Healthy Dips

Guacamole

• Avocado—a nutritional badass—is the lynchpin of guacamole. And because of that, guac provides more than 20 nutrients, including healthy fats, potassium, and vitamin C. Just watch your portion size.

Salsa

• Salsa is the lowest-calorie dip that actually contributes to your vegetable servings for the day. Plus, it’s delicious. Look for varieties that list tomatoes as the first ingredient.

Tzatziki

• This Greek yogurt-based dip is low in calories and sodium. It even provides a little protein. Pair it with mushroom, baby carrots or celery, or drizzle it over salmon or chicken.

Hummus

• Made from chickpeas, sesame seeds, lemon juice, and a few other things, hummus is a low-fat, low-sodium dip—as long as you don’t overdo it.

Mushroom Dips

Aside from vegetable dips and spreads, a healthy alternative are mushroom dips.

Some benefits of adding mushrooms into your diet include:

• Anti-inflammatory

• Alleviates anxiety & depression symptoms

• Significant neuroprotection

• Improves cognition & memory

• Anti-cancer

• Energy booster

As well as using mushrooms as an ingredient to make your dips even better! Check out our recipe tab for the yummy way to eat dips & mushrooms together.

Hummus with Spiced Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups hummus

• 1/3 cup olive oil , plus a little for drizzling

• 1o nion sliced thinly

• 1/2 lb crimini mushrooms cleaned with a damp cloth, trimmed, and halved

• 1 clove garlic chopped

• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/4 tsp paprika

• whole-wheat, gluten-free pita bread

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Meanwhile, prep all the ingredients - wipe down the mushrooms and halve them (large ones may need to be quartered), slice the onion thinly, and toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown.

2. Place the hummus in an oven-safe baking dish or shallow bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil. Bake for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave in the oven until needed.

3. Meanwhile, saute onion in 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until softened. Add the chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms and continue cooking until the mushrooms are tender and the onion is very soft - a good 10-15 minutes. I like it best after 15 minutes as this gives the onion time to caramelize and the mushrooms become very browned.

4. Pile the mushroom mixture into the hummus, garnish as desired, and serve hot with pita bread.

   
   

Inflammation contributes to a number of issues in the body, including illnesses, allergies, injuries, and diseases. Reducing inflammation in the body has a variety of benefits, like supporting brain and heart health and improving memory and mood. 

Anti-inflammatory foods are nutrient-dense ingredients that contain a high amount of antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals. Consuming anti-inflammatory foods—like fruits and vegetables, beans, olive oil, and fish—helps combat symptoms of chronic inflammation by neutralizing free radicals in the body. Inflammation is complex, but chronic inflammation can be caused (or exacerbated) by a variety of factors, from diet to stress levels and other lifestyle factors, including allergies, toxins, and aging.

The foods we put into our bodies are key to fighting off both short-term illness and chronic disease by reducing inflammation. One surprisingly ideal opportunity to fit more anti-inflammatory foods into your diet? Dips and spreads. The format of a vegetable-based dip is also fantastic for stress because we tend to snack when we're stressed, and if you have something to snack on—win, right?

Ready to get dunking? In the spirit of healthy snacking and doing the absolute minimum amount of prep work, here are five types of anti-inflammatory spreads you can snack on today's challenge.

Five Types Of Anti-Inflammatory Spreads:

• Hummus

• Guacamole

• Spinach Artichoke

• Tzaki Greek Yogurt

• Salsa

You can’t snack on these spreads without something to dip with it. I suggest building healthier habits like snacking on vegetables. Here is a list of vegetables that you can use to dip within this challenge:

List of Vegetables:

• Carrots

• Celery

• Cucumber

• Asparagus

• Broccoli

• Cauliflower

• Snow Peas

• String Beans

Your challenge for today is to only snack with the following vegetables or dips. The purpose of this challenge is to build better habits when it comes to snacks. Vegetables and dips are one of the healthiest choices to snack on an anti-inflammatory diet.