Food Swap: 7 Healthier Food Choices

Sometimes we are so used to our eating habits that we don’t realise that there are better choices for us out there. Choosing healthier foods is easier than you may think. By changing just a few eating habits you can make a big difference to your diet.

To help you achieve good health, we have compiled easy food swaps that will increase your nutrient intake.

Benefits: Milling and polishing brown rice to white rice removes most of its nutrients. That is why brown rice has higher fibre, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals than white rice.

Tip: If you find it difficult to switch to brown rice, start with mixing white and brown rice. You can add other grains like millet or quinoa.

Benefits: Replacing white bread and other refined grains with whole grains helps lower type 2 diabetes risk. Wholemeal bread also has higher fibre which aids digestion and prevents the risk of bowel cancer.

Tip: Buy bread with the label ‘100% whole grain or wholewheat’. It should be the first ingredient listed in the ingredient label.

Benefits: Compared to mee (egg noodles) or koay teow (flat rice noodles), mihun (rice noodles) is a better choice as it is made with less oil. Unlike mee, it is also gluten-free.

Tip: When ordering a plate of noodles such a curry laksa, specifically ask for rice noodles only.

Benefits: Choose fruit-based drinks if you want to drink something sweet. Carrot juice or calamansi lime drink (limau ais) for example contains beta-carotene and vitamin C respectively. It’s a better choice than sugary beverages with empty calories such as sirap bandung.

Tips: If you have to drink something sweet, order one that contains fresh fruit. Even at a mamak, you can order limau ais.

Benefits: Gula melaka contains more micronutrients such as phosphorus and magnesium as compared to refined sugar. It also has a low glycemic index, which helps diabetes under control. Gula melaka is slowly digested and absorbed, hence causing a slower rise in blood sugar level.

Tips: When cooking food like rendang, use pure gula melaka instead of refined white sugar. It can also be used instead of white sugar for sweetening drinks and dessert.

Benefits: Dark chocolate contains a high percentage of cocoa, which contains flavanols, a plant chemical that may help protects the heart. It also contains serotonin, a natural antidepression which keeps a person happier. 

Tips: Choose dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids to get more flavanols. Keep them at your office and home. Whenever you crave for something sweet, eat that instead.