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Health For Mzansi

A dietician’s guide to 6 healthy food trends

by Andrea du Plessis
25th May 2021
in My Health
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
What's the best way to feel good? Make sure you're eating right! This easy guide  to the healthy eating buzzword by our resident dietician will help you do just that. Photo: Supplied/Health For Mzansi

What's the best way to feel good? Make sure you're eating right! This easy guide to the healthy eating buzzword by our resident dietician will help you do just that. Photo: Supplied/Health For Mzansi

Functional flavour. Clean eating. Raw foods. Juicing. You’ve heard of these food trends in healthy eating, right? But what do they mean?

We asked Health For Mzansi’s resident dietician, Andrea Du Plessis, to provide some handy guidance to the healthy food trends buzzwords you may have heard flying about.

So, if you are all about the trends, here is your aid to keeping up in the conversations.

1. Naturally functional

Naturally functional foods are foods or food ingredients that, in their natural form, have intrinsic health benefits.

Examples include:

  • Oily fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds – these provide omega 3 fatty acids to support brain health, memory and concentration
  • Ginger – benefits digestive health
  • Oat bran – helps to lower cholesterol
  • Avocado – provides omega 9 oils to support healthy circulation.

ALSO READ: Heart healthy foods everyone can afford

2. Functional flavour

food trends
Cocoa contains various components, including antioxidants, that can benefit mental alertness and memory. Photo: Supplied/Health For Mzansi

Foods that add flavour and have functional health benefits.

Examples include:

Cocoa – rich in polyphenols that benefit cardiovascular health and mental alertness

Garlic – has antimicrobial effects to support the immune system

Mint leaves – soothe digestive discomfort and supports mental alertness.

3. Fermented foods

Fermentation occurs when a yeast or bacteria converts a sugar into acid, gas, or alcohol. Fermented foods have a range of benefits, including:

  • Adding probiotics to the diet – By adding significant amounts of probiotics into your diet, fermented foods help to improve digestive health, in some instances reducing food intolerances
  • Increased bioavailability of valuable nutrients – Increasing the proportion of nutrients that is absorbed from the diet and used by the body can help to reduce the risk of certain cancers and improve mental health and overall well-being.

4. Raw foods

The raw foodism trend is inspired by the belief that eating foods in their raw and most natural state provide maximum nutritional and health benefits.

food trends
Raw foods have many nutritional benefits. Photo: Supplied/Health For Mzansi

The benefits of raw foods include:

  • Bioactivity – Raw vegetables such as broccoli and other greens contain enzymes and other bioactive ingredients that add health benefits beyond nutrition.
  • More fluids and fibre – A raw food diet generally contains higher levels of natural fluid and dietary fibre, which benefits satiety and regular digestive function.
  • Higher vitamin levels – Raw vegetables such as tomatoes and carrots contain higher levels of vitamin C than when cooked, even though the antioxidants in these two vegetables are more bioavailable after being cooked.

5. Clean eating

Clean eating is the inclusion of foods in their most natural form, mostly raw, or minimally processed, handled, refined or cooked. Examples include a boiled egg, avocado, or lentil and spinach salad, where the egg and lentils are cooked, served with raw salad ingredients.

Benefits of clean eating include:

  • Increased overall nutritional density of the diet.
  • Avoidance of additives such as preservatives, colourants, sweeteners, flavourants, stabilisers, etc.

6. Juicing

food trends
Juicing involves extracting the juices of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Photo: Supplied/Health For Mzansi

Juicing involves both the extraction of fruit, vegetable, and herb juices for fresh, raw consumption, or the inclusion into other foods and beverages.

A juicing diet may consist of water and juices from fruits, vegetables, and herbs only, as a form of a detoxification diet.

These juice or pulp extracts could be included as is, or as ingredients into other foods or meals, such as smoothies, soups or salad dressings.

Tags: HealthHealthy lifestyleNutritionWellness
Andrea du Plessis

Andrea du Plessis

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HIV and initiation: Supporting boys through cultural rites Security fails as gangs target Eastern Cape clinics Dr Makanya blends spiritual healing with art therapy Canola oil: A heart-healthy choice for your kitchen No more pain! Tackle the torment of toothaches How smoking causes harmful bacteria in your mouth Discover delicious, healthy dishes that will make your heart sing Rediscover the joy of creamy pap with chicken livers