Nutrition: 10 Foods You Should Eat More Of

Most of us aren’t consistently getting enough of the nutrients that we need, but meeting our daily recommended goal for nutrients is easier than you think. Read on to find out how these common foods can make a big difference in your diet.

1. Low-Fat Milk

An eight-ounce glass of low-fat milk provides 1/3 of your daily goal for bone-building vitamin D. If you’re not a fan of drinking milk, you can add it to smoothies, oatmeal, or whole-grain cereal.

2. Nuts

Almonds and cashews have plenty of heart-healthy fats and magnesium — just an ounce contains 20 percent of the daily recommended goal. Snack on nuts in trail mixes, make homemade nut butter, or add crunch to salads.

3. Baked Potato

Potassium is needed for proper growth and heart health and is found in a wide variety of foods, but many still fail to meet the target of 4,700 milligrams per day. Just one baked potato gives you more than 2,000 milligrams.

4. Yogurt

One cup of low-fat yogurt contains an average of 30 to 40 percent of your daily calcium needs, along with a dose of probiotics that will please your tummy.

5. Salmon

Omega-3 fats help improve your brain health, immunity, circulation, vision, and skin. The best way to get it is to eat more fatty fish like salmon. A 3-ounce portion of cooked salmon contains more than 4,000 milligrams — way more than the recommended value of 1,100 to 1,600 milligrams per day.

6. Pears

Fiber promotes digestive health and helps lower cholesterol. With a whopping 6 grams of fiber each, pears truly have a high-fiber prowess.

7. Sunflower Seeds

Vitamin E is well-known to be a potent cell-protecting antioxidant that can be found in spinach, mangoes, nuts, and peanut butter. But just one ounce of sunflower seeds can give you a substantial 37 percent of your recommended daily goal.

8. Bell Peppers

Citrus gets most of the press for high doses of vitamin C, but bell peppers are actually an even better source — just one medium red bell pepper gives you more than 250 percent of your daily requirement.

9. Brussels Sprouts

Folate is known to prevent neural tube defects in pregnant women and is also vital for proper cell function. A cup of cooked Brussels sprouts will give you 40 percent of your daily folate needs.

10. Canned Beans

Iron is essential as it facilitates oxygen delivery throughout the body. Adolescent and premenopausal women especially need to make extra efforts to eat more iron-rich foods as they tend to be more at risk of becoming iron-deficient. While meat — specifically red meat and dark meat poultry — is the obvious food choice for iron, plant-based sources should not be written off: one cup of beans provides nearly 45 percent of your daily goal.

Source: Food Network