Imagine this: you come home after a long, stressful day exhausted, with absolutely no desire to cook and barely any ingredients in the fridge. Do you want a healthy dinner on the table? Yes, you do.
On those days, I’m more likely to reach for foods high in carbs and sugar, which give me a quick hit of dopamine but also cause a blood sugar spike, so I like to have a few healthy, easy-to-make dinners in the back of my mind that will fill me up without too much effort.
So I asked a nutrition expert. Christina Burrows To help with this dilemma, I’d been following her on social media for a long time, and knew she’d be able to understand how to find simple, practical foods that fit into the very chaotic, very real lives we all lead.
Her suggestions for quick and healthy dinner options include:
Main dish: Spinach and shrimp omelette
All you need to make this dish are three ingredients, all of which will provide you with the vitamins and calming benefits you need at the end of the day.
- “Eggs are [a great source of] “Eggs have protein,” Burrows says, “and because they have egg yolk, they also provide the healthy fats you need.” Other benefits include eggs adding vitamins A, D, E, and K to your diet and helping you feel full.
- Spinach also has many benefits, including vitamin K, which is great for blood circulation. In the evening, the magnesium in spinach can help you sleep better, says Burrows.
- Shrimp are an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals. A protein-rich dinner not only keeps you fuller for longer, but it also helps boost your metabolism. “Protein is needed to form new tissue,” says nutritionist and biochemist Leticia Carrera. This is important because “at night, our body goes into repair mode.”
Dessert: Handful of fresh or frozen blueberries
While yogurt is another healthy option for after-dinner desserts, Balas recommends blueberries because they have a low glycemic index, which helps prevent blood sugar spikes at night. Blueberries are also high in fiber, vitamin C, and potassium, and their antioxidant content is good for the skin.
To make it easier, the blueberries don’t have to be fresh: “You can freeze them and eat them like a sweet candy,” says Burrows. One study Frozen fruit may contain even more antioxidants, so I now make sure to keep an extra-large bag in my freezer, just to be safe.
This post was originally published on Vogue Spain.
