top of page

Non-Toxic Swaps Series Part 4: Better For You Food Choices

  • Apr 3, 2020
  • 8 min read

Updated: Apr 5, 2020


Hi friends! Welcome to Part 4 of the Non-Toxic Swaps Series. As you guessed, this post is all about better food choices.

There is a TON of scientific research I could (and was tempted to) put into this post, but my main purpose behind this post is to create a guide that anyone could browse through, even while grocery shopping, and be able to grab the better option.

I’m not going to write out that we should be eating more fruits, veggies, and Whole Foods, because we all already know that (whether we choose to adhere or not). This guide is all about choosing better ingredients, better brands for the foods YOU ALREADY EAT!

So I’m going to keep it simple, sprinkle in a few facts, so you can assure this information is credible, and lots of pictures and options to choose from!

So first we’re going to go over a few ingredients you should absolutely avoid in your food

1) Vegetable & Hydrogenated Oils

2) Conventional Dairy & Meats

3) Sugar in Hidden Forms

4) Artificial Colors / Dyes / Preservatives

1) Vegetable Oils


  • Canola, Soybean, Corn, Safflower, Cotton Seed Oils are all highly inflammatory, leading to gut distress, bloating, acne, fatigue, and many other negative symptoms. Chronic inflammation is a root cause of health conditions, such as heart disease, anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer Disease. Consumption has both immediate and long-term effects.

  • These oils are high in omega-6. We want a diet higher in omega-3 fatty acids. The standard American Diet is way higher in omega-6 fatty acids, since vegetable oils are cheap and found in the majority of packaged (and restaurant) foods. This imbalance is what leads to inflammation, and ultimately chronic diseases

2) Conventional Meat & Dairy

  • When you consume grain-fed, hormone injected meat from concentrated animal feeding operations (versus grass-fed, free range animals) it can slow down digestion, leaving you bloated or constipated. It can raise estrogen levels and alter your gut microbiome

  • The rapid changes in industrial agriculture and cultural expectations over the past century have outpaced the ability of our genes to adapt. The meat is unlike that that our ancestors ate. It promotes inflammation & leads to increases fat storage. Not to mention, toxins are stored in fat, so the more fat stores you have, the more likely your body is to hold onto toxins

  • Now, this is not a post to tell you to avoid meat. A little further down I'll describe the type of sourcing you should be looking for, for optimal nutrition, without any of the added hormones, antibiotics, or toxins

3) Sugar in Hidden Forms

  • High Fructose Corn Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, Dextrin, Dextrose, Glucose, Malt Syrup, Maltose, Maltodextrin

  • All are highly inflammatory & highly processed

  • Many aren't aware of these names, so most end up consuming far more sugar than the daily recommended maximum

  • Luckily, new food labels will be featuring added sugars so you can easily peek and hopefully, steer clear of those items with much added sugar

  • Sugars occurring naturally in whole foods, including fruits, do NOT need to be avoided

4) Artificial Colors

  • Why artificial coloring is still allowed in our country (when it's banned in countries such as Europe and Australia) is beyond me

  • Research has linked artificial food dyes with cancer, specifically, immune system tumors, and problems in children including allergies, hyperactivity, learning impairment, irritability and aggressiveness.

  • Blue #1 - connected to kidney tumors

  • Blue #2 - brain tumors

  • Red #3 - thyroid tumors

  • Red #40 - accelerated immune system tumors. Lowers reproductive success

  • Yellow #5 - hyperactivity in children

  • Yellow #6 - adrenal tumors

Now, I know how overwhelming this can seem, and I also know that no one has the time to turn over the ingredients list on everything they buy while grocery shopping..

So, I compiled a list of better brand alternatives that you can find in most grocery stores, if not on amazon, or vitacost - an online health & wellness shop

Better Options:

Snacks:

  • Cookies: Simple Mills, Rulebreaker Snacks

  • Ice cream: O'My and Nadamoo are coconut based brands that still have that creamy ice cream texture, and taste delicious!

Baking:


  • Flours: Bob's Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills both have various flours: coconut, almond, paleo, 1:1 gluten free flour. All much options than enriched white flour. Cassava Flour is another great option

  • Icing: Simple Mills, Miss Jones

  • Sugars: Date Syrup, Manuka Honey, Coconut Sugar

  • All natural food coloring: I like both of theses brands: Watkins & McCormick Naturals

  • Baking Mixes: Simple Mills has everything you may want to bake, from muffin mix, cookies, cakes, pancakes, and more

  • Sprinkles: I have yet to see safer options in stores, but there are a few brands I've used and love the ingredient lists (or lac thereof) which you can find HERE

  • Spices: Aim for organic!

NOTE: homemade treats are easy, don’t contain preservatives, and are FUN! Once a month or so I get together with a few girlfriends and we bake healthier treats! If you have kids, it’s a great activity, and if they make it themselves, they’re more likely to eat it! I post A TON of EASY better ingredient treats on my Instagram @colleens_fitjourney

Cereal:


  • BHT is a preservative found in cereal. BHT is banned in Europe, Japan, and the UK, and is banned from baby food. Scientist refer to BHT as a "tumor grower"

  • According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, BHT promotes thyroid, kidney, bladder, and liver tumors

  • They also contain Glyphosate (more on that below)

  • They also contain artificial dyes (see above section on why you should avoid them)


This is Captain Crunch, for example. I hope you can look at this label and recognize that this is NOT a good option

Here are some safer options:

Cooking Oils/Fats:


  • Avocado oil- has the highest smoke point of all oils. Great for cooking with

  • Ghee

  • Grass Fed Beef Tallow

  • Duck fat

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil- best for dressings; does not have a high smoke point, so it will denature at high heats

  • Unrefined Coconut Oil

Condiments:


  • Primal Kitchen Foods has everything you need, from BBQ sauce, mayos (avocado oil based), ketchup & mustard, and dressings. Made with wholesome ingredients, and still taste delicious

Nut Butters:


  • Avoid anything with added oils or sugar. You nut butter ingredient list should read- peanuts (or nut of choice) and maybe salt. THAT'S IT!

