Wellness Week Challenge – Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

Try cooking a new recipe to help add more variety to your diet

What to do?

Your aim is to try and include a new meal in your day – whether this be a new breakfast, lunch or dinner choice. Try a recipe you haven't had before, ideally with some foods you don't often have – so a new type of veg or grain for example.

If you need inspiration, check out the recipe section of our Blog or the Popular Recipes section in the app (tap on 'My Meals' > 'Nutracheck Meals' or 'BBC Good Food').

Why do it?

We all tend to be creatures of habit, which means we stick to eating the same type of foods and meals on rotation. Now there's nothing wrong with that, if what you usually have is super nutritious – but there is definitely merit in varying our diet as much as possible.

With different foods come different nutrients, so eating a variety ensures we're getting a good nutritional mix of what we need to stay healthy. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, different colours mean different nutrients – for example, red foods tend to be high in vitamin C and dark green foods tend to be a good source of vitamin K. As well as this, research suggests that eating a wider variety of fruits and vegetables is important for our gut health, as this can help to increase the diversity of our gut microbiome. The more varieties of healthy gut bacteria we have, the better our overall health.

Step out of your comfort zone today and give a new healthy recipe a try – your body will thank you for it!