Whether it's your morning smoothie or afternoon salad you may find it easier to make the same thing every day. Variety can be tough especially when you're trying to get into the habit of healthy eating in the first place. Routines tend to help us solidify habits. However, if you tend to eat the same 'healthy' foods every day, you could be doing more harm than good!
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Change up your meals
One of the main reasons it's so important to have variety in your sources of nutrients is because so many foods, fruits and veggies especially, vary in the types of micronutrients they contain. From vitamins and minerals to phytonutrients different foods contain different varieties of these beneficial nutrients and eating the same things every day will limit the types of nutrients you are taking in.
Green Smoothies
One of the latest health and diet trends have been 'green smoothies' which can be absolutely beneficial but it is important to change up the greens you put into this smoothie. Essentially, all plants contain some toxins that, if consumed in excess, can be harmful to our bodies. One of the most common conditions is the overconsumption of spinach which can lead to kidney stones. The good news is that you don't need to change them up super often, a weekly basis should be fine. Just try to avoid having the same thing in them for weeks on end.
Nutritional deficiencies and the risk of metabolic diseases
When you start eating the same thing day in and day out your are only ingesting the nutrients that are found in those foods, however so many different foods have different nutritional properties and are comprised of different types of nutrients. Having a good balance of foods helps to ensure that you don't run into complications that can come from certain nutritional deficiencies; common complications can be anaemia (from Iron deficiency) and impaired thyroid function (from iodine deficiency). A recent study was done by Oxford Academic and also showed that having a good mix of nutrient-heavy foods can improve metabolic health, meaning lower cholesterol and lower blood presser (decreased odds of hypertension).
What's the point?
The point is folks... change it up! Not only eating the same thing every day potentially risking your health, but it is also extremely boring! Part of the joy of life is having the opportunity to try different things, experiment and be adventurous. Don't settle for the same thing because it's easy, try new things because it's challenging, and you may just stumble upon a new favourite!
Check out our video for more on why diversifying your nutrient sources is so important.
