Healthy Food Trends Of 2020: A Doctor Sounds Off

Every new year, a ton of new health food trends start popping up — and it's hard to decide which are worth your time. Thankfully, integrative health expert and author of Super Woman RX, Dr. Taz Bahtia, is cutting through the noise for us and revealing which food trends are worth a try. 

CHICORY COFFEE

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What is chicory coffee? Chicory coffee comes from the chicory plant, the doctor explains. "You take the root of the plant [and] you grind it, you brew it, you roast it," she says, "just like you would a regular cup of coffee."

Does chicory coffee have caffeine? "There's no caffeine," the health expert says, "so for a lot of people, it's a great way to come off of caffeine."

What are the health benefits of chicory coffee?
- It has anti-inflammatory benefits, according to Dr. Taz.
- "It helps your liver," she says.
- It promotes gut health. "It's 40% inulin, and inulin is a plant-based starch which really helps your digestion [and] your metabolism," the Super Woman RX author says. "And the gut, we know, is a foundation of health."

How do I make chicory coffee? Scoop one heaping tablespoon of ground chicory per 1 cup of chicory coffee (same as regular coffee) into your coffee maker and brew as you would normally. While the coffee is brewing, heat up ½ cup of almond milk, then mix equal parts coffee and almond milk.

What does chicory coffee taste like? "It doesn't taste like coffee," Rach says, "but it really is pleasant." According to co-host Jesse Palmer, though, "it has the bitterness you would get from coffee."

OAT MILK

If you didn't give the non-dairy milk a try when people just started discovering it in 2019 (well, to be fair, Bob Harper has been vouching for oat milk since 2018), then you might want to make 2020 your year! 

"Oat milk is really tasty [and] has a lot of great fat in it," Dr. Taz says. Even though some of the latest oat milk derivatives aren't great for you (more on that later…), "Oat milk is still healthy and easy to make," the doc says. 

And she's not the only doctor to say so. Dr. Ian has also touted the benefits of oat milk, saying, "This milk has more protein than any non-dairy milk, except for soy."

"[It's] a little lower in calories," he continues, "and [the] beauty is that the oat is a whole grain, so [it has] all those phytonutrients — fiber, protein, B vitamins. It's all in here." Get his how-to on how to make oat milk right at home here.

PLANT-BASED FISH

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We've heard of plant-based burgers (2019 was the year of the Impossible Burger, after all), but plant-based fish … ? 

Dr. Taz doesn't recommend it. "Plant-based has a lot of processed ingredients," she explains. "It has potato starch [and] modified soy protein. It also has beans and legumes, but at the end of the day, we want to lower how much processed food [we eat]."

Instead, Dr. Taz recommends that her patients eat fish twice a week, especially wild salmon. Salmon contains a good dose of omega 3 fatty acids, as well as a unique combination of antioxidants that could lower the chances of cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's and more, she says. 

OAT MILK ICE CREAM

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Like we mentioned, oat milk may be healthy, but not all of the derivatives — like oat milk ice cream — are, our expert says. Dr. Taz claims brands "make up for the taste with a ton of sugar."

With that said, it's hard to say if it's better or worse than regular ice cream, the health expert goes on. The only advantage is that for those who have dairy allergies or can't tolerate cow's milk protein, it will be easier on digestion.