With the last of the selection boxes polished off, attention turns to what we should be eating more of — not less of — in 2023. We routinely under-eat fruit and vegetables, with less than a third of adults estimated to meet the five-a-day guideline, according to the Health Survey for England, so any increase on that front is to be applauded, but there are specific foods that will bring big benefits if we turn our focus towards them in the year ahead.
“It’s no surprise that many of the foods that we encourage people to consume more often are wholesome and largely unaltered from their natural state,” says the nutritionist Anita Bean, author of The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition (Bloomsbury). “Minimally processed foods remain the best for our health.” Here’s what to stock up on this year:
• Batch cook like a pro: freezer recipes that top chefs recommend
Mixed seeds
Researchers say many of us overlook their value in the diet and forget how easy it is to sprinkle them on top of cereals and salads, yet their value is significant. Seeds contain essential fatty acids that may help prevent early death from heart disease, according to researchers. In addition, being rich in fibre — two tablespoons of seeds will provide as much as one third of your recommended 30g daily fibre intake — all seeds are good for the gut, producing positive changes in gut microbiota which boost metabolic health. Small black chia seeds have been shown to help improve insulin sensitivity and stabilise blood sugar levels after meals, and sesame seeds contain iron, zinc and calcium as well as magnesium and vitamin E, which are important for preventing furring of the arteries, and the compounds sesamin and sesamolin, which have been associated with lower blood lipid and cholesterol levels. When people with hypertension added sesame seeds to their diet they experienced “a significant reduction in systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure”.
Dates
Dates are expected to have a “major renaissance” as a health food this year, according to the Whole Food Market Trend Report 2023. This is partly down to studies proving the health benefits of high-fibre dates. In one paper, adults with type 2 diabetes who were asked to eat three dates daily for 16 weeks had reduced total cholesterol levels by the end of the study compared to non-date eaters. Other researchers have suggested a combo of half a glass of unsweetened pomegranate juice consumed with three dates daily could help to combat heart disease. Analysts say we should also expect to see dates being added to everything from ketchup to overnight porridge pots as a natural sweetener and appearing in new forms such as pastes and syrups.
Advertisement
Avocado oil
Pressed from the pulp of an avocado, the oil of the fruit has high amounts of heart-healthy, monounsaturated oleic fatty acid (which is also the main fatty acid in olive oil) and has been shown to be helpful in the fight against raised cholesterol, high blood pressure and fatty liver disease. It’s also a decent source of the antioxidant lutein, which needs to be obtained from the diet as the body doesn’t make its own. Lutein is important for eye health. It is already being added to many health snacks and sauces, according to the Whole Food Market Trend Report, but will go mainstream over the next 12 months.
Adding avocado oil to a salad of carrots, lettuce and spinach increased the absorption of carotenoid substances that are converted by the body to vitamin A — important for immune system function and general health — by up to 17.4 times compared to a salad without the oil added. Try Olivado Extra Virgin Avocado Oil (£11.70 for three bottles; olivado.com).
Tinned fatty fish
The rich content of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) give fatty fish their anti-inflammatory properties, and the NHS says that most of us should be aiming for two portions of fish a week, at least one of which should be the fatty variety, which also supplies vitamins A and D. But tinned fish is fine and, as such, has become an unlikely internet food sensation, with hashtags such as #tinfishdatenight on TikTok racking up more than 20 million views. Several tinned fish cookbooks were published last year and a 2022 report predicted the global tinned seafood market will continue to rise to around £42 billion by 2030. Although canned sardines, pilchards and salmon all count towards your oily fish intake, neither fresh nor canned tuna do as Public Health England says the fish’s omega-3 content isn’t high enough. Sardines, pilchards and salmon have the added advantage of containing edible bones that the NHS says are excellent sources of phosphorus and calcium for a strong skeleton. “Studies have shown that eating fish is a much better way to get DHA and EPA than from a supplement or pill,” says Alex Ruani, researcher in nutrition science at University College London and chief science educator at the Health Sciences Academy.
Kimchi, kombucha, kefir and yoghurt
If you haven’t sampled fermented foods yet, where have you been? At Waitrose, sales of fermented kimchi, a Korean pickle, were up by 25 per cent, and kombucha, a fermented tea, up by 20 per cent, by the end of 2022. Kefir, sauerkraut, yoghurt and tempeh are other options — all of these foods are fermented by live bacteria and have been shown to alter the make-up of the vast cohort of bacteria, viruses and fungi that inhabit our intestinal tracts, known as our microbiome.
