No one is immune to unhealthy food days. While it’s fine to let loose and indulge every once in a while, poor food choices can leave you feeling pretty crummy. Here are a few foods to eat to help get your body back on track.
1. Walnuts
Walnuts are a tasty and incredibly nutritious treat. These nuts are packed with appetite-reducing omega-3 fatty acids and protein. They are also full of vitamins and minerals—such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium—that will rev up your metabolism.
There are many health benefits to incorporating walnuts into your diet. This snack can help keep your bones strong and healthy, improve heart function, reduce stress, and keep dementia at bay.
2. Fermented Treats
You know how your stomach feels after a day of eating a ton of sugary foods—not good, right? Eating or drinking items that contain high levels of probiotics will help balance out your gut and get you feeling better quickly.
Probiotics can be found in foods and drinks that are fermented, such as pickles, sauerkraut, apple cider vinegar, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir.
The probiotic bacteria in fermented foods help break down excess sugar. They also aid in the absorption of nutrients. Ideally, it’s best to incorporate some kind of fermented item as part of your diet every day, not just when you need them to recover.
3. Dandelion Tea
High-sugar junk food binges can leave you feeling sluggish and bloated the next day. Another way to reverse the effects of a sugar crash is to drink a cup of dandelion tea.
Dandelion tea contains high levels of vitamins A, C, and D. These vitamins can help fight fatigue while improving your circulation, which in turn will help make you feel better faster. This tea is also a strong diuretic that will help your body flush out toxins and eliminate excess fluid.
4. Wild Salmon
If you are suffering from serious inflammation issues after a day of poor food choices, wild salmon can help with your recovery. Oily fish, such as sardines, mackerel, and the almighty salmon, contain high levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is a very beneficial omega-3 fatty acid.
Some doctors believe that the underlying causes of chronic illnesses (such as cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis) can be traced to inflammation. DHA, when it’s a regular part of one’s diet, can help reduce inflammation throughout the entire body, potentially keeping those diseases at bay.
Studies have also shown that DHA helps with brain development and can reduce one’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In a report by the Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, researchers found that:
“Those individuals having the lowest levels of DHA had significantly lower total brain volume as well as significantly greater levels of small strokes in their brains compared to individuals with higher levels of DHA.”
5. Aloe Vera Juice
Aloe vera juice is a great way to hydrate and provide your body with vitamins and minerals after a binge. Nikki Ostrower, founder of NAO Nutrition in New York, encourages people to drink aloe vera juice for its digestive benefits.
“It stimulates the stomach, but will empty it of unhealthy foods, while also replenishing nutrients.”
Aloe vera juice is a perfect way to get things “moving” in your body, since junk foods tend to cause a lot of constipation.
Remember: You are what you eat. If you’re tired of feeling bad all the time, do something about it. You have the power to change your diet and lifestyle, and incorporating foods from this list could be a great place to start.