Social Media Food Trends

Welcome to another round up of checking out what's happening in the social media food trend world and rating some of the options! This is a favorite series and all of the previous posts can be found here, here, here, here and here!

Loaded Cereal Bowls

This trend involves taking a typical cereal bowl with cereal and milk or milk alternative and adding more to it so it's more filling and satiating. Folks find themselves doing this by adding in things like fresh or dried fruit, nut butter, or chocolate chips or candy. Some folks even use items like nutrition supplements such as an Ensure or generic equivalent as the liquid base versus milk or milk alternative, which can be a great way to add in energy and nutrient density (especially if you are recommended to drink nutrition supplements as part of your treatment plan!).

Fermented Foods

Fermented foods seem to be having a moment and gaining popularity. Fermented foods can be good for our digestion by helping out our gut microbiome. If you’re usually only incorporating yogurt for probiotics in your diet, leaning into this trend can be an opportunity to have more variety in our intake overall by trying different things such as kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi or miso. If you do struggle with any gastrointestinal distress at baseline, please just exercise caution and speak with your medical team before adding in many new, different foods. 

Dirty Sodas

A “dirty soda” is a nonalcoholic drink made by mixing soda with items like flavored syrup, cream or fruit juice. With the rise in mocktails and NA beverages, this can be a fun drink option to order out even if you don’t consume alcohol. Like with any beverages, be mindful not to replace meals/snacks with beverages as this may come up nutritionally inadequate; make sure to pair fun drinks with solid food!

“Sleepy Girl” Mocktail

Another fun beverage is the “sleepy girl” mocktail as you may see it hashtagged on socials. So what is it? This is usually tart cherry juice, magnesium powder and topped off with a seltzer or sparkling water if you’d like. When it comes to tart cherry juice and magnesium powder, “both these ingredients have been shown in some limited research to support relaxation and promote sleep”. Tart cherries naturally contain melatonin and tryptophan which can contribute to sleepiness, whereas magnesium may help promote physical and mental relaxation. When starting any new supplement, it’s important to speak with your treatment team and find third party certified options as best as possible.

 Source: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/sleepy-girl-mocktail