As you all know, I am really trying to get fit and maintain a healthy diet (not DIET, but diet). The rumor is that in order to eat healthy you have to spend a lot of money! But did you know that you CAN eat healthy while on a budget? When looking to add healthy foods to your and your family’s diet, there is one type of food that you have to be sure to check out. Superfoods! You probably eat superfoods already and don’t even realize it! Superfoods can help you maintain your weight (or lose weight if you need to!), fight off diseases and cancers, lower cholesterol and help you live longer! In simple terms, the award of being called a Superfood is saved for the best foods that pack the biggest nutritional punch! The good news is, there really are budget friendly superfoods, foods that taste amazing, that are so good for you, AND won’t leave you feeling like you traded your wallet for a grocery bag the size of a postage stamp!
Here are five of my favorite budget friendly superfoods that you can begin to incorporate into your family’s diet!
Egg Whites
Sometimes trying to get your family to switch gears towards living and eating healthier can be hard! Start slow and make simple changes! Switching to using egg whites is an easy change!
- Egg whites are a low calorie food! A whole egg contains about 66 calories and 41 of those are fat calories! 25 of the calories are protein. Egg whites on the other hand are only 14 calories and ALL of those are from protein! Choosing egg whites over regular eggs can also help to lower cholesterol.
- They are also fat free!
- High protein!
- Help to keep you full!
- Egg whites help to build strong bones, muscles, hair and nails!
Beans
Beans are a great superfood and awesome for budgets! You can get them very inexpensively! Plus for moms they have another awesome ability; you can add them to lots of foods and no one will ever know! Try adding them to things like hamburgers or even chocolate brownies!
- High protein
- Full of fiber
- Research has shown that they can stabilize your mood.
- Helps to keep you full – longer!
- Low in fat
- Can lower blood pressure
- Heart healthy
- Natural fat burner!
- Good source of vitamin B (Which means it is good for brain and nerve cells, good for your skin, and digestive system!)
Kiwi
Kiwi is a little fruit that definitely gives you a lot of bang for your buck! It’s available year around in most grocery stores and is great on it’s own, in salads, on desserts or in smoothies!
- One large Kiwi is enough for your entire day’s worth of Vitamin C! Vitamin C is essentially for fighting off diseases and keeping you healthy!
- High fiber
- A good source of Potassium. Most people know that Potassium is in bananas, but they don’t know it’s also in Kiwi! Too little Potassium can lead to weakness, irregular heartbeat and stroke. One Kiwi has the same amount of Potassium as a small banana!
- Low calorie (one kiwi has about 46 calories!)
Sweet Potatoes
Switching your regular potatoes for sweet potatoes can be another fun switch for your family! Most grocery stores even have bags of sweet potato fries!
- A fat free food!
- Great source of Vitamin A and C.
- Also a good source for calsium, potassium and iron!
- One cup of cooked sweet potatoes provides 30 mg of beta-carotene! That is the same amount that is in 23 cups of broccoli! The darker the sweet potato, the more beta-carotene it has.
- May lower your risk of heart disease, fight cataracts, and prevent cancer.
Dark Chocolate
Who doesn’t love chocolate?
- Dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and improve blood flow.
- Good for heart health!
- Can boost your mood!
- Choose 70% caco/cocoa for optimized antioxidant power and the most health benefits!
These are just 5 of the many, many Superfoods that are available! Eating healthy can be done! And it can be done on a budget!
What is your favorite superfood?
I love sweet potatoes and especially at this time of year!