Think about creative ways you can add more plant-based foods into your meals. How many of you have set a resolution to eat healthier by adding another vegetable side or salad to your meal. Unfortunately, those traditional changes often lead to boredom and failed resolutions. Instead, consider where you can make flavorful additions or swaps within a recipe. Rather than a pasta-based Pad Thai, try this one made with Zoodles. When you swap vegetables in place of pasta you’re getting a boost of antioxidants and cutting back on some carbs. The nuts and eggs are also quality sources of protein. You don’t have to go completely meatless to enjoy plant-based eating packed with protein. Choosing fish or seafood at least twice a week offers many wellness benefits. Shrimp is quick to cook and versatile.

Oats are high in soluble fiber that may help reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol – two components that impact the risk of heart disease. There are also ties between oats and weight management, possibly due to the role its beta-glucan plays in slowing digestion, increasing satiety, and suppressing appetite. Beta-glucan even helps bind and remove cholesterol from the body. Whole oats contain antioxidants which reduce the damage from chronic inflammation associated with health concerns like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Go beyond hot oatmeal or overnight oats for breakfast. Try incorporating more of them into your diet in less traditional ways. Added to ground meat in place of breadcrumbs makes for a moist meatball. Double the recipe and save half for another meal. Meatballs freeze well and are great in a variety of recipes!

If you’re trying to shift to a more plant-based diet, adding vegetables is an important part. Some types are versatile and can be incorporated by adding to or swapping ingredients. A vegetable like zucchini is something that can be diced and added to casseroles, thinly sliced like lasagna noodles, or spiralized to replace spaghetti. It can also be cut in half and have seeds scooped out to fill with a variety of flavors. With its mild flavor, zucchini is an easy addition for even the pickiest of eaters. Start with some traditional items like chicken parm and tacos, then pump up the plant-based power by stuffing their comforting flavors into a “zucchini boat”.

It’s never too late to live healthier! Setting up intentions to eat more plant-based foods, including fruits and vegetables, will help you with better wellness. Plant-based foods typically contain more fiber which helps to reduce blood pressure, regulate appetite, benefit gut health, and improve blood sugar management. Beyond benefits from the fiber, there are also many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients in these foods that improve immunity and protect against disease. Finding delicious ways to include more fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods is one intention you won’t regret. Get creative with how you increase your servings of fruits and veggies. Instead of traditional pizza, make personal-sized pizzas using portobello mushrooms in place of the crust. Top them with sauce, chopped veggies, low-fat cheese, or any other favorite pizza toppings!

If you’re living with Diabetes or pre-diabetes, then you may have heard about the Glycemic Index (GI). For those unfamiliar, GI is a scale giving values to foods based upon how quickly and how high each food increases blood glucose levels. Lower GI value foods tend to release glucose slowly and steadily. Higher GI value foods release glucose rapidly. People with diabetes may have steadier glucose control by eating less high GI foods and more lower GI foods.

• Low GI (55 or less):
Most fruits and vegetables, beans, minimally processed grains, pasta, low-fat dairy foods, and nuts.
• Moderate GI (56-69):
White and sweet potatoes, corn, white rice, couscous, some whole grain cereals
• High GI (70+):
White bread, rice cakes, most crackers, bagels, most sweetened baked goods, most packaged cereals.