Aren’t you sick of reading about foods that you should take out of your diet? Once you drop the processed carbs, the grains, the trans fats, and the sugary foods from your diet, it can be hard to know what exactly you can eat.

Instead on focusing on the things that you can’t have, focus on the healthy foods that you can add to your diet. Eventually, you’ll be eating so many healthy foods, that you’ll crowd out the unhealthy foods in your daily diet. You’ll be too full on avocados to go to town on a tube of Pringles!

Here are five foods to add to your diet right now:

Sauerkraut

Fermented foods like sauerkraut are important to eat to improve digestive health. Fermented foods are living foods that contain the bacteria ( lactobacilli) necessary for the breakdown of nutrients in the gut. Foods that contain live bacteria are called probiotic foods. Studies show that probiotic foods can help reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Sauerkraut is a traditional German food that is made by fermenting cabbage. The food also contains cancer-fighting compounds including isothiocyanate and sulphoraphane. Try adding a serving of sauerkraut to your diet once a week until you get used to the sour taste.

Whey Protein

Whey is the byproduct of cheese making. When milk separates into the curds and whey, the curds become cheese and the liquid whey is drained away. Whey is a protein superfood, and when dehydrated, it can be added to food and drinks to boost your daily protein intake. Just one scoop of whey protein powder can have as much as 45 grams of protein per serving, while containing the amino acids necessary for muscle repair and regeneration. Integrative medicine practitioner Chris Kresser L. Ac. notes that whey protein has anti-cancer benefits:

“T. Colin Campbell is (in)famous for his research linking casein, a protein in dairy products, with cancer. He then made the huge and unsupportable leap to concluding that all animal proteins cause cancer and should be avoided. Most of you know the rest of that story. However, what Campbell neglected to notice, or mention, is that whey, another protein found in dairy, has anti-cancer effects that completely cancel out the cancer-promoting effects of casein.

Whey protein is easy to add to your diet thanks to the variety of flavors of whey protein powder available. Whey protein can be added to baked goods, to shakes, to iced coffee drinks, and to pancakes. Try eating a serving of a food that contains whey at least once per day.

Avocados

Many people avoid avocados because they believe that the fruit contains too much fat. In reality, people should be eating as many servings of avocados as they wish. The fruit is rich in potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid. Just one whole avocado contains 10 grams of fiber. Try adding mashed avocado to salads, spreading it on sandwiches, or using mashed avocado mixed with hummus as a vegetable dip.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a saturated fat that is high in medium chain triglycerides. This type of fat is converted to energy easily, and can help curb sugar cravings when eaten in the evenings. New studies are indicating that saturated fats are not implicated in the development of heart disease.

Coconut oil helps keep your hair, skin, digestion, and immune system healthy. Try including coconut oil in your diet once per day by mixing it into tea, using it in baked goods, using it as a cooking oil, or eating it raw in healthy homemade raw cacao truffles.

Gelatin (the real stuff – not Jello)

Gelatin is a cheap source of protein that is derived from the collagen of animal bones. Gelatin is high in non-essential amino acids glycine and proline. Dietary gelatin can help improve joint health by helping to repair minor cartilage damage and decrease systemic inflammation.

Although it is important to include gelatin in your diet, many processed foods that contain gelatin also contain a lot of simple carbohydrates and processed oils. Rather than relying on Jello, which has a lot of sugar and artificial food dyes, try making your own gelatin dessert with plain Knox gelatin and fresh fruit juice. You’ll save calories, and you’ll be eating an all natural dessert.

Do you already eat some of these healthy foods regularly?

Photos provided by pond5 – the world’s stock media marketplace.