It’s often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If this important meal isn’t nutritious and well-balanced, then we may not feel as energetic throughout the day. With a busy morning trying to get places, it might be difficult to get a well balanced breakfast. To help out, here are tips for a healthy breakfast. Include an antioxidant in your breakfast. Something as simple as a fruit like a blueberry or strawberry in your breakfast will be perfect to add in this antioxidant into your meal. Antioxidants are extremely important because they can prevent cell damage. Choose whole grains for your breakfast. Even if your breakfast may be a piece of toast, make sure that it is whole grain instead of white bread. Whole grain foods have a higher fiber content and can stabilize your blood sugar levels. As hard as it sounds, try sticking to whole foods. Instead of processed foods like a strawberry grain cereal, it is healthier to eat strawberries and oatmeal. Include protein in your breakfast. You can avoid blood sugar crashes by including proteins in your breakfast. It could be an egg, maybe nuts, or even adding protein powder to a smoothie or yogurt. Add as many fruits and vegetables to your breakfast as you can! Fruits and vegetables give you vitamins and nutrients you need without giving too many calories. Meal prep for your breakfast. It’s really hard to get up in the morning and deal with cooking breakfast when you’re already in a hurry. To reduce the tension, meal prep for breakfast just like you would for other meals. Overnight oats are a healthy breakfast food that can be prepped the night before. If you want to make smoothies, you can pack all the ingredients for your smoothie into bags and in the morning you can just make those instead of finding the ingredients in the morning and trying to make a smoothie. With breakfast being one of the most important meals, it is essential that everyone gets a healthy and balanced breakfast. The tips for creating a balanced breakfast and prepping for it beforehand can make breakfast a lot easier in the mornings and still allow for a healthy breakfast. Happy Friday! - Srujana Poluri

Staying active is important for all ages. Children need to stay active so that they can stay healthy and grow. Going out to play at parks might be difficult and unsafe during the pandemic and inconvenient during the winter season. Instead, you could make an obstacle course at home with items that you can easily find around. Chairs, toys, jump ropes, anything can be a part of your indoor obstacle course. Here’s an example of how you could make an indoor obstacle course. Start off with hula hooping for 30 seconds Skip to the next obstacle Climb over 4 chairs Walk backwards to the next obstacle Jump rope 25 times Crab walk to the next obstacle Do 10 jumping jacks and 10 push ups Run back to the start! This is just one way of making an obstacle course, but there’s hundreds of other ways that you could create an indoor obstacle course with items that you have at home. If you want to, you could even extend this obstacle out into your driveway or backyard and use chalk to do hopscotch and other fun activities. Keeping children active is extremely important. So even when it’s hard to leave the house, they can still stay active with these types of indoor courses. Happy Saturday! -Srujana Poluri

As a child, I always went to the grocery store with my mom. I would pick out my snacks for school and help her shop for the rest of the week. Although my mom let me choose snacks, she always encouraged me to make healthy, nutritious choices. Even now, I’m inclined to look over the nutrition facts and make healthy choices when it comes to food. When kids go to the grocery store and are able to see the choices their parents make, and make some of their own choices, it helps them get used to a variety of food and pick healthy food. Whenever you go to the grocery store, take your kids along with you. Try making a rule that you have to try a new fruit or vegetable every week. Let your child pick out the new vegetable or fruit and try it along with them. This will encourage good food habits. - Srujana Poluri

Meal planning makes it a lot easier to have healthy food for every meal of the day. However, meal planning can get difficult and may seem like a hassle sometimes. Here are tips to make meal planning easier! Before you go to the grocery store, make a menu for the week and list out what items you need. When you get to the store, you can make sure to get all of the items that you need. Plan out healthy food when you’re planning your menu for the week. Keep some that are plant-based meals and make sure you’re getting all of the main nutrients in all of them. If you have items in your fridge, check the expiration dates on those and incorporate them into your meals. Remember the leftovers! You’re probably going to have leftovers after meals, and you can use those the next day and make a whole other meal with them. Apart from the meal planning, actually making the food and preparing it can also be difficult. Freezing meats in smaller portions will help them cook faster. If they’re smaller, then it won’t take as much time to defrost them. If you can prepare food and freeze it beforehand, it’ll make it a lot easier. However, this isn’t possible with all food, but for the ones where you can cook and freeze it, that would make it much easier. Cook any meat in large batches. When you are preparing the meal, then you can put the meat together. This will reduce cooking time. Happy Friday! - Srujana Poluri

