If you’re anything like me, you probably go through some difficulties when it comes to keeping a healthy diet. Whether it’s because you don’t have the time, or you have too many impulses for junk food, or even because being healthy can come with a bit of a budget.
However,
Being healthy can be easy too! I’ve had some nutritionist appointments in my life and, and one thing they always say to me: add whole grains to your diet! At first I had no idea what where these whole grains, so before anything else, here are some examples:
- Brown rice
- Quinoa
- Couscous
- Corn
And these are just some of the most popular ones, I’ll show you more options later on! But first, let me tell you why whole grains are such a big deal.
“Put simply, Clean Eating is avoiding all processed food, relying on fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains rather than prepackaged or fast food.” - Tosca Reno
Benefits of Whole Grains
So, there are a whole (hah!) lot of benefits when talking about these grains. They’re all equally important to improving your health, such as helping lower blood pressure and cholesterol. But one that I actually got to notice was that my food impulses practically stopped when I added these grains to my daily meals.
Maybe it’s because they also help with digestion and they offer pretty much everything the body needs:
- Fiber
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B
- Calcium
So when you eat these grains, along with fruits and vegetables in your diet as well, that need you have to keep eating junk food will cease in no time. For the ladies who get too hormonal during PMS and want to go out eating everything (yeah, I know, I’m one of you too), the whole grains help out a lot.
Consequently,
They also help controlling your weight by redistributing fat and regulating blood sugar. It’s only logical to say they help you live longer too, right?
Meet the Whole Grains
I mentioned earlier some types of whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, couscous, and corn. Now the time has come to tell you about the other options:
- Barley
- Farro
- Oats
- Buckwheat
- Sorghum
- Telf
- Bulgur
The thing you need to remember about these grains is that it requires some patience to experience with them, you’ll need to make several recipes and see how your palate will adjust and what you’ll like best.
How to Add Whole Grains in Your Diet
If you ask all of your friends how to add whole grains in your diet, you’ll probably get a different answer each time. So it’s really up to you knowing your schedule and paying attention to your own eating habits. But I’ll tell you about what works best for me!
Since my days can get pretty busy, I rarely cook on weekdays. I usually just make a good use of my Sunday afternoons to prepare my weekly meals.
So, what I tried first was choosing only two recipes and preparing them for the whole week. That way I could add the grains a little bit at a time and not overwhelm myself with so many new recipes in one week. For occasional snacks that I’m sure we all love at some point of the day, I tried some whole grain cookies and lots of fruits - even some fruit bowls with quinoa and oats!
Careful: I have celiac disease and I fooled myself by thinking all whole grains were gluten-free too. But that’s not the case, even though most of them really are gluten-free, it’s better to double check (and avoid the consequences)!
After some time, – for me it was about four to five months – you get the hang of cooking with these new ingredients and your sense of taste is adjusted to them. This makes it easier to cook and then you can try a 7-day meal plan with more varieties - because I know how repeating the same food all week can be a bit dull.
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