It can be overwhelming for many people who are trying to eat enough good, healthy foods to nourish their bodies. Add in stress, poor gut health, poor soil our foods are grown in, medications & pollution and our nutritional requirements increase even more. The key is to pick foods that are super nutrient-dense so you can more bang for your buck (and more nutrients for your calories).
When you see how much food you actually need to eat in a day to hit the recommended daily intakes for many nutrients, it makes sense to choose foods that have a high nutrition value to calorie content (especially if you are trying to lose weight). Some of the most nutrient-dense and beneficial foods you can eat are also the tiniest foods.
My Top 3 Foods To Enhance Your Nutrition At Each Meal Are Sprouts, Pepitas & Hemp Seeds
Sprouts are literally my most favourite superfood! There are many varieties of sprouts but my go-to picks are lentil sprouts, chickpea sprouts & Mungbean sprouts. Combining these three sprout varieties into your diet will supercharge your nutrition like no other food can. They are super low in calories and what they lack in volume they make up in superfood benefits (bonus they are super affordable).
Benefits of Sprouts Include:
- Rich in Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, Vitamin A
- Rich in Vitamin K
- Helps protect DNA damage
- Supports a healthy gut wall
- Fights inflammation
- Helps with healthy detoxification (in particular helping to clear out excess estrogens that can be responsible for uncomfortable PMS symptoms)
- High in fibre
- Helps support healthy cardiovascular function & reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
- Can aid in fat loss & useful in a weight loss journey
- Low in calories
- High in protein (Chickpea sprouts)
- Easily incorporate into many meals:
- Add to your breakfast omelette
- Sprinkle on avocado on toast
- Mix through your salads
- Add to your smoothies
- Mash through your favourite dips
- Eat straight from the packet for a crunchy snack
- Family-friendly they have a very mild flavour
- Super affordable at around $1 per serve
Other nutrient-dense foods I like adding to my meals to maximise nutrient intake:
Pepitas: A delicious crunchy seed that are super versatile. These little powerhouses are rich in magnesium, zinc, iron & copper. And are super versatile too:
- Toast in a fry pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper & spices for a tasty savoury snack
- Add a sprinkle over your meals
- Add to salads
- Mix through Greek yoghurt
Hemp Seeds: These guys are another nutrient-dense superfood. Rich in protein, magnesium, B vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids, they help protect from DNA damage, fight inflammation & nourish cells. Perfect to add to salads, smoothies, soups & chia puddings.
My recommendation: Try adding a mix of my favourite sprouts, hemp seeds & pepitas to at least one of your meals each day to get the most out your food and help prevent nutritional imbalances.
If you are looking for a good option for sprouts I highly recommend a brand called Aussie Sprouts, they actually sell a sprout product called Crunchy Combo and it contains all 3 of my all-time favourite types of sprouts. I like carrying the Crunchy Combo in my snack box to give myself a little boost of nutrition, energy and protein to support my adrenals throughout the day.
About The Author
Michaela Sparrow is the founder of The Longevity Remedy. Michaela has had a passion & fascination for the science behind disease, health & ageing for the last 18 years.
After watching family members die from heart disease, stroke and dementia and suffering from chronic illness (depression, anxiety & insulin resistance) herself and not finding the answers in mainstream medicine, she was inspired to learn everything she could about ageing & age related disease, this passion & obsession lead her to study naturopathic medicine and anti-ageing medicine concurrently.
Michaela’s goal is to target the underlying cause illness & ageing, healing the body holistically and understanding how intricacy intertwined our whole body is.
She created The Longevity Remedy to empower people to take a proactive approach to their health and show how everybody can help protect their body and live younger for longer. Anti-ageing & preventative medicine should be available to everyone.