This week the small change I’m going to suggest is adding a sprinkle of seeds to one meal a day, this can be a single type of seed or a mix, for example chia, pumpkin and sesame, they will all give your meal a nutritional boost by providing omega-3 fatty acids, fibre and numerous vitamins and minerals (Alasalvar et al., 2021), for more information on their benefits see my previous post back in November 2023.
Probably the easiest way to incorporate seeds into your diet is at breakfast as they make the perfect accompaniment to most cereals, yoghurt and eggs in any form, they can enhance the taste and texture of most food. If you dislike the taste, they can become easily disguised by mixing well into your food and if you need to convince children, make it a fun activity by encouraging them to add their own, make pretty toppings as shown below or by mixing them with ice cream sprinkles adding less and less as they become more accustomed to the seed taste.
Using the principles discussed last week about forming habits, you could encourage your use of seeds by storing your seeds in a container which is easily accessible and kept in multiple locations for example your home, workplace and the car. You could use the seeds as a way of giving up less healthy habits for example using them as a substitute for salt and sugar addition.
This is another small change which requires minimal effort and cost but could potentially result in significant long term health benefits, give it a try.
Pictures from Porridge by Anni Kravi
References
Alasalvar, C., Chang, S. K., Bolling, B., Oh, W. Y., & Shahidi, F. (2021). Specialty seeds: Nutrients, bioactives, bioavailability, and health benefits: A comprehensive review. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf, 20(3), 2382-2427. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12730
MLT Nutrition 