Why Nutrient Dense Foods are Important

 

There are a lot of things that you are supposed to do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. One of the key things to health it the food we eat!

When we have a diet that is full of nutrient dense foods, we are allowing our body to get high volumes of the vitamins and minerals we need to stay healthy. This is different from energy-dense food, that makes us have literally more energy from the amount of calories we are consuming.

When you are hungry all the time, this might be a sign that you are not eating enough nutrient dense food! For example, an apple normally curbs hunger for a bit. But a donut is full of empty carbs that leave us wanting to eat more. They are both the same size—but only one has the nutrients we need to stay healthy. And the answer is the apple, because it has the vitamins and fibers our body is craving! That is why we don’t feel hungry after eating an apple—because we have given our body the nutrition it was demanding when we did feel hungry.

It is important to understand what foods are packed with good nutrients so that we can manage our health and our weight, and ensure we make educated food decisions that are helping us stay healthy!

So what are the dense superfoods that we should be fuelling our body with? Here is everything you need to know about the key superfoods that will keep our body healthy!

  1. Green vegetables

The darker green the veggie, the more nutrients and vitamins it has! Green vegetables are absolutely packed with nutrients like zinc, calcium, and magnesium—things our body literally can not survive without! When we eat our veggies, we are lowering our risk of getting long-term diseases like diabetes or arthritis. It is also said that vegetables are able to help prevent a whole range of cancer diagnosis, so eat those darn vegetable kids! The vegetables that should be at the top of your grocery list include things like kale, spinach and turnips. Make them into a green smoothie, a currie, or a hearty salad—the choice is yours!

  1. Colorful berries

Berries are jam packed with antioxidants and the more colorful, the better! When we feed our body antioxidants, we are delivering a mix of vitamins, minerals, and fibers that help our body stay healthy and offset heart disease and chronic conditions! Plus, antioxidants from fruit are shown to boost our immune system and protect us from nasty viruses. So eat those fruits, especially blueberries, strawberries, and cranberries! They go great in smoothies, salads, breakfast, and even are a yummy dessert option!

  1. Green tea

Tea is cool, especially because it is full of dense nutrients your body desperately needs! Not only is it full of antioxidants, it also has something known as EGCG, which gives our body protection from a range of diseases that can threaten our health! You can balance out caffeinated and decaffeinated green tea and make it part of your daily routine. It is particularly delicious after a yoga class.

  1. Eggs

Yup, eggs are jam packed with dense nutrients and are considered to be one of the healthiest superfoods you can feed your body! When you eat an entire egg (yolk included), you are giving your body a range of nutrients like Vitamin Bs, Vitamin A, and iron. Plus, you get a massive dose of protein too! And to top it off, eggs are also full of antioxidants that ensure our vision remains 20/20/ So if you eat your eggs in moderation, it is a great way to get your body the dense nutrients it needs!

  1. Legumes

Beans really are the magical fruit! They, along with lentils and peas are full of dense nutrients that have a particularly large amount of Vitamin Bs and fiber. These nutrients are what we need to manage a range of diseases, especially diabetes and high blood pressure. So eat those beans and lentils, they are magical and jam-packed with nutritional goodness!

  1. Nuts

Offering a great source of protein, anti-inflammatory properties, and antioxidants, nuts are a great thing to snack on! Things like almonds, pecans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds have dense levels of nutrients that your body will love you for giving it! They are great in cereals, smoothies, nut butter, salads and just an on-the-go snack!

Getting nutrient-dense food into your diet is a key component of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Without getting your body stocked with the vitamins and minerals it needs, it won’t be able to function at peak performance, it will feel hungry all the time and you will become more susceptible to a range of illnesses that could have otherwise been prevented! So don’t deny yourself of dense superfoods—they taste good and will make you feel great!

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