Recently, over 12,000 dietitian nutritionists gathered in Chicago for the annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Exhibition where many new and innovative healthy foods were featured. Here are some favorites.
18 Brand-New Healthy Foods That Are Totally Worth the Hype
Updated on Mar. 30, 2022
Biena Chickpea Snacks
Chickpeas are super healthy, which is why you’ll want to check out Biena’s new dark chocolate-covered roasted chickpeas. These are the ultimate indulgent yet low-sugar snack made with real fair-trade certified chocolate and caramel. There are also Biena’s signature sea salt roasted chickpeas. These snack servings of 35 chickpeas for 130 calories, and a good source of protein and fiber. Satisfy your “must-have-it-now” chocolate cravings and still truly feel good about yourself.
Chosen Foods Chipotle Ranch Salad Dressing
Salads are a great choice—unless you make these salad mistakes. If you’re looking for a healthier salad dressing, here’s a creamy one with a kick, Chipotle Ranch: Chosen Foods created a condiment with 100 percent pure avocado oil and no preservatives. Dress up your greens with a lower sugar, gluten-free option. Other flavors include orange balsamic and lemon garlic.
Dave’s Killer Bread
Want some science-backed reasons to eat bread? Here are seven. The newest variety from Dave’s delicious bread line is a thin-sliced white bread. Packed with fiber and protein from quinoa, spelt, rye, millet and barley, it looks and tastes like white bread. Other tasty flavors from Dave’s Killer Bread include 21-grain, honey oats and flax, 100 percent whole wheat and powerseed.
Daiya Cutting Board Collection Shreds
These dairy, soy and gluten-free Cheeze shreds have a new and improved recipe. Daiya Cheeze includes a proprietary signature blend of tapioca, pea protein, and vegetable oils to give its cheese-alternative the same melt, stretch, taste, and aroma as real cheese. Daiya even nailed down the intricate science behind getting a plant-based cheese to age like a dairy-based cheese, all while keeping its products dairy, gluten, and soy-free. Flavors include pepper jack, cheddar, and mozzarella. Here are some vegan comfort recipes you should know about.
Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake
It’s the right time of year to crave pumpkin, and reach for the Daiya: This rich, creamy and irresistible Cheezecake is a guilt-free indulgence infused with hints of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Celebrate the season with pure plant-based joy. Free of dairy, soy and gluten. Other flavors available year-round include key lime, strawberry, chocolate and New York Cheezecake.
Daiya Greek Yogurt Alternatives
In need of a dairy-free yogurt? Daiya’s vanilla and plain flavors are brand new to the food market in the last five months. Made with coconut cream, and featuring six to nine grams of plant-based protein per serving, these new flavors will join an existing assortment of real fruit-filled flavors (Peach, Black Cherry, Strawberry and Blueberry). The creamy and rich texture is satisfying, and these yogurt alternatives are an excellent source of calcium, Vitamin D and B12.
Cali’Flour Foods Pizza Crusts
Everyone’s looking for ways to squeeze more veggies into their diet, and here’s a list of nutritious and filling veggies to add to your meals. Here’s another clever solution: Cali’flour Foods crusts are, yes, cauliflower. They’re made using fresh, straight-from-the-farm ingredients and are a fully-baked product from the company’s oven to the customer’s. Use these tasty crusts for more than just pizza—they work for sandwiches, quiche, taco shells, and even lasagna. All crusts are gluten-free and low in carbohydrate. Varieties include cauliflower-based, red pepper-based, and a new plant-base that is vegan and dairy-free.
Enjoy Life Chocolate Snack Pack
Who wouldn’t want a handful of chocolate chips as a snack? Better yet—a portion-controlled snack of chocolate chips to take on the go. Enjoy Life products are always free of the top eight allergens. Available in mini chips and dark chocolate morsels, these snack packs provide the perfect fix to satisfy all chocolate cravings—and reap these great health benefits of chocolate.
Pop IQ Popped Sorghum
Move over, popcorn! There’s a new snack in town. Sorghum is an old-school grain grown in the USA in a sustainable way. A sorghum crop uses half of the water of some other grains. Naturally high in minerals and the phytochemicals phenolic acids, sterols and anthocyanins, sorghum is a nutritious snack that tastes delicious. Pop IQ offers flavors such as cheddar cheese, sea salt and pepper, Tuscany blend, and sweet kettle. Perfect healthy snacks for kids.
