9 Simple Food Swaps For Lowering Your Daily Calorie Intake

Food swapping is a super simple strategy that allows you to make healthier changes to the way you eat.

By changing one food per day, you can gradually increase the amount of low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods you consume. Try these 9 easy swaps to replace unhealthy foods with more nutritious alternatives.

Use whole grain brown rice instead of refined, white rice.

Brown rice contains far more B vitamins, manganese, phosphorus, iron, and essential fatty acids.

In fact, refined, white rice has to be enriched with B vitamins to replace the naturally occurring nutrients lost by processing. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming brown rice, and the oil it contains, reduced bad LDL cholesterol by 7 percent.

Replace sugar with raw honey.

Raw honey is sweeter than sugar and has a lower glycemic index, and the raw form contains protein rich pollen, active enzymes, and minerals. It is also healthier than heavily processed store-bought honey, which is often mixed with fructose syrup.

Drink green tea instead of coffee.

You still get a caffeine fix, but green tea is full of antioxidant polyphenols, minerals, and vitamin C. Green tea can also help to lower bad cholesterol levels and boost the immune system.

Choose red wine instead of white wine.

Red wine contains resveratrol, which protects us from heart disease and cancer. Resveratrol is produced by grape skins, which are not used to make white wine.

Sip red wine slowly, as most of the resveratrol is absorbed through the mouth, rather than in the digestive system. Red wine also contains more healthy flavenoids, and has a lower glycemic index, than white wine.

Dress your salads with flaxseed oil, made from linseeds, rather than olive oil.

Flaxseed oil contains huge amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which flush bad cholesterol from the body.

Store flaxseed oil in the fridge as bright light and heat degrade its healthy fats. Alternatively, sprinkle crushed flaxseeds on your soups and salads.

Replace sliced celery with grated beetroot in salads and coleslaws.

Celery is high in fiber, but low in nutrients. Beetroot is rich in folate and nitrates, which lower blood pressure, and may even prevent dementia. The intense purple color of beetroot comes from betacyanin, a powerful antioxidant.

Replace croutons in salads and soups with walnuts, or pumpkin seeds.

Nuts and seeds contain healthy polyunsaturated fats that keep cholesterol levels down. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that eating walnuts along with fatty foods reduces the damage that unhealthy fats inflict on arteries.

Eat turkey breast instead of chicken breast.

Turkey meat contains more protein, iron, and selenium, as well as plenty of zinc and B vitamins. Meat from free-range turkeys even contains omega-3 fatty acids. However, you might want to avoid eating turkey just before exercise, as it contains high levels of sleep-inducing tryptophan.

Make porridge in the morning rather than eating a bowl of processed cereal.

Cereals contain refined flours, and lots of sugar and salt. Porridge made from wholegrain oats is full of soluble fiber that is rich in polysaccharides called beta-D-glucans. These are believed to lower bad LDL cholesterol levels.

Oats are also rich in insoluble fiber, and contain high-grade protein that is almost as good for you as soy protein.

By swapping out unhealthy foods and replacing them with more nutritious alternatives, you can change your eating habits gradually. Reduce the amount of unhealthy fat and processed carbs in your diet, and you will both feel and see the difference on the scale.