Healthy Food
“I’m a wellbeing expert – these are my 5 top tips for healthy eating”
When it comes to healthy eating, it doesn’t have to be complicated – despite what social media might tell you.
To feel her best and keep her nutrition on track, our founder Liz sticks to five simple food fundamentals that you can follow, too.
Read on to discover the simple tricks Liz uses to build a nutritious plate of food and maintain a healthy diet.
Liz Earle’s top tips for healthy eating
Prioritise protein
The first of Liz’s foodie fundamentals is to prioritise protein. Getting enough protein, especially in midlife, is key for healthier ageing, according to research.
It’s important for maintaining our muscle mass, brain health, and even our hormones. Plus, protein helps to support our digestive health and immune system, too.
So, how can we get enough? Liz’s hack is to put protein on the plate first and build everything else around it.
The protein could be some fish, eggs, meat or plant-based sources such as tofu or tempeh.
Add in some fibre with plants, such as green beans, broccoli, salad leaves or peppers. Then, healthy fats such as cheeses, seeds, olive oil, or avocado, finishing with whole grains like brown rice or quinoa. Easy peasy.
Go for green veggies
Eat your greens! Ensuring we have lots of plant diversity in our diet helps when it comes to getting plenty of fibre. Some of Liz’s favourites include broccoli, green beans, asparagus, watercress and broad beans. All of these are packed vitamins and minerals, too.
Fibre is really important for our digestive health to keep things ‘moving’. And it can help us to feel fuller for longer, meaning we’re less likely to snack and gain unwanted pounds.
Not only that, but our gut bugs love fibre, so it can improve our gut health too.
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Fermented foods
The next of Liz’s five fundamentals is fermented foods. Regularly enjoying fermented foods is an easy win to support our good gut bugs.
Fermented foods, such as kefir, kimchi and kombucha, are teeming with probiotics that can help restore the natural balance of bacteria in the gut.
Good gut health has the power to impact everything, from our mood and immunity to our weight. If you’re new to fermented foods, start slow with small amounts to give the gut time to adjust.
Liz likes to add kefir to her morning breakfast bowl and enjoys kimchi as a side dish at dinner to give her gut health a boost.
Savoury snacks
Sometimes we need a snack to keep ourselves satiated between meals. Liz always suggests something savoury over sweet.
Sweet snacks, such as a few biscuits or a chocolate bar, are far more likely to spike our blood sugar. We might feel an initial surge of energy, but this will soon result in a slump.
That’s why Liz reaches for savoury snacks when she’s feeling peckish. Liz likes olives, chunks of cheese and nuts for healthy fats to keep blood sugar levels more stable, or carrot sticks dipped into hummus for additional fibre.
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Drink more water
The final of Liz’s food fundamentals is to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water. And yes, this applies in winter, too.
Liz aims for six to eight glasses of water every day as a minimum, sipping these throughout the day. Having a large water bottle when on the go is an easy reminder to keep topped up.