In one study, ten weeks of eating more fermented foods was shown to reduce levels of 19 inflammatory compounds in the body, including the inflammatory protein interleukin-6, which is often elevated in people with type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. The greater the variety of fermented foods consumed, the higher the diversity of microbial species in the gut of participants, another positive in terms of immune system support.
Advertisement
There’s a double whammy for the gut as eating more fermented foods and wholegrains such as rye also increases levels of useful postbiotics — the byproducts of gut bacteria that slow down the growth of harmful bugs in the gut — far more effectively than taking a postbiotic supplement.
“Fermented foods are such a good addition and really help to keep the body ticking over healthily,” says Ruani.
Rolled or steel cut oats
Oat milk might be fashionable, but it is oats in their more natural form that produce the greatest health benefits. Eat them in the form of porridge or overnight oats on a regular basis and they are great for the gut, with the unique form of fibre called beta glucan they contain “forming a gel-like substance when it is broken down by gut bacteria that helps to boost gut health,” according to Bean.
This fibre also helps to control blood sugar levels while a group of antioxidants called avenanthramides (AVA), also mainly specific to oats, have a potent anti-inflammatory effect on the whole body. “Researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany reported that this is the reason eating oats regularly helps to alleviate muscle soreness and aid recovery after exercise,” Bean says.
The coarser the grain, the better. Beware of instant oats that cook within a few minutes — they are considered to be a processed food by nutritionists and they cause unhealthy spikes in blood sugar levels.
Rye bread and Ryvita
Advertisement
On Pinterest, searches for traditional Norwegian food and recipes increased by 120 per cent in 2022, which is particularly good news for those adding more rye products to the their diet. In one study of overweight people, those asked to eat a bowl of rye-based breakfast cereals, 4 to 6 slices of rye crispbread (think: Ryvita) and 2 to 2.5 slices of soft rye bread every day for 12 weeks lost on average one kilogram of body fat more than another group who ate refined wheat versions of the same foods. That amount of rye provides 30g of fibre, the amount needed to stay healthy, and has been shown to fill people up so that they consume fewer calories overall during the rest of the day.
Almonds
There are so many studies extolling the benefits of nuts — which are packed with protein, vitamin E and minerals, fibre and good fats — that adding a handful to your daily diet is a no-brainer for better health outcomes. Even the World Health Organisation recommends eating nuts as part of a healthy diet to reduce cardiovascular disease.
Most nuts are a good addition — albeit not the salted, coated or flavoured varieties — but if you choose just one, go with almonds eaten with the skin on to maximise fibre intake. Just 30g almonds (15-20 nuts) provides nearly half the recommended daily intake of Vitamin E for adults, which is important for healthy skin and eyes. A similar amount could also help you to lose weight, according to a recent study in the European Journal of Nutrition. Dr Sharayah Carter, lead author and researcher at the University of South Australia, discovered that people who ate 30g to 50g almonds as opposed to an energy-equivalent carbohydrate snack ate 300 fewer calories at the subsequent meal. “Our research examined the hormones that regulate appetite, and how nuts — specifically almonds — might contribute to appetite control,” Carter says.
Greens
Some healthy eating advice can make it feel like Groundhog Day, but there’s no getting away from eating your greens if you want a supercharged 2023.
Where to start with the benefits? Of course, all green vegetables supply fibre and vitamin C and the leafy variety have particularly high amounts of folate, for a healthy heart, and potassium, for blood pressure control. Spinach, fennel, rocket, beet leaves and kale are an excellent source of nitrates, compounds that are converted by the body to nitrite, which not only relaxes and widens blood vessels but influences how efficiently our cells use oxygen.
Advertisement
In a 2021 study of 50,000 people, researchers from Australia reported that those who consumed just one decent-sized serving of nitrate-rich greens each day had lower blood pressure and up to a 26 per cent lower risk of heart disease.
New year health
● What it takes to get a body like David Gandy’s
● How to lose belly fat in 7 weeks
● Simple ways to reduce stress
● How to sleep better
“People don’t need to be taking supplements to boost their nitrate levels because the study showed that one cup of leafy green vegetables each day is enough to reap the benefits for heart disease,” says Dr Catherine Bondonno of Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, the study author.
It’s because of these nitrates that eating greens can even boost muscle strength and function, with another recent ECU study in the Journal of Nutrition finding that people who ate the most nitrate-rich leafy greens over 12 years had 11 per cent stronger leg muscles than those who didn’t eat them. Walking speed — considered a strong predictor of longevity — was also faster among the green veg eaters.
Don’t forget broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage, which are beneficial in their own right, with the most recent discovery showing that consumers of these cruciferous vegetables had a lower chance of diseased blood vessels (arteries and veins) that can reduce the flow of blood circulating around the body and ultimately raise the risk of heart disease.