Packing a healthy lunch for kids that they actually enjoy is quite a struggle. Here are six tips to help pack a healthy lunch that kids will love! Make it look fun! Using cookie cutters to cut out shapes in their fruits and veggies, or adding a healthy dip like peanut butter would make their lunch look a lot more appetizing to them. Add some variety with the food. Bento boxes have become especially popular recently as they’re perfect for portion control while allowing you to pack a variety of foods. You can add a new spin to a simple sandwich by using whole grain wraps, pitas, or lettuce. Take your kids grocery shopping with you and involve them. They’ll find it more exciting to eat their lunch if they know they were a part of making that. Include food from 3 groups: proteins, grains, and fruits and veggies. Try to avoid the juice pouches such as CapriSun and instead stick to water or milk as a drink. Make it easier for yourself. By meal prepping for the entire week, it’ll be much easier to ensure a healthy lunch for your kids everyday. Packing veggies and fruits into a bag for the entire week will make it easier. Using dinner from the previous night could also help reduce time to pack lunch in the morning. Use a freezer pack to keep lunch fresh and at the right temperature. If that isn’t feasible, then pack items that have a longer shelf life. Getting a well balanced and healthy meal is extremely important. These tips will ensure that your kids have a good meal! Happy Friday! - Srujana Poluri

The holidays are coming around quickly, and the weather’s starting to get pretty cold. Here are a few healthier holiday dessert recipes for this winter! Healthier Hot Cocoa Cookies Ingredients 1 egg 1 cup coconut sugar 1 cup runny almond butter, cold. (whole foods brand is great) 1 tsp vanilla 1/3 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup mini marshmallows Recipe Mix together egg, coconut sugar, almond butter, and vanilla. Stir in cocoa powder and baking soda (gets thick here) Add in chocolate chips and mini marshmallows – they may not stick in the batter but just form them so extra marshmallows and chocolate chips are on top of the cookies, making them look ‘loaded’. **If your nut butter is warm, chill the dough for 30 minutes so they do not spread. Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from the pan. Healthier Pecan Pie Ingredients 1/2 cup raw honey 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted 3 eggs 1/2 tsp fresh orange zest 1/8 tsp sea salt 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk 1 tsp ground ground cinnamon 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 3 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour 2 cups raw pecans 1 bottom pie crust Recipe Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine raw honey, coconut oil, eggs, fresh orange zest, sea salt, unsweetened almond milk, ground cinnamon, pure vanilla extract, and whole wheat pastry flour. Stir to combine. Arrange the raw pecans into the prepared 9-inch pie crust. Pour the liquid filling mixture over the pecans, spreading some with a spoon if necessary. Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes. The pie will rise in the oven. You’ll know it’s done when it has small cracks in the top and is no longer giggly. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool, preferably overnight. Happy Holidays! - Srujana Poluri

In 2020, children spent an average of 4-6 hours on a screen and teens spent almost 9 hours on average every single day. The advised time to spend on a screen is only about 2 hours. While the main reason behind this was having school through distance learning, even in years past the screen time of children has increased drastically. Too much screen time can lead to many problems in children such as obesity, sleep issues, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, it could prevent children from developing social skills and keeps them away from more socialization time. It is advised that children only get 2 hours of screen time everyday. For teenagers and adults, as it might be difficult to do so because of school and work, it is suggested that they reduce their screen time outside of work as much as possible. There are various ways you can reduce your screen time. Start off by turning off all notifications except for the ones from important people. Instead of charging your phone next to your bed, charge it in a different room. Sleeping and looking at phones at night is proven to cause sleep issues. Take all social media apps off your phone. If you can only access your social media through a laptop, it might make you reconsider how often you look at your social media. Limit the number of apps on your home screen. Keep the important ones like phone or texts but the games and extra apps can go into the 2nd or 3rd screen where you’re less likely to tap them just because you’re bored. Try staying away from your screen, and stay safe! - Srujana Poluri

