6 Healthy Food Trends For 2017

Every new year comes with a new health food trend and for 2017, we’ve got some new contenders to shout about on the Sun & Sand Sports Blog. It’s easy to make those New Year’s Resolutions and stick to them for a week or two, but keeping fit and healthy should be a lifestyle, an ongoing habit, which is why we want to share some food ideas that can be adopted into your daily routine. The health food trends 2017 are as follows:

1. Sea vegetables

There’s a lot of vegetarian and vegan cooking trending at the moment, so it’s always a good idea to have new ideas to try out, to keep your meals varied. 2017 is expecting to see a lot more of the sea vegetable variety, including dulse, also known as seaweed, and other vegetables used in making sushi. Nori is used a lot in Japanese cooking – it’s the seaweed sheet used to hold everything together. These seaweed sheets are really versatile and can be eaten as shards like crisps, or added to noodle dishes and salads – particularly as a substitute for salt.

2. Pickles and ferments

The great thing about pickles and fermented foods is the zero-waste factor – you can just turn the extras into pickles and save them for later because they will last so much longer. A few favourites for 2017 are kimchee, miso and saukeraut – all packed with probiotics which are those helpful little bacteria found in the gut, keeping the gut nice and healthy.

3. Homemade healthy snacks

We pack a lot into our days – work, sports, socialising – so it’s hard to keep track of a healthy eating routine when we’re always out and about. So it’s always good to be prepared for when hunger strikes, and have a few healthy snacks on hand. Think low sugar and high protein when you make your snacks with options like carrot and hummus roll-ups, harissa sweet potato wedges, frozen fruit sticks, and pitta pockets. The key is to keep it simple and keep it healthy.

4. Vegetable spin-offs

2016 championed the ‘zoodle’ – the zucchini noodle option as a replacement for starchy pasta. Well, there are plenty of other vegetable spin-offs, including portobello mushroom buns for burgers and slices of baked sweet potato in place of bread. It’s all about being creative with food and thinking of an alternative option that is both healthy and delicious to pair with the meal you are eating.

5. Salt-free snacks

There’s  a lot of salt in the snacks that we eat, and often it’s where you would least expect it! On average you should consume about  230mg of salt or less daily, (and even less if on heart-healthy diet). A great way to decrease the salt intake is by substituting salt with other spices including cumin, paprika, oregano, clove – or whatever tickles your tastebuds! We add salt to food to bring out the flavour, but more often than not we add too much, which actually disguises the natural flavour of the food – so be a little adventurous and try a different spice next time you cook or prepare a snack.

6. Seeds

Sunflower, flax, chia, sesame – there are so many seeds to choose from, and they are great to snack on throughout the day because they can help to boost immunity as well as promoting satiety – which can keep you fuller for longer, and stop you from choosing the unhealthy snack option. Seeds contain plant-based compounds called phytonutrients, which can have really great antioxidant benefits for overall wellbeing. And there’s a new seed of the moment to try out – watermelon!

Try adding one or two additions of these health food trends 2017 to your daily routine, to see how easy it is to incorporate healthy options into your diet. For updates on food trends, fitness tips and everything related to sport, sign up to the Sun & Sand Sports newsletter below. See what’s New In at sssports.com to get kitted out for next session and keep the training on track for 2017.

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