How to Make Healthy Choices

Living a healthy lifestyle is all about making choices. You choose to be active. You choose to eat vegetables. You choose to limit your sugar intake. Sometimes it can be tough to make the right choice or know what the right choice even is. Here you can find some healthy substitutes for current choices you might be making!

High-Sodium Foods

There is not enough evidence to establish a Recommended Dietary Allowance for sodium, however, there is an adequate intake. The AI for men and women older than 14 years is 1,500 mg per day and should not exceed 2,300 mg per day. Unfortunately, the American diet makes it easy to overconsume sodium resulting in high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a risk factor for Cardiovascular Disease. The average American’s daily sodium intake is 3,400 mg.

Instead of	Try this
Seasoning salts	Herbs and salt-free seasoning
Adding table salt to food	Fresh herbs, spices, onion, garlic
Lunch meat	Low-sodium lunch meat, home-cooked meat with no added salt
Regular soups and broth	Low-sodium soups and broth
Canned beans	Unsalted or low-sodium canned beans
Soy sauce	Coconut aminos, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, herbs
Salted nuts	Unsalted nuts

High-Sugar Foods

Sugar is readily available in the American diet. The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugar to no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance. That is no more than 6 teaspoons, 25 grams, or 100 calories for women and 9 teaspoons, 36 grams, or 150 calories for men. Foods high in sugar may lead to unwanted weight gain, unstable blood sugars, and dental cavities.

Instead of	Try this
Soda or lemonade	Water, Zevia, or unsweetened tea
Flavored coffee beverages	Sugar-free flavored coffee beverages
Honey, syrup, or sugar	Cinnamon, vanilla or almond extract, stevia
Flavored yogurt	Plain yogurt with fresh fruit
Sugar added to recipes	Stevia, Splenda, or use less than what the recipe calls for

Grains

Grains are an important part of a balanced diet. It is important to make at least half of your grains whole. Grains are a good source of vitamins and minerals, and when whole, they are packed with fiber.

Instead of	Try this
White flour	½ white, ½ wheat, or all wheat flour
White rice	Brown rice, wild rice, quinoa
White pasta	Whole wheat pasta
Instant oatmeal packets	Whole oats, steel cut oats

Other Substitutes

Instead of	Try This
Potato chips	Bakes chips, veggie chips, whole wheat crackers
Dried fruit and juice	Fresh whole fruit
Iceberg lettuce	Dark leafy greens
Croutons and bacon bits on salads	Nuts, fruits, and seeds on salads
Creamy salad dressing	Olive oil-based vinaigrettes