We make goals all the time, but they might be unreachable sometimes. They might be too difficult to achieve, or we’re just not making the right plan to achieve that goal. Whatever that goal may be, we can achieve it by breaking it down and making it more realistic. So, here are a few tips to help you achieve your goals. The first thing you could do is actually write your goal down. Instead of just making a goal in your head, making it tangible and writing it down makes it easier to stick to that goal and not forget about it. When you make these goals, try being a bit more specific. For example, instead of saying “I want to eat more fruits and vegetables,” you can say that you want to eat at least 5 different fruits and vegetables every day. Another important aspect of goal-setting is to make sure you have short term goals. Sometimes we give ourselves long term goals, and while that’s great for the long run, it’s hard to not procrastinate. Instead, it’s easier to follow through when you make plans for the short term as well. In this short term, don’t set too many goals. Go one at a time. Even though it seems like it would take forever to reach all your goals, this way you can make sure that you actually reach each of your goals without any one being left out. Once you start working towards your goal, don’t just measure your progress. Instead, measure your actions as well. For example, if you want to lose weight, instead of checking your weight every day, keep track of your diet and exercise schedule. If these schedules meet your goals, then you’re in a great place! When you make goals for yourself, make sure these are goals that you really want to achieve. If you make a goal because everyone else is doing it, it’ll be harder to achieve that goal. Make goals because you want to achieve them. Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend! - Srujana Poluri

Everyone loves to get a little snack every once in a while, but sometimes this can cause us to take in the bad nutrients. By having protein, fiber, and healthy fats in a snack, we can keep ourselves full for longer and reduce the number of snacks that we intake. Many snack companies claim that they include all of these nutrients, especially the companies that advertise “healthy” food, such as protein bars. While protein bars sound healthy, they often include other nutrients that we don’t want to increase in our diet such as added sugar and unhealthy fats. Instead of taking in these types of foods, the best snacks would be fresh and include protein and fiber which would help keep us full. To get in the fiber content, it would be best to include fruits or vegetables into your snacks. Often, we don’t get enough fruits and vegetables, so it would be perfect to incorporate them into snacks. Pairing these with nuts, nut butter, or yogurt would give you the protein content necessary for a good snack. The protein bars are always a good backup to have, but they’re not always the best choice for a healthy snack. Sometimes getting fruits and cutting them may seem like a hassle, so try meal planning snacks and having them in small containers ready to go whenever you need them. Happy Friday! Enjoy Thanksgiving!! - Srujana Poluri

The holiday season is finally here! There’s so many things to look forward to: family time, gifts, and of course the delicious food. Unfortunately, sometimes the food is usually just as unhealthy as it is tasty. So, here are some tips and tricks to make healthy choices during the festive time. Try to keep your eating times close to your usual schedule. If you plan on eating more sugar, try to cut down on the other carbs you take during the meal. Take small plates of what you enjoy, and then try to include more vegetables in your meal. Make sure you continue to exercise during this time. Spending time with family can often make us forget about sleep, but getting enough sleep is extremely important. If you eat more sweets or bigger portions than your goal, that’s ok. Focus on getting right back to your usual schedule once the holiday passes! Enjoy the holidays, spend time with family and friends, and make healthy choices when you can this season! - Srujana Poluri

