Newcastle: As 2025 rolls on, many are seeking ways to revitalise their diet without overhauling their routine. Whether you're tired of repetitive meals or missed the mark on your New Year nutrition goals, experts suggest that small changes can deliver significant health benefits.

Incorporating variety in daily meals is essential to meet the body's needs for vitamins, minerals, and plant-based phytonutrients—compounds known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Here are five expert-recommended ways to upgrade your nutrition:

1. Diversify Fibre Sources:
Adding bran types like oat bran, wheat bran, or psyllium husk to cereals or baking can improve bowel health. Soluble fibre, like that in psyllium, helps lower cholesterol and stabilise blood sugar, while insoluble fibre promotes regularity.

2. Add Canned Beans:
Canned legumes—chickpeas, red kidney beans, and baked beans—are high in fibre and resistant starch, which aid digestion, regulate blood sugar, and help reduce LDL cholesterol. They're easy to add to salads, soups, curries, and pastas.

3. Explore Wholegrains:
Wholegrains like buckwheat, quinoa, and 5-grain porridge offer fibre and essential nutrients. They can be used in dishes beyond breakfast—from risottos to quesadillas.

4. Rotate Your Veggies:
Introducing a new vegetable or salad item weekly increases variety and nutrient intake. Colourful combinations such as rainbow coleslaw or stir-fries with bok choy and capsicum enhance flavour and health benefits.

5. Go Nuts:
A small daily handful of nuts—cashews, almonds, walnuts—provides healthy fats, protein, and satiety. Despite their energy density, research shows including nuts in calorie-restricted diets does not hinder weight loss.

These simple yet effective dietary changes can help keep meals exciting, nutrient-rich, and health-promoting throughout the year.