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Clean Sweet Treats

The idea of healthy food has gotten a bad rap over the past few years; especially with the growing impact of packaged sweets. Believe it or not there are many great recipes that avoid the harmful additives and have many beneficial nutrients. Sweet treats are one of my favorites, knowing these have no chemicals or additives make them even more rewarding

Some of my favorites…

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

Apple Crisp

Chickpea Brownies

Chocolate Banana Bread

Published January 22,2023

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Simple Swaps

I have already included some information on meal prepping but let’s start with ingredients first. It can make a huge difference to your everyday life by simply substituting a healthier, less processed items. REAL foods are things you can get with only one ingredient or very few whole ingredients.

Using real cream instead of coffee creamer

All natural maple syrup instead of pancake syrup

Cereal swaps: Magic Spoon & Three Wishes

Butter over margarine

Soda Swaps: OLIPOP, AHA, Spindrift

Snack swaps: SIETE chips, Simply Mills Crackers, Homemade granola bars

Jamie Oliver says, “Real food doesn’t have ingredients; real food is ingredients.”

When it comes to what we put in our bodies it is essential that we keep it simple. Making health conscious swaps when it comes to eating does not have to be hard because of the many different options that are available to us in most grocery stores today!

Published January 21, 2023

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They read the labels so you don’t have to!!

These are some great resourced that you can download onto a mobile device that makes the overwhelming transition into a healthier lifestyle easier. Most ingredient lists have a long list of unpronounceable ingredients so it’s important to know what is in the product you are buying.

Clueat- scans barcodes of food products and gives you important information on the nutritional value and ingredients.

Sift- a mobile app that allows you to scan barcodes, translates the ingredients and also identifies ingredients (additives) that are banned in other countries

Websites

Chemical Cuisine- a website by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that analyzes the safety of ingredients on a food label

Environmental Working Group- a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping you live your healthiest life. They provide information on many different products, including food, skin care, and tapwater. 

[elainas-23]

Simple Changes

You may feel like it is too hard or you won’t be able to completely eliminate processed foods but simple changes can create big differences if you use the right techniques.

1- start small: making the conscious choice throughout the day on what you are eating is the best way to begin. When you become aware of all the chemicals and additives that are in processed foods, it makes it much easier to avoid.

2- research: There are so many great recourses that are available to us on the internet that make knowing what’s in our food easy to understand. There are countless apps that help you find foods with great ingredients (check out my future post to see some of these more in depth)

3- MEAL PREP!! This may seem like too much work but it definitely pays off. No more excuses to hit up a drive through for dinner- simply put in the work at the beginning of the week by going to the store and planing out meals to save time and your health in the long run.

All of these meals are simple, tasty and avoid the harmful chemicals in processed foods!

Published January 19, 2023

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Good in the moment… detrimental to your health

Although it may taste good in the moment to eat the processed snack; you are only setting yourself up for failure. I emphasized the life expectancy difference countries have compared to America due to the chemicals allowed in processed foods in my past post, but it creates so many more problems. Some examples include…

Type 2 diabetes

Digestive problems

High cholesterol

Fluctuating blood sugar levels

Obesity

Heart disease

According to the article below “Over the past 50 years, the health of Americans has gotten worse, and now 71% of Americans are overweight or obese”

Making the switch to cleaner, more natural food comes with so many benefits that Americans are lacking in their life. Americans have normalized the mid-day crashes, tiredness, aches, pains and headaches but there is a solution… changing what you eat!

Published January 18, 2023

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Is Processed Food Killing Americans ?

It’s no secret that processed foods are unhealthy…many are aware “junk food is bad” but not to the extent that they should. After I found my passion for nutrition I began uncovering more and more shocking information that made me question the effects of chemicals in processed foods. Further research led me to find that the foods allowed in America are the same foods that have been banned in places like the European Union, New Zealand, and Australia. Which makes learning that those countries’ life spans are significantly higher than America’s not surprising at all. Although this information can be overwhelming, that is not my intent; I merely want to shine a light on this topic that the FDA has done so well in avoiding.

According to the article below, “life expectancy in the United States in 2017 was 78.6 years vs 82.3 years in other comparable nations.” (Saleh, MDLinx)

https://www.mdlinx.com/article/why-the-us-has-lower-life-expectancy-than-other-countries/70SKTKpuQRVJJ0rmIckYrH

This is extremely concerning for the people unaware of this but there are other options that help avoid these poisonous chemicals the FDA is allowing. If we substituted processed food with more whole, nutrient-dense foods, it would solve the numerous health problems that stem from the harmful chemicals that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Published January 17, 2023

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Processed Foods-

The food we eat may not seem super important because of the busy lives we live. Drive throughs have become the new normal for dinner, a bag of chips is something many of us have close by to snack on and sweet treats like Oreos and Little Debbie snacks are eaten on the daily. These highly processed foods Americans have normalized into their every day diets are causing numerous health problems. Becoming aware of what we are putting into our bodies starts with the food we eat, the quality of ingredients and nutrient density.

The thought of changing the way you eat may seem daunting but think of it more of an investment for yourself. Because of the substitutions you make… your future self gets to enjoy the benefits of all the delicious healthy foods!

Published January 16, 2023