  • Nuttzo (which contains a nut & seed blend), Artisana Organics, and Once Again are all great brands

Meat & Dairy:


Look for 100% Grass Fed / Grass Finished Beef, Pasture Raised Poultry, and Wild-Caught Fish

  • We order all of our meats from Butcher Box: all of their animals are humanely raised, without hormones or antibiotics, are free to roam, and fed nutritious diets.

  • You can save $30 off your first box by using the referral link HERE

What are the benefits of 100% grass-fed beef?

  • Organic beef minimizes your risk of exposure to antibiotics, pesticides, and growth hormones. Organic beef is also an excellent source of protein and a good source of iron, zinc, selenium, and b vitamins. Finally, organic 100% grass-fed beef has a more favorable ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids than conventional beef

What about Wild Caught Fish?

Sausage/Bacon/Deli:


  • Nitrates: the ingredient you should be avoiding. Found in deli, hot dogs, sausage, and bacon

  • Nitrates rank #1 on the Environmental Working Group's list of ingredients to avoid in your food

  • The World Health Organization puts deli meat in that top group to avoid as well. Their Group 1 is categorized as carcinogenic things (things that cause cancer) and rates amongst cigarettes, alcohol, asbestos, and arsenic. And yes, traditional deli meat falls in that category too

  • Thankfully, there are many brands / options out there today that are better!

  • When in doubt, look for Organic, Nitrate/Nitrite free and "uncured" (another term for nitrate free)

Brands to look for in the store: Teton Waters Ranch, Applegate, Organic Valley, True Story Organics

A few additional notes / tips

1) Fruit, Veggies, & Whole Foods

  • I know I said I wouldn’t elaborate, because we all know fruits & veggies are good for us, but think beyond nutrition

  • Antioxidants in fruits help strengthen immune system, certain fruits & veggies help hair grow faster / stronger, there are whole foods that contribute to glowing & hydrated skin, provide energy.. I could go on, but when I eat sweet potatoes, salmon, & walnuts, for instance, I for one, season them so they taste good, and two, feel SO GOOD knowing that these foods are going to contribute to the clear skin & growing hair I strive for. Check out this cheat sheet to see examples.

2) Blood Sugar Balance is key to optimal health. This deserves its own post, but I’m going to leave you with this:

  • blood sugar imbalance is what causes you to be hungry (even after a meal or snack), causes cravings, (especially sugary ones), decreased energy (especially those afternoon crashes), among many more negative effects.


  • YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE DIABETIC TO HAVE BLOOD SUGAR IMBALANCE!

A few tips for managing blood sugar:

  • All of your meals / snacks should include a protein & fat source with them. Yes, an apple is healthy, but eating an apple alone will cause a spike in blood sugar, followed by a quick dip, leading to increased hunger. Instead, pair it was some walnuts & an organic cheese slice

3) Ancestral Differences


  • I often hear the phrase "well my parents, grandparents, etc. ate it and they turned out fine." In reality, your parents did NOT eat the "food" that we eat today

  • Our food used to be made with real ingredients. Then, companies switched out our food in the late 90s to give us glyphosate sprayed ingredients, because it's easier to mass produce. In short, "Glyphosate is now being linked to most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, including gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, fertility, cancer, and Alzheimer disease" (Samsel A, et al. Surg Neuro Int. 2015).

  • In 1993 milk began to be produced with rBST or rBGH, both artificial growth hormones

  • No sugar added once meant just that. However, by 1998, the FDA began allowing "no sugar added" foods to contain artificial sweeteners, such as sucralose, ace-k, and aspartame

  • 1983 is when once healthy foods, such as yogurt, started to be produced with high fructose corn syrup

4) False labeling claims


  • None of the claims pictures above are regulated by the FDA. Anyone can put that claim on their label. Read more on each of these so called health claims HERE

5) Fat does not make you fat!

  • I think this has been evident lately (thank goodness those days of fat free everything is over... I mean, what the hell kind of “substance” was replacing milk fat in “fat free cheese”). Your body needs fat, your hormones, your brain, your organs all need fat AND cholesterol!

Fat is not the enemy. Processed fat is

  • Everything used to cooked in lard and butter...

  • Then cotton seed oil was discovered. It was originally used to solidify and make candles

  • But then electricity was invented and the candle business was not popular

  • So then manufacturers decided to glorify cotton seed oil as edible, that it would be children smarter, and other false claims to sell the product, which was named Crisco! <- THROW IT OUT!

  • Your body NEEDS cholesterol

  • In short, cholesterol is responsible for all hormone regulation

  • Having enough cholesterol is essential for building pregnentalon, which makes progesterone, which helps balance estrogen production. If you recall from earlier, excess estrogen in the body can contribute to negative health effects, including cancer

  • All the feel good chemicals in the brain rely on cholesterol- serotonin especially!


And there you have it friends! Again, if there are any categories I missed, I apologize! Feel free to leave a comment, or message me on Instagram, @colleens_fitjourney and I'll delve into some research for you!


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page