This-for-that

It’s time to face up to that freezer-burned loaf of sproutedgrain bread and admit it: Your dietary resolve is as dustcovered as your Magic Bullet. The reason you may be bored with healthy eating is that the food trend that is most going to get you to your health and fitness goals is one your grandmother would be familiar with: Eat your vegetables.

“Most people can always use more vegetables and plant-based foods in their regular diet,” says Atlanta-based registered dietitian Namrita Kumar.

Kathryn Scoblick, a nutrition and wellness coach in Austin, Texas, agrees, saying that people who are pretty healthy eaters to begin with can always swap out a snack for fruits.

“For many, it is our snack choices that add unnecessary calories,” she says. “Decide that a piece of fruit or a vegetable is your snack instead of packaged anything.”

Kumar explains that she has made this change in her own diet because of the variety of flavors, textures and nutrients that fruits and vegetables can offer.

“Plus, they are usually less energy dense and have a higher water content than pasta or oats, for example, so you can eat a larger volume of food for the same amount -- or fewer -- calories,” she says.

Kumar suggests that you may use a spiralizer, which turns fruits and vegetables into long, thin ribbons, to make zucchini, yellow squash, beets, broccoli, butternut squash, cabbage and carrots into substitutes for pasta to add to rice or grain bowls or salads.

Deceptive trends

Further driving home the point that whole, unprocessed fruits and vegetables may offer the most bang for your buck nutritionally, Dr. Adrienne Youdim, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based physician and diplomat of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, cautions against one trendy swap: smoothie or acai bowls, which are smoothies in a bowl, possibly made with the acai berry, and usually eaten as breakfast. Some of these options may be clocking in with about as many calories as a Big Mac and nearly 100 grams of sugar.

The good news is there are some vegetable-based food trends that the experts think are worth the calories that may help jazz up your routine.

“Sweet potato toast is pretty delicious when made sweet or savory,” Kumar says. “And, it’s a bit more filling and satisfying than using bread.”

Unlike avocado toast, where avocado is mashed onto a bread of choice, sweet potato toast uses thick planks of roasted or toasted sweet potato in place of the bread. It may be topped with almond butter and cinnamon for a sweeter breakfast or snack, reminiscent of Thanksgiving casserole, or with eggs, avocado or a mashed black bean spread for a more savory approach.

Another vegetable trend that can add flavor to your diet that Kumar likes is sauerkraut, the pickled, fermented cabbage typically served with Bratwurst or pork chops.

Old-school eats

“Even if you’re not a fan of traditional sauerkraut, companies such as Farmhouse Culture have done a really great job of offering several varieties of kraut and fermented vegetables that make great additions to salads, bowls, and sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” she says.

Sauerkraut offers the double whammy of adding the fiber and nutrients of a vegetable but also with healthy gut bacteria similar to yogurt. The pickling process that gives sauerkraut its signature pucker is caused by a reaction of beneficial bacteria, just like the process that turns sweet milk into tangy yogurt.

Speaking of yogurt and refreshing your diet, Kamur offers some suggestions for reaping a greater health benefit from this diet staple.

“Buy plain yogurt instead of presweetened or artificially sweetened ‘light’ varieties,” she says. “There are several varieties of yogurt options now including traditional unstrained, Icelandic, Australian, Greek, Kefir, and non-dairy, depending on your dietary preferences as well as taste and texture preference. If you want a sweeter taste, you can add your own sweetness from fruit, honey, maple syrup, date or vanilla bean paste or extract.”

Starting with the simplest form of a food and then adding whole, natural foods to improve the taste is a trend that the experts say will never go out of style.

“I am all for people taking the steps they are willing to take in the place they are on their health journey,” Scoblick says. “When you are looking for healthy prepared foods, buy organic if you can, and if that is not an option avoid these ingredients the best that you can: hydrogenated oil, palm oil, food coloring, artificial ingredients, preservatives and added sugars.”