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Time To Explore!

So you want to eat better! It's a terrific goal, from a health and culinary perspective! You've increased your fiber, identified lean protein, gotten more dairy, and included more fruits. But if you're like many people, you're sticking with identified Super Foods or foods that I call the poster children. The meal in the picture above, while absolutely delicious, is a poster child for healthful eating. When people think of fish these days, the first image that comes to mind is salmon. Loaded with great protein and the right fats, salmon is a natural. And its plate companion, broccoli, is another poster child for the word veggies. It's got fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and antioxidants. So who could ask for more?

From a nutritional perspective, there's probably not much of a need to ask for more. But from a daily eating perspective, sticking with the poster children which I define as identified representative items, can be boring. And I mean boring.

Try this. Next time you're in the supermarket looking for fish, look to the left and right of the tray containing the salmon. Go ahead... Try the cod. Or the tilapia. Or the catfish. Or the fresh tuna. Go ahead, do it!

And when you're ready to pick out a vegetable to pair it with, look to the left and right or above and below the bin containing the broccoli. Be daring! Try the green beans. Or the carrots. Or some unusual variety of lettuce, like Bibb, Boston, or red leaf. Do it! Be adventuresome!

To be fair, the reason that many foods have become poster children for certain nutritional benefits is that they are, indeed, great choices! But they're not the only choices. And good eating and eating better depends on variety, as well as individual item selections.

Explore. Be adventuresome. Get some variety in your eating. You won't be sorry you did.

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