Shifts and Swaps to Make for a Healthier Diet

Is improving the quality of your dietary pattern on your short list for resolutions this January? Rather than focusing on adding or removing foods from your diet, try thinking in terms of shifts or swaps. Which less desirable foods could be replaced by healthier choices you enjoy? Here are some suggestions:

Fats

Replace the foods highest in saturated fatty acids—meat, butter, full-fat dairy, and tropical oils (coconut and palm)—with foods higher in unsaturated fatty acids, like fish (especially fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel); nuts and seeds; and non-tropical plant oils like canola or soybean. It’s important to exchange sources of saturated fatty acids with unsaturated fatty acids rather than with refined carbohydrates.

Protein Sources

Shift sources of protein-rich foods from red and meats (beef, pork, lamb, and deli meats) to plant sources like beans, lentils, soy, nuts, and seeds; fish/seafood; fat-free and low-fat dairy products; and some eggs and poultry. Doing so will result in a dietary pattern lower in saturated fatty acids and higher in health-promoting unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, and phytochemicals.

Processing Level

Higher intake of ultraprocessed foods is associated with poor health outcomes. Not all processed foods are ultraprocessed. When choosing packaged foods, compare labels and choose the brand with the lowest sodium, added sugars, and refined flour (sometimes labeled as white or wheat flour). You don’t have to give up all ultraprocessed foods, just shift away from them as often as you can and reduce your portion size.

Grains

Swap some (or all) refined-grain foods for whole-grain versions. Research has found diets high in refined carbohydrates (refined grains and sugars) are associated with higher risk for cardiovascular disease, but dietary patterns high in naturally carbohydrate-rich foods like whole grains are not. Additionally, the fiber in whole grains can help you feel full longer, slow the rise of blood sugar, and help keep you regular. It also feeds your beneficial gut microbes. 

The best way to tell if a food is made with whole grains is to check the ingredient list for the word “whole.”  It is also a healthy choice to replace some refined grains with vegetables, fruits, legumes and other plant foods.

Beverages

Swap sugar-sweetened beverages for water and other unsweetened beverages. Intake of sugary drinks like carbonated beverages, sports drinks, energy drinks, lemonade, sweet tea, fruit punch, and sweetened coffee drinks, is associated with higher risk of a whole host of health problems, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Water, plain tea and coffee (hot or cold), seltzers, and flavored sparkling waters are good choices. Low-fat or fat-free milk and unsweetened soymilk can support fluid intake while helping us reach our dietary intake recommendations for calcium and vitamin D.

Beverages sweetened with artificial sweeteners or non-caloric sugar substitutes (like stevia) are better for health than sugar-sweetened beverages, but it is best to use these low- and no-calorie sweetened beverages as a step along the path to weaning oneself off sweet drinks.

Seasoning

Swap salt for herbs and spices. If you have (or want to avoid) high blood pressure, limiting your intake of sodium is key. The main source of sodium in the diet is salt.

When buying packaged foods, look for low- or reduced-sodium options, and compare Nutrition Facts labels to find the brand with the fewest milligrams of sodium. When cooking at home, use herbs (like basil and oregano), spices (like pepper and curry powder), and aromatics (onion and garlic) to help cut the amount of salt you need to make food flavorful.

Shift Your Thinking

Eating should be about nourishment and enjoyment, not sacrifice and denial. Consider whether shifts in thinking like the following might be helpful to you:

• Instead of thinking of a diet in terms of which foods you will avoid eating, focus on creating an overall healthy dietary pattern that includes a wide range of minimally processed foods from different food groups.
• Instead of thinking of diet in terms of body weight, think of dietary intake as a key to overall health.
• Instead of mainly focusing on calories, make healthy food and beverage choices, eat when you are truly hungry, and stop before you are overly full.
• Instead of relying on nutrient supplements and looking for superfoods, get your nutrients from whole and minimally processed foods.
• Instead of grouping foods by their main components (fat, carbs, protein), remember that each food as a package of different nutrients (including protein, fat, carbs, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals) and choose the healthiest “packages.”

To facilitate a real change in your diet, you need to make swaps that work for you. If you don’t like the food, can’t get it easily, or don’t have the time or know-how to prepare it, the switch won’t work for you.

Remember, dietary changes don’t have to be all or nothing! For example, even though red meat is not the best choice, you don’t have to avoid it altogether if it’s a food you enjoy—just replace it with another option sometimes or cut your portion size and add some plant-based protein (like beans) to make up the difference. And you don’t have to cut out all refined carbs—start by switching at least half of them to whole grain options.

Making substitutions like these even some of the time will help you get the nutrients you need (like fiber and potassium), less of the nutrients you may be getting too much of (like sodium and added sugars), and a better balance of unsaturated to saturated fat.

This article originally appeared in the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, published each month by the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.