Happy Saturday! It’s November, which means the year’s almost over and it’s Diabetes Awareness month. Many people know about diabetes, but they don’t know what exactly it is. Diabetes is a condition where one’s blood sugar is higher than what’s considered normal and healthy. There’s 2 types of diabetes: Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. The gland that controls our blood sugar is the pancreas. Using ins ulin and glycogen, the pancreas can control our blood sugar from going too high or too low. Type 1 Diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin: the hormone that helps reduce blood sugar levels. Because of this, blood sugar goes up. Insulin is able to control the glucose levels by acting as a “key” to cells, allowing the glucose to enter the cells where they can be used for food. When there is little insulin, they can’t effectively get the glucose into cells and there’s a buildup of it in the blood. Type 2 Diabetes on the other hand is caused by the inability of insulin to open up the cells. The insulin receptors (the “lock” which the insulin “key” attaches to) don’t work properly. Because the glucose can’t enter the cell, there’s a build up of glucose in the blood. There are many symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes. A few symptoms are frequent urination, feeling very thirsty and hungry, extreme fatigue, blurry vision, slow healing cuts, and rapid weight loss. Watching out for these symptoms can help prevent any major complications. While Type 1 diabetes isn’t curable, it can be treated. With insulin treatment, blood sugar can be regulated. By introducing insulin back into the body, blood sugar will go down and get back to a normal level. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are very similar to those of type 1 diabetes. However, the treatment is quite different. Since the problem isn’t in the lack of the insulin but rather in the efficiency of the insulin, treatment for Type 2 diabetes includes mainly lifestyle changes and sometimes medicine to control glucose levels. Regardless of which type, consistent monitoring of blood sugar levels, proper diet, and a healthy lifestyle can help diabetics live a normal and healthy life. If you’d like to learn more about both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, here are a couple links you can check out. Type 1 Diabetes - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment | ADA Type 2 Diabetes - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment | ADA Diabetes Symptoms | CDC Stay healthy! Enjoy your weekend and the extra hour of sleep on Sunday!

Happy Friday! Happy Halloween! Everyone’s probably super excited for this weekend. To celebrate this season, here’s a healthier Jack-o-Lantern pie! For the crust: 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 Tbsp brown sugar 6 Tbsp almond milk 6 Tbsp soft vegan butter 4 Tbsp water 1 tsp lemon juice For the pumpkin filling: 2/3 cup brown sugar 3 Tbsp tapioca flour 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground ginger ½ tsp ground anise 1/8 tsp ground cloves 2 cups pumpkin puree 1/2 cup almond milk 1 tsp vanilla extract Instruction: Making the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another small bowl, combine the almond milk, butter, water, and lemon juice. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir until combined. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into 2 same size circles. Transfer one of the circles to the pie plate/pan. Decorate another circle by cutting a pumpkin face shape with a sharp knife. Making the filling: In a mixer bowl add the sugar, tapioca flour, cinnamon, anise, ginger, and cloves. Stir in the pumpkin, 1/2 cup almond milk, and the vanilla extract until combined. Pour into the pie crust. Cover with the pumpkin face circle and crimp the edges. Bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Let cool for about an hour and transfer to the refrigerator. Decorate with Halloween candy and serve. Enjoy your Halloween! - Srujana Poluri

There are various benefits of establishing a routing. Lower stress levels and better mental health are only a couple of the benefits. Having a set morning routine can prepare you for the rest of the day, increase productivity, feel more in control of your tasks, lower stress, boost energy, and improve confidence. All of these benefits if you simply have a set morning routine. It might be hard to stick to a routine at first, but here are a few tips to build a good morning routine. The first thing you can do is maintain a fixed bedtime and wake up time. This will allow for a healthy day after you wake up, but also for more restful sleep. Fixing your bedtime helps you fix your circadian rhythms. Do not snooze. While this may seem to help you at that moment by giving you more rest, it will ruin the rest of your day’s plan and only cause more stress in the long term. Instead, if you need more sleep, adjust your bedtime accordingly. Try planning out your day and figure out how long each of your tasks will take. Use this to plan out your day to feel less stressed. Avoid your phone. This will cause distractions and reduce productivity. Exercising or stretching in the morning is a great way to start the day. It warms up your joints and gets you up and running for the rest of the day. Choose healthy breakfast options. This is extremely important to give your body energy for the rest of the day. Most importantly, follow these every day. Make these a habit. Following a routine will help you feel more in control of your tasks and improve your mental health. It might be difficult at first, but it’ll certainly be beneficial in the long term. Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend! - Srujana Poluri

Fats (lipids), like carbs and proteins, are macromolecules. These are made of up three molecules joined together which make a triglyceride. They are one of our sources of energy, but they also provide protection and are an important part of our cells. A lot of the fat that is needed is made by our body. However, some fats are only available in foods. You may have heard of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats, which are both fats that are needed by our body. In the food that we eat, there are a couple different types of fats: unsaturated, saturated, and trans fats. The fats that we want to consume more of are the unsaturated fats. These are fats that are liquid at room temperature such as vegetable oils. Saturated fats are mainly animal fats such as butter. These are usually solid at room temperature. Trans fats are also a bad type of fat that is found in processed foods. The amount of all types of fats can be found on nutrition labels. A misconception is that we do not need fats and that we will remain healthy with a fat-free diet. This is not true because fat actually plays an important role in our body. Fats help your body absorb vitamins, keep your skin healthy, and reduce unhealthy cholesterol. Omega-3, for example, is actually very important for your heart health. Apart from these health benefits, fats also add flavor and they keep us filled for a longer period of time. While it’s unhealthy to eat too much fat, it’s certainly not healthy to eat no fat either. Try finding a good balance where you’re getting the appropriate fats, and not eating too much saturated and trans fats. Some healthy fats include avocados, canola oil, flaxseed, and nuts. Happy Friday! - Srujana Poluri

Happy Friday! It’s finally starting to get colder and we’re getting the beautiful autumn weather. When it comes to food, we generally associate fall with pumpkin spice. Everywhere you go you’ll see pumpkin spice flavored desserts. Here is a healthier pumpkin spice muffin recipe to celebrate fall! Ingredients: ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil* ½ cup maple syrup or honey 2 eggs, at room temperature 1 cup pumpkin purée ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk) 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice or cloves) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon salt 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus more for sprinkling on top Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn't require any grease). In a large bowl, beat the oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs, and beat well. Add the pumpkin purée, milk, pumpkin spice blend, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt. Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with about a tablespoon of oats, followed by a light sprinkle of raw sugar and/or pumpkin spice blend if you’d like. Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. These muffins are delicate until they cool down. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. These muffins taste even better after they have rested for a couple of hours! They’ll keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed). - Srujana Poluri

We’re often told to eat more proteins, but what exactly are proteins? Proteins are a type of macromolecule, just like carbohydrates. Proteins have a slightly different structure and serve a couple different purposes. Like carbohydrates, proteins are a source of energy. However, they’re also involved in transporting materials in and out of cells and throughout our body, repairing tissues and muscles, providing structure to our cells, and protecting our body from harmful microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria. Another major purpose that proteins serve in our body is digestion. Enzymes that break down food are also proteins. These are some of the functions that proteins have at a molecular level. Clearly, proteins play an undeniably important role in our health, so how can we get a sufficient amount of proteins in our diet? Some of the most common high-protein foods are eggs, chicken, milk, beef, and pork. Many people believe that those on a plant-based diet can’t get enough proteins, but this certainly isn’t true. Different types of beans, lentils, tofu, nuts, quinoa, chickpeas, and almonds have an amount of protein comparable to animal based foods. The thing about plant based proteins though is that they are not always complete proteins. This means that it is especially important to get a variety of these foods in order to have all the proteins necessary for life. It’s important to know that being high in protein doesn’t automatically make a food healthy. Some foods that are high in protein are also high in fats. Here are a couple healthy high protein foods: eggs, chia seeds, quinoa, legumes, beans, fish, and milk. For people who eat meat, the healthiest meat is white meat, fish, pork tenderloin, and lean red meat. This is to ensure that the high intake of fat and cholesterol with meat isn’t making it more unhealthy. Proteins are extremely important for us. We need to make sure we’re getting our daily amount of protein. At the same time, we should never focus only on the proteins and disregard any other undesirable aspects of a food that could make it unhealthy. Happy Friday! - Srujana Poluri

There are several apps that help find the nutrition value of foods. Just by scanning the food item, you can find out a lot of information about it: nutritional value, positives and negatives, and healthy alternatives. Here are two such apps that are especially helpful to find healthy snacks. Yuka - Yuka can help you with not only your food, but also your cosmetic products. It gives you a rating and a description of the item. Depending on nutritional quality, additives, and the organic aspect, Yuka will give you a grading of the item that you have chosen. If the rating is considerably low, then it will give alternatives for the given product. Because it uses scientific research and data to determine what is a good and bad product, Yuka serves as a reliable source of information about products. Price - Free ($13.99 for a premium subscription that gives access to a search, offline mode, and unlimited history) Available on App Store and Google Play Store ShopWell - ShopWell is quite similar to Yuka, but it also allows you to personalize your diet plan a little bit. It offers ratings and alternatives based on your diet plan. You can input allergies, dietary goals, and health concerns. It can also personalize your recommendations and products based on your location by offering products that are available at your nearby grocery stores. It offers food alerts for pregnancy, gluten free, low FODMAP, anemia, cholesterol, and diabetes. It also can offer food alerts for various allergies in case you input these allergies. Price - Free Available on App Store and Google Play Store Why download these apps? These apps can help you make better choices with your food. It points out both the good parts and bad parts of any product. You can make informed decisions about the food that you eat so that you can maintain a healthy diet. Because the apps also give healthy alternatives, you can get the same flavor and satisfy a craving while eating healthy at the same time. It’s important to note that these aren’t the only apps available for this, but these are two great options that you can check out. Happy Friday! - Srujana Poluri

The phrase “plant based diet” can be interpreted in a couple ways. Some people consider it to be a vegan diet, while others interpret it as a diet mostly composed of plant foods. Regardless of how you interpret the term “plant based diet,” the idea is to make plant based foods a central part of your meals. Whether you want to completely eliminate animal products or not is your choice. There are various diets that come under the plant-based diet category. Some of these include vegan diet, vegetarian diet, and Mediterranean diet. There are various benefits of a plant based diet. Research has shown that it reduces cholesterol and risk of heart disease. Not only does it reduce risk, but some research shows that it may even help treat Type 2 Diabetes. Higher amounts of plant protein correlate with a lower rate of early death from all causes of deaths. While higher plant protein has proven to be beneficial to health, there hasn’t been any evidence to prove that animal protein is bad for your health. So, there’s no need to completely eliminate animal foods from your diet. The important part is to add in extra plant based foods. Those who eat plant based diets were found to easily reach their daily servings for vegetables and fruits. This has a huge number of benefits for people. Here are a couple resources you can use to learn more about plant-based diets: Plant-Based Diets Beginner's Guide to a Plant-Based Diet: Food List, Meal Plan, Benefits, and More What is a plant-based diet and why should you try it? Here are a couple sources with plant-based recipes: 35 Easy Plant-Based Recipes for Beginners 50 Best Plant-Based Recipes | Vegan Recipes | Recipes, Dinners and Easy Meal Ideas - Srujana Poluri

Carbohydrates, also called carbs, are your body’s primary source of energy along with proteins and fats. These provide fuel for your body to repair and build itself. Because they immediately break down into glucose molecules that your cells can use, carbohydrates are the fastest way to get energy. However, just like any other type of nutrient, too much or too little is harmful for your body. There are 2 general types of carbohydrates in food: simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are digested very quickly. They’re found in refined sugars such as white sugar, processed white flour, but they are also found in fruits and milk where they come along with other vital nutrients unlike in refined foods. Complex carbohydrates digest slower but release a slower and steady stream of sugar into the blood. In general, foods that have complex carbohydrates also have a lot of other good nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Because of the extra nutrients that come along with complex carbs, complex carbohydrates are generally considered better for health compared to simple sugars. However, it is important to understand that while natural sugars are good, refined sugars are the ones that are unhealthy. We always want to try and reduce the amount of processed carbs that we eat. Try to increase your intake of complex carbs and natural sugars. Here are some great foods that are high in carbohydrates, but are still healthy. Quinoa Oats Bananas Buckwheat Sweet Potato Beetroots Oranges Blueberry Grapefruit Apples Kidney Beans Chickpeas Eat healthy!!