With the New Year just getting started, you’re probably eager to crack on with your New Year’s resolutions and clean up your diet or drop those pounds. However, if you’re like most people, you may have the enthusiasm but you’re probably lacking a solid plan. Without a solid plan, you’re much less likely to achieve your New Year’s resolutions and much more likely to fall back into bad habits.
In this article I’m going to be providing you with that solid plan and instead of focusing on the general goal of eating healthy or losing weight, I’m going to be explaining how the small but specific change of adding walnuts to your diet can make you healthier and support your weight loss efforts.
Why Walnuts?
Walnuts are one of the best sources of healthy fats around and also contain generous amounts of the essential nutrients copper and manganese. This means they can benefit your health in the following ways:
- Boosting your mental health
- Fighting cancer
- Keeping your eyes healthy
- Minimizing inflammation in the body’s cells
- Strengthening your heart
- Supporting healthy skin
Foods To Substitute For Walnuts
Walnuts are extremely filling and eating a small amount of these beneficial nuts between meals can prevent hunger and boost your energy levels. This means they’re a perfect alternative for processed snacks which often increase your hunger levels and reduce your overall energy. Therefore, if you currently eat lots of the foods listed below, substitute them for walnuts and start benefiting from all their nutritional goodness this New Year:
- Chips
- Crackers
- Muffins
- Popcorn
Serving Suggestions For Walnuts
Walnuts have a satisfying, filling flavor and are a perfect snack on their own. However, if you want to diversify the flavor and mix up the way you enjoy walnuts, give the serving suggestions below a try:
- Butter Fried Chicken & Walnuts: Place a skillet on the hob on a medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter and let it melt. While the butter is melting, slice ¼ cup of walnuts and then add them to the skillet along with a chicken breast. Fry the chicken breast for 5 minutes on each side and let the walnuts fry continuously for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take the skillet off the hob, turn off the heat, transfer the butter fried chicken and walnuts to a plate and enjoy a protein packed, walnut inspired meal.
- Chocolate Coated Walnuts: Place ½ oz. of dark chocolate into a microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave then add 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Dip four walnuts into the dark chocolate mixture, coat them fully, then place them on a baking sheet and let them cool in the refrigerator for 2 hours. After 2 hours, place the chocolate coated walnuts in a sealable plastic food back and enjoy a sweet, crunchy treat.
- Chopped Walnut Salad: Slice ¼ cup of walnuts and combine them with your favorite salad ingredients to add a crunchy twist to your favorite salad.
Summary
As you can see, walnuts are a powerful, nutrient packed food and one that you should definitely be eating regularly this New Year. By making sure that they’re part of your diet, you’ll have a solid nutritional foundation to build upon and therefore you’ll be much more likely to eat healthy, lose weight and achieve your New Year’s resolutions. So ditch the processed snacks, stock up on walnuts and kick start your healthiest New Year ever.