FoodTok’s Best Healthy Eating Hacks
Just a few years ago, conversations about daily fiber intake and plant-based meals were reserved for health magazines and talk shows. Today, those same topics are the subject of 30-second videos on TikTok. In many ways, the platform has become a valuable resource for users to get culinary inspiration, receive expert advice and improve their eating habits. We spoke with a few TikTok health experts to gather their perspectives on the Food is Medicine movement and how making a few small dietary changes can have a life-changing impact. Aim for more plants on your plate The Food is Medicine movement is based on the idea that whole, unprocessed food can help nourish our bodies and minds. Stacey Woodson (@nutritionbystacey) is a Philadelphia-based registered dietitian who advises her followers to focus on getting more plants on their plates, “whether that’s growing their own greens, learning to forage safely or simply finding creative ways to incorporate more plants into meals they already love.”
If you’re a parent to young kids, Woodson suggests offering plant-based choices at dinner time and letting kids in on the decision-making process. “Ask them if they’d like to eat broccoli or green beans or invite them to be your assistant chef for the evening. When kids are emotionally invested in something, they are more likely to participate in the whole process.” Prioritize sleepRegistered dietitian and certified diabetes educator Erin Palinski-Wade (@tiktoknutritionist) regularly dispenses advice to her 80,000 followers. Her advice is based on the idea that many health conditions can be prevented and treated with specific nutrients in a whole-food diet. “Even a tiny change, like adding a one-half teaspoon of chia seeds to one meal per day, can help promote blood sugar balance, weight loss and lower cholesterol,” Palinski-Wade says. “My goal has always been to show how small, simple changes can have a huge impact on overall health.”
The New Jersey-based expert notes that if you can make one lifestyle change, it should be to improve your sleep. “Even one poor night of sleep has been shown to lower resting metabolism, increase hunger and cravings for simple sugars, increase insulin resistance and elevate stress hormones and inflammation,” she advises. “By prioritizing sleep, you can start to see an improvement in appetite regulation and blood sugar balance while having a positive impact on metabolism.” For a better night’s sleep, Palinski-Wade recommends reaching for melatonin-rich foods such as tart cherries, pistachios and Greek yogurt before bedtime.Shop smart at the supermarket“Healthy eating starts at home” is a core philosophy for Dr. Simran Malhotra (@drsimran.malhotra), a triple board-certified physician in lifestyle medicine. As a physician and health coach, she shares her expert advice both on and offline and says that parents can model healthy eating for their kids starting at the grocery store. “My top three tips are to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, eat the rainbow, or a variety of whole foods, and get in the habit of reading labels. If it doesn’t have an ingredient label, that’s even better because that likely means it’s a whole food,” Malhotra says.
Another tip is to bring kids to the grocery store and let them pick out a new vegetable for the week ahead. As a mother of two, Dr. Malhotra is also a fan of making sweet treats, recently posting a five-ingredient slushie on TikTok that includes fresh watermelon, frozen strawberries, lime, ice and a hint of maple syrup. “By showing my kids that healthy eating can be fun and delicious, I’m not just protecting their health today, but I’m building generational health for years to come.” Choose foods with fewer ingredientsYou’ve probably heard the saying “You are what you eat.” That’s the idea behind Renee Guibault’s (@chefreneeguibault) TikTok series, in which she posts ingredients and users try to guess the products. “Our food choices aren’t just about calories or immediate satisfaction – they’re one tool we have for supporting our body’s basic functions,” says Guibault, who’s also the chef and CEO of The Open Food Company. “Some foods aid this process, while others can work against it. Our food choices can help us thrive (physically, emotionally, and cognitively) or make us ill and lead to disease.”
Guibault recommends choosing foods with fewer ingredients. For instance, her favorite snack is celery sticks with peanut butter, which has only two ingredients: peanuts and salt. If you’re feeding kids, Guibault advises always aiming for single-ingredient foods. “When we want our kids to love and appreciate whole foods, it starts with normalizing the textures and flavors of real, whole foods. Skip the apple sauce pouches and just give them an apple. Small, intentional choices like this when training small, learning kids’ palates really work.”
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