{"id":10447,"date":"2019-08-12T10:05:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T17:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/?p=10447"},"modified":"2021-07-23T10:22:12","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T17:22:12","slug":"healthiest-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oneingredientchef.com\/healthiest-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"The 8 Healthiest Foods to Eat Every Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most healthy eating advice is focused on what to subtract from your diet. “Don’t eat meat… Don’t eat dairy… Don’t eat eggs… Don’t eat sugar… Don’t eat refined grains.” That is all important, but what about the things we should be adding<\/em> to our diets as well?<\/p>\n

In many cases, what we do<\/strong> eat is more important than what we avoid. There is a good argument to be made that adding some nutrient powerhouses into your daily diet might be even more beneficial than getting rid of the unhealthy foods.<\/p>\n

One recent example I came across is this \u2013 if you’re going to eat a terrible meal of chicken, white rice and eggs, adding just a tablespoon of kale powder will blunt the blood sugar spike of this meal. You’re not taking anything away, you’re simply adding a healthy ingredient in addition to the unhealthy ones and your health improves (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In other words, pizza with a mountain of arugula might be better than no pizza and no arugula (though, obviously, a mountain of arugula and no pizza would be best).<\/p>\n

With that in mind, I put together this monster reference guide of what I consider to be the healthiest foods that I try to squeeze into my diet every single day. No matter what your diet looks like right now, simply incorporating most of these foods on most days could have a dramatically positive effect on your health in terms of reducing inflammation (which seems to be at the heart of every major diet-related disease), fighting cancer, maintaining a healthy weight, lowering blood pressure, slowing the effects of aging, boosting mood, enhancing athletic performance, and much more.<\/p>\n

To make this list, I first dug into a bunch of research so I could explain why each of these are so helpful, and then I provided a section of my own recipes and suggestions of how you can incorporate them into your diet.<\/p>\n

What I love about this list (and healthy food in general) is that all of these are totally normal and affordable ingredients that you can find pretty much anywhere. It’s all about blueberries and chia seeds here, not kombu dashi and umiboshi plums!<\/p>\n

[Also, shoutout to Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org<\/a>. I find myself returning to his research over and over again, and much of the links to studies below were originally found through his work. The dude is a genius and I highly recommend his book, How Not to Die<\/a> and the daily nutrition videos on his site.]<\/em><\/p>\n

So without further ado, let’s get into the guide…<\/p>\n

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1. Cruciferous Vegetables (Arugula and Kale)<\/h3>\n

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\nPhoto by Laura Johnston<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. Leafy greens include kale, spinach, and chard. I’m sure you’ve heard about the benefits of each (and you should eat as much of them as possible), but what you may not know is that there’s some crossover \u2013 leafy green cruciferous vegetables. The most common examples of these are kale and arugula. This category of greens are perhaps the healthiest thing on the planet because they have all the benefits of both groups.<\/p>\n

In terms of the health benefits, I don’t even know where to start with these, but here’s just a few:<\/p>\n