How to Eat Real Food

Below is a guide on how to start eating real food and things that I tend to focus on.

Water

-Drink it

-A big glass (with lemon or ACV) upon waking can be so nourishing and cleansing to the system

-Drink throughout the day all day ☺

-If you are peeing non-stop, try adding an electrolyte mixture to your water or even sprinkle some Celtic/Himalayan sea salt. I also love LMNT and Trace Minerals

-Old school news might not agree with this idea but we know a lot more now and water needs something to bind to and if it’s not there, you’ll pee it all out, so yes, don’t be scared of salt and use it if you’re not retaining the water that you’re drinking

Salt

-While we’re here, let me talk about the importance of salt

-You need it

-This doesn’t mean to load up on all the processed foods packed to the brim with sodium

-It means to salt your (unprocessed) food to