Ring in the New Year and the dawn of a new decade with a renewed commitment to take charge of your health! Here are my top 5 picks for healthy eating tips for wellness.

1. Go nuts.  Include a small handful of nuts (about 1 oz) in your diet each day.  These delectable morsels of good health score a perfect 10 when it comes to protecting your health and your waistline.  Those who include a prudent portion of nuts in their diets daily are leaner, get less heart disease, less type 2 diabetes, and live longer. (For more guidance on heart healthy foods, check out Dr. Ann’s Healthy Heart Grocery List)
2. Eat a healthy breakfast each day.  Folks who forgo this early morning feeding get more heart disease, more type 2 diabetes, and weigh more (because they eat more calories over the course of the day).  Click here to see what my 3 most favorite super-healthy breakfasts are.( and what I eat for breakfast on most days)
3. Dump your liquid calories.  Sugar fortified beverages, like sodas, fruit drinks, and sports drinks, offer zero nutritional value, increase your risk of weight gain, obesity and type 2 diabetes and cost you money.  Make cheap and 100% healthy water your beverage of choice.
4. Eat more beans. This economical superstar food comes in over 24 varieties.  Beans are versatile,  satisfying, packed with health- boosting nutrients and have been shown to lower your cholesterol, protect your heart, decrease your risk of some cancers, stabilize your blood glucose and insulin levels and aid in weight loss. And they are delicious too! Strive for a serving daily.
5. Go green.  Never go a day without eating some dark leafy greens.  These vegetable megastars are truly the nutrient Goliath – packing in more nutrition than any other food.  There is simply no more efficient and effective way to reap the profound benefits of nutritional excellence than regularly partaking in this remarkable food group.

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