Muuna Cottage Cheese
“Ridiculously creamy” is the slogan, and it is spot on. Muuna cottage cheese is a delicious and convenient way to eat protein and calcium any time of the day. Free of artificial sweeteners, the portion controlled servings are mixed with fresh fruit—mango, strawberry, blueberry, peach or pineapple.
Rhythm Superfoods Beet Chips
Veggie chips are all the rage—think of them as a healthier version of potato chips with less fat, more fiber and antioxidants. These beet chips caught my eye, as I love beets in any form. Beets are packed with nutrients and health benefits. You’ll find the healthy snacks in ‘naked,’ sea salt and cinnamon-coconut flavors. Rhythm Superfoods also offers kale chips in traditional, ranch or zesty nacho flavors. Or, try roasted kale leaves in chili lime, roasted garlic and onion, smoky bacon or sea salt and vinegar varieties.
Starkist Selects EVOO
Premium skinless, boneless, and 100 percent wild-caught pink salmon packed in extra virgin olive oil for a savory taste ready for your next recipe. Packed in a no-drain, flavor fresh pouch, it’s easy to take this natural source of omega-3’s anywhere and eat anytime. Enjoy on a salad, in a sandwich, on crackers, or right from the pouch. Other flavors include yellowfin tuna and yellowfin tuna with sun-dried tomatoes.
Starkist Bold Flavors
Did you know that spicy food can boost your metabolism? That’s even more reason to get a kick with your omega-3-rich tuna: Try out Sriracha or Tapatio hot sauce and lime flavored tuna pouches from Starkist. Wild-caught, dolphin-safe tuna containing over 100 mg DHA/EPA omega-3 fatty acids, 14-plus grams of protein, and less than 90 calories. Perfect for an afternoon protein-packed healthy snack, or part of a well-balanced lunch.
Late July Corn Dippers
A healthier chip? Yes, please! These incredibly crispy and flaky Organic Cantina Dippers (aka the ‘no drip chip’) feature an ideal shape perfect dipping. Available with blue or white organic corn, Dippers are the latest offering from the number-one organic tortilla chip brand in America. Both the white and blue corn varieties are organic, non-gmo, gluten-free and have no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.
Might Nut Honey Powdered Peanut Butter
You may not have heard of powdered peanut butter, but it’s a protein-boosting trick that nutritionists swear by. Mighty Nut Honey powdered peanut butter is great for shakes, as a spread, or for baking. And, it contains 90 percent less fat than traditional peanut butter. Peanut Butter & Co. uses only American grown peanuts, too.
Drink Maple
Heard of maple water? It’s actually the early spring sap directly from the maple tree. It’s incredibly nutritious—containing over 46 naturally occurring polyphenols, antioxidants, prebiotics, minerals and electrolytes. It’s a sustainable way to literally tap into the tree extracting the water and improving the tree’s longevity in the process. And, less than half the sugar of coconut water in this one-ingredient beverage.
Happy Bars
If you’re unaware of what FODMAP is all about, here’s everything you didn’t know to ask. Basically it’s a diet that avoids difficult-to-digest carbs which can lead to gas, bloating, diarrhea and other symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a condition that impacts the lives of more than 40 million Americans. A diet low in FODMAPs is an effective treatment for IBS. These certified low-FODMAP energy bars are rich in fiber, protein and healthy fats derived from nuts, and were created by surgeon and researcher, Rachel Pauls, MD, after a long search for a great tasting, low-FODMAP energy bar. When her search hit a deadend, she created her own. The result is Happy Bars, delectable low-FODMAP healthy snacks.
Simple Mills Gluten-Free Baking Mixes
Finding tasty gluten-free baking mixes that actually make an attractive product is challenging. Simple Mills sells a huge line of GF mixes for muffins, cakes, cookies, pizza dough, and waffles. Made with almond flour, coconut flour, and arrowroot, the muffins are delicious in pumpkin, banana, and chocolate flavors.
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