Nutrition, Health & Wholefood Predictions for 2018

Oh food! How we love you and now research is showing us that not only can we eat and enjoy, but also how we can eat and benefit. From balancing hormones to healing your gut, improving energy and brain power, and even protecting us from depression.(1)

Lets have a look at some of Michele Chevalley Hedge’s nutritional researched predictions for 2018.

Bowl Foods

Poke, homemade Acia, scrambled brekky, or the Korean Bibimbap… bowl foods are here to stay. These one utensil wonders are often nutrient dense and mean no belly puffing bread. Stock up on some wide, flat bowls rather than small, deep bowls, as it makes it easier to toss around the yum inside the bowl.

Powders of Wonder.

I always say “food first”, but there is a time and a place for superfood powders. In a time-poor era, sometimes adding easy to digest powders are a good source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. They can often be added to smoothies, soups or baking. Some of the newer superfood powders include pea protein powders, beetroot, spirulina, kakadu plum, and turmeric.  

Healthy Gluten Free

Gluten/wheat sensitivity is here to stay.  It does not mean people are coeliac, it means the current breads and manufactured foods we are eating are often full of highly processed wheat and grains.  These are not the same type of grains our grandparents used to eat and they are causing tummy bloat, constipation and gut pain in many people. Embrace the emerging variety of healthy gluten-free food. Previously, Bread products and the like were often marketed as gluten-free but full of starches, tapioca, sugar and strange, unpronounceable ingredients. Food suppliers know this trend is not going away and they are shifting to healthier ingredients that are closer to nature.

Season the Taste Buds

Giving your brain the message that food is tasty is the key to sustainable nutritional changes. Feeling like you’re in love with the food you eat and making your taste buds dance are the number one secrets for an abundance of clean protein and vegetables this year. Leading the seasoning show this year will be Australian natives like lemon myrtle, akudjura (ground bush tomato), mountain pepper leaf or pepper berry, ground wattleseed. And of course, there are the old faithfuls – chili, garlic, and ginger.  

Food Combining Comeback

This is not about restricting foods, it is about minimising foods that make your digestion feel poorly. Food combining principals come in many different versions but essentially they are being mindful about the composition of your plate and getting rid of things that can make you bloat, gas, or get heartburn. When your digestion is compromised so is your energy, productivity, and glow.

Hormone Health

Weight, mood, and energy are the three top nutritional complaints that people wish to improve. Most people do not realise their issues of kilo creep, anxiety, and exhaustion can be coming from their hormones being out of whack. Insulin, cortisol, thyroid, serotonin, oestrogen excess may be the sneaky culprits of your issues. Modern medicine has often looked at prescription drugs for the rebalancing of male and female hormones, But now nutritional medicine is looking at fixing them with your fork. Quitting sugar was big, healing your gut was big last year, and healthy hormones resets will be trending in 2018.

“Medicinal” mushrooms.  

Move over kale, there is a new queen of nutrients in town. Shiitake, oyster, chug, reishi and lion’s mane will become mainstream in healthy food products this year. While they are nutrient-rich, especially for vegans and vegetarian, they are particularly known for their immune building properties. We will see them in coffees, teas, baking and cooking.