Food & recipes

Healthy food and nutritious recipes: a guide

Healthy recipes don’t have to be boring or time-consuming. Stock up on these ingredients to help you meet your nutritional goals.

Eating a varied and healthy diet is the key to better health. Make sure you’re getting the vitamins and nutrients your body needs with our guide to the best healthy recipes, superfood combinations and diet advice.

How to eat a healthy diet

Despite what you may think, having a balanced plate and eating healthy recipes isn’t rocket science. “The best way to look after your wellbeing and maintain your weight is to adopt a healthy, balanced lifestyle, combining exercise and nutritious foods without denying yourself the things that you enjoy,” says nutritionist Frida Harju.

In essence, the body needs a range of essential nutrients to function properly. Key foods to include in your everyday diet can be: wholegrains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, fish, lean meats and plant protein sources such as beans, lentils and nuts, as well as small quantities of vegetable and seed oils, such as olive or rapeseed oils.

The benefits of a healthy diet include having more energy, longevity and contributing to a lower body weight. If you’re keen to have a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle, there are some little adjustments you can make.

Avoid processed foods

We tend to reach for fatty and sugary foods when we’re stressed because they trigger reward centres in the brain that make us feel better. What’s more, the stress hormone cortisol encourages weight gain around our waist, which can be very bad for our health. When time is short we also tend to be less mindful of our eating, so there are some simple swaps to make to reduce the amount of processed foods we eat.

For example, a boiled egg makes a great snack; if baking is your jam, substitute butter with banana or sweet potato in cakes and puddings; or switch your chocolate bar for low-fat Greek yoghurt and honey.

Include dietary fibre in your healthy recipes

These days we seem obsessed with our protein intake or how many grams of carbs we’ve had. But what about fibre? If you don’t have enough fibre, waste matter stays for longer than it should in the intestines and oestrogen is reabsorbed into the bloodstream.

“Fibre may also lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes and colorectal cancer,” says nutritionist Lily Soutter. “It helps to maintain a healthy gut, may treat or prevent constipation, and helps lower a high blood cholesterol level or even high blood pressure.

“It may also help people maintain a healthy body weight. Many fibre-rich foods provide a slow release of energy into the bloodstream. This slow release of energy alongside a rich fibre content can help us feel fuller for longer, which may aid weight loss.”

Choose high-fibre snacks such as popcorn, fruit, fruit dipped in nut butter, nuts, seeds, whole grain crackers with hummus or bean-based dips.

Eat more fresh fruit

Fruit and vegetables are a good source of vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamin C and potassium, and are an essential part of healthy eating.

Get enough vitamin D

Vitamin D is different to other vitamins, as it regulates more than 200 different genes. Among other things it helps immunity and regulates hormones such as insulin and manages ovulation. It also crucially helps with calcium absorption – this is very important for bone density.

A diet rich in salmon, cod, canned sardines and tuna all contain good amounts of vitamin D and make excellent additions to healthy recipes. If you’re vegan, mushrooms contain a small amount, but this is still not enough for our daily requirements during the winter months.

Get to grips with unsaturated fats

Fats – get them right and you’ll help protect your heart, lower cholesterol and maintain good cognitive function. Get it wrong, however, and there could be trouble.

We need fat; it’s crucial to a number of bodily functions. It’s vital for our brains because it builds part of the myelin; the fatty sheath surrounding each nerve fibre which allows the brain to carry messages quickly. It also regulates the production of the sex hormones, helps the body use fat-soluble vitamins and keeps skin looking and feeling healthy.

“It’s important to get a wide range of fats,” explains Louise Digby, nutritional therapist at the Nutri Clinic. “Recent research suggests that having a mixture of oils in our diet and healthy recipes is the most beneficial, as too much of any single fat can be detrimental to health.”

Sesame oil

This oriental cupboard staple is bursting with nutrition and will impart a distinct nutty flavour to any dish. “This oil is not only high in cholesterol-lowering mono-unsaturated fatty acids, it also contains vitamins E, K and B6, plus the minerals magnesium, copper, calcium, iron and zinc,” says Louise.

Avocado oil

Avocado oil has similar anti-ageing properties to olive oil, but is slightly lower in saturated fat and milder in flavour. “Refined avocado oil is stable at high temperatures which makes it great for cooking,” explains Louise. “Plus it contains lots of mono-unsaturated fat which can reduce the build up of bad cholesterol.”

Hemp seed oil

This plant has many fans and this relatively recent addition to the health-oil canon is reportedly beneficial for conditions such as eczema, asthma and arthritis. “Hemp seed oil is very high in poly-unsaturated fatty acids, which means it’s only suitable for really low temperature cooking as it will oxidise, but it’s great for drizzling and has a pleasant nutty flavour,” explains Louise.

“Hemp’s fatty acids are mainly omega 6, but it does contain omega 3 too,” she says. There have also been promising results reported by parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Healthy snack recipes

According to research conducted by leading healthy snack brand graze, the nation experienced a snacking crisis during 2020 with eight out of 10 Brits admitting to snacking up to six times a day throughout the lockdown starting in March.

It’s OK to snack, but just make sure your snacks are balanced and satiating if you want to stick to your healthy diet.

This easy paté is a simple recipe from Rachel’s Organic which only takes minutes to whip up! The smoky flavour of the mackerel combines brilliantly with the buttery avocado, crème fraîche and citrus flavours. Grab the ingredients for this smoked mackerel and avocado paté and serve on rice cakes or crackers!

If you’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth, you won’t go wrong with these carrot and apple breakfast muffins from Joe Wicks, the Body Coach! Enjoy them as a little treat for an afternoon pick-me-up.

The best oily fish recipes

Following on from our approval of oily fish as a superfood superstar, we’ve put together a list of three tempting recipes so you can reap the benefits. If they leave you hungry for more, or you’re not a fan of salmon or mackerel, then there are lots of other oily fish you can try, including sardines, trout and herring.

Super salad healthy recipes

If you like your food fast and healthy, these speedy super salads make delicious nutrient-packed dinners.

Seaweed recipes packed with goodness

We know what you’re thinking… but seaweed is a brilliant superfood which you can incorporate into snacks such as popcorn, or heartier dishes like healthy burgers. Take a look at these versatile seaweed recipes yourself!