This year was the year of rainbow food, extra protein and coconut water.
2016 hasn’t been great for genuinely exciting, tasty, grown-up offerings. But we’re now in December so all food trends have come to an end and we’re all starting to revert back to our gluttonous festive ways.
In fact, today is supposed to mark the ‘start of the Christmas binge’ – when all our healthy eating habits go out of the window and we start eating mince pies like they’re going out of fashion.
Make the most of it.
Because wellness empire Whole Foods has predicted the top health food trends for 2017 and they look pretty damn tasty.
So, what’s on the list?
Yet more bloody coconut…but not as you know it
I am no fan of the coconut craze. Don’t get me wrong, I like a Bounty. I don’t mind a fresh green coconut when I’m on holiday. But I do object to cartons of horrible coconut water being pushed in your face every which way as a ‘more refreshing’ version of actual water.
But apparently, coconut water and oil are over. We’re about to see the rise of coconut flower, sugar and crisps. No I don’t know how that’s going to work either but it does sound quite exciting. Remember when they made quinoa crisps? Sounded gross, tasted delicious. There is hope.
Strange and exciting condiments
Go in any Afro-Caribbean kitchen cupboard and you’ll find row upon row of condiments. Maggi. Chilli sauce. Jelly. I don’t know why but it is definitely a thing – far more so than in standard white British households.
But Whole Foods have now proclaimed that ‘creative condiments’ are now a thing.
Put down your ketchup and sriracha, because we’re all going to smothering our sweet potato fries in habanero jam, black garlic puree and pomegranate molasses. Mmm.
Flexitarian eating
2017 is officially going to be the year of the flexitarian. It’s basically not just sticking to one rigid diet. So you might eat meat only twice a week, or try to eat vegan until 6pm. It could mean trying to eat as gluten-free as possible but not religiously.
It’s far better than obsessing over clean eating. Sure, you get your clean-eating fix but you’re not killing yourself to maintain it. Everything in moderation.
Some of us have been doing this for years…but now it’s a thing. It’ll probably become a category on Plenty of Fish.
Non-wheat pasta
First, there was courgetti. Then there was seaweed pasta. Now, Whole Foods are predicting an enslaught of alternative grain pastas made from quinoa, lentils and chickpeas. RIP gluten.
Japanese food which isn’t sushi
People in Japan have breakfast and puddings – not just raw fish. Shocking, but true.
And more of their non-sushi cuisine is heading this way, with savoury breakfast bowls (think rice, fish, avocado, umeboshi plums) and mochi cakes becoming increasingly popular.
Purple power
Apparently, the future is bright; the immediate future is purple. We had purple carrots before but next year is going to be all about the purple cauliflower, black rice, purple asparagus, elderberries, acai, purple sweet potatoes, purple corn and purple cereal. And of course, purple crisps (from purple heirloom potatoes).
Purple is often indicative of nutrient density and antioxidants.
Wellness tonics
As you might have guessed, the general wellness fad isn’t dying any time soon. If it did, Whole Foods would probably go out of business.
And 2017 is apparently going to be the year of wellness tonics and drinks which will make the fresh-pressed juice craze look like a drop in the ocean.
Expect loads of botanicals-based beverages including those made from kava, turmeric, apple cider vinegar, medicinal mushrooms and maca. Mmmm drinking vinegars.
Prepare for a purple, coconut, grain pasta Instagram takeover. I can already see the rows and rows of Clarendon-tinted Japanese breakfast bowls already.
Source: Metro UK
