Specific Ways to De-Junk Your Diet

By Alexis Mills

The stereotypical American diet is full of overly processed foods like cheeseburgers, pizza, soda, cookies, and sweets. While not everyone's diet reflects that, there are still ways that we can eat healthier and get the junk out of our diet and support a healthy lifestyle. See how to make some of the below ways to make some of your food choices healthier.

Salad Dressing

The dressing you put on your salads is a sneaky way that extra sodium, sugar, or other ingredients you can't even pronounce get into your diet. Be more mindful of the salad dressing that you pick out at the store and check the nutritional facts to know exactly what's in the food you're buying. You could also try to make your salad dressing at home or cut back on how much dressing you put on your greens.

Cheese

Although cheese is healthy, it is being overconsumed in many people's diets, which creates negative health issues. It is added as a topping to countless dishes to make them tastier and add extra flavor. Try to cut it out of some of your meals in which it is not necessary to make a dish. Instead, when you do eat cheese, savor it and enjoy it in moderation.

Dessert Foods

Sweets and treats such as cookies, cake, brownies, doughnuts, and pastries are full of calories, sugar, and sodium. Making these foods a normal part of your life more than twice a week, it is time to cut down. Eat these foods in smaller portions and your health will thank you. For a healthier alternative, try desserts such as berries and whipped cream for a lower calorie treat to soothe your sweet tooth.

Carb-Overload

Foods like pizza, bread and pasta are all need to be consumed in moderation. Instead of building your meals around a carb such as pasta, build them around larger portions of vegetables or swap them for healthier alternatives. Getting your carb intake can be done by eating more veggies and smaller portions of bread or pasta. A plant-based diet filled with vegetables will serve your body much better with the nutrients it needs.

Sodas and Fruit Drinks

Drinking soda and fruit drinks are loaded with added sugars and play as empty calories into your diet. Cutting out soda is one of the simplest ways to lose weight and cut back on excess sugar. Next time you have a fruit drink, make sure you know what is in it because most aren't made with actual fruit. Instead of soda you can swap out flavored sparkling water for a healthier alternative. For fruit juice, swap out juice that is made purely from fruit and maybe add some vegetables for added nutrients.

Overall, when you are grocery shopping and buying foods, make sure to check the nutritional facts on everything. It is time-consuming at first, but once you get down how to do it and what you are looking for, it will be much easier. Plus, your health and wellness will thank you for it. Remember, you are what you eat.

To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Flowery Branch, Ga.