Discover simple and easy healthy food swaps to improve your eating habits. <ake better ingredient choices for a healthier lifestyle.
Healthy Food Swaps
Most all of us want to eat healthier.
And, if you look into your pantry, let's look at some simple easy ways that you can make food swaps.
These healthier ingredients will ultimately be better for you. Slow and steady wins the race.
Rome wasn't built in a day and your eating habits and food shopping habits will take time and mindfulness to change.
Food Substitutions
Some of the easiest food substitutions involve looking at three simple things that you use regularly in your recipes and cooking. I'm certain that you have these in your pantry and kitchen cabinets!
What are these ingredients and things you can do?
- Oils you cook with or use in recipes.
- Sweetners that you use in your recipes and cooking.
- Ditch store bought salad dressings!
Healthy Food Suggestions
Ever wondered how you can swap things that you may traditionally buy for healthier? Here are some easy ideas.
Remember, it's a process that takes time. Sometimes even our palate needs to be retrained because it's become accustomed to 'processed' and 'ultraprocessed' foods that are concocted by scientists with crazy chemicals. Give it time. Your palate will adjust.
And, at some point, when you eat something unhealthy, like ultraprocessed, you'll know it! And, think, dang, this doesn't taste so good.
Healthy Snack Swaps
- Plain Greek Yogurt for ice cream and sour cream.
- Homemade granola for boxed cereals. Check my Dead Sea Granola. So good!
- Real homemade popcorn with non-GMO organic kernels. Ditch the other popcorns!
- Dark chocolate (70%+) versus milk chocolate
- Nuts vs. Chips BUT if you love chips like I do, then make sure your chips are cooked in either avocado or olive oil. Read the ingredients!
- Water versus Sodas. Ditch all sodas. Maybe on rare special occasions! But, certainly NOT on a regular say weekly basis!
Cooking Oils
There are so many cooking oils.
Gosh, we use these oils in so many things and that means we should be focusing on those oils that are healthiest for us.
It's pretty simple to make this swap of replacing refined oils like vegetable, canola, safflower, corn, cottonseed or sunflower oil. In order to process these oils, heat and various chemicals are used. Just don't buy them.
Best Cooking Oils
What should you have in your pantry? Well, here are some ideas for healthier cooking and recipe oils.
- Avocado Oil
- Flaxseed Oil
- Walnut Oil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Ghee
- Tallow
- Coconut Oil (which is popular but remains somewhat controversial)
Best Sugars
We have a sugar epidemic in our country. If you start reading labels and inspecting what's in the items you buy, you'll typically always find some kind of sugar. And, it's ususally the 'bad' kinds of sugar, like cane sugar, white sugar, corn syrup.
They are found in many processed foods and beverages, such as candy, soda, cookies, and ketchup. One you become a health detective, you'll be appalled at the 'sugaring' of America!
High fructose sugars which are sugars that are difficult for the liver to process and have been linked to obesity.
Instead of sweetening with these kinds of sugars, opt for healthier versions of sugars:
As a side note, I have all of these at my Amazon Storefront in my Pantry Items. Click here to go shopping!
Also, here's a great post on sugars that's much more indepth for your reading.
Simple Healthy Food Ideas
Other simple healthy food ideas:
- Real whole oats vs. instant oats or quick cooking oats. Make sure those oats are organic and preferably 'sprouted'. Sprouted oats have a different nutrient profile and are easier to digest.
- Avoid canned soups. They're ususally full of 'stuff' that you really don't need to eat. Instead, make simple soups with real bone broth and vegetables.
- Lots of fresh vegetables. If you can't find fresh, frozen organic are a good choice. Canned would be my last choice for vegetables. It's better than nothing.
- Canned tomatoes. Read the ingredients. I look for fewer ingredients. I want mostly the tomatoes, maybe you'll see tomato paste or puree, salt, olive oil, basil.
How we Can Live Longer
We certainly want to live as long as we can, but as healthy and vibrantly as we can.
Simple lifestyle changes can help us achieve that goal.
The importance of food, which I believe is MEDICINE, can't be underestimated.
Take steps right now, baby steps, easy things like I've talked about, and move towards a healthier YOU! xoxx Mama Ally & Pop
