who knew Kermit the Frog was a healthy queen all along?
The Low Down: What can’t this superfood do? Green tea is known to help boost your metabolism and has anti-aging properties! If that wasn’t enough, it also can help boost cognitive abilities and is chock full of antioxidants, just to name a few benefits!
How We Like It: With lemon and honey, please! Nothing can soothe after a long day like a fragrant, steaming mug of jasmine tea. While you can receive a ton of health benefits from ingesting your tea the standard way of steeped tea leaves, you can get even more benefits from ingesting the tea leaves ground up into a powder. That’s right, we mean matcha! Whether you like it whipped or in baked goods, you can find 20 times the amount of antioxidants in spinach from matcha. Now, that’s our cup of tea!
The Superfood Suggestion: Fermented Foods
Get your mind in the gut health!
The Low Down: There’s a lot of bacteria hanging out in your gut, but don’t panic. They’re there to help you! However, we all need a little help sometimes, and this is no exception. Fermented foods can help balance out the good and bad bacteria in your gut. Consider them an antihero of the superfoods.
How We Like It: That ‘booch baby! It may be an acquired taste for some (looking at you, Kombucha Girl), but it can definitely be a sparkling way to get your gut health up. It can even be made into cocktails if you’re into multitasking.
If just the smell of kombucha makes your toes curl, that doesn’t mean you can’t get your probiotic fix. You can eat kimchi with everything from rice bowls to pizza. If you’re looking to implement a more plant-based diet, tempeh is the way to go! If none of this appeals to you, we know you like miso soup with your sushi, and that’s fermented as well. It’s a choose your own fermented adventure!
Now, all that’s left is to go make your grocery lists! By focusing on your health from the inside, you will be amazed at the difference in how you feel. Let these superfood suggestions be your own personal superhero squad to take back your health. Foodvengers, assemble!
If this article has got you thinking of ways to up your daily wellness, make sure to check out these five high-protein snacks to munch on, or look into some healthy recipes perfect for the holiday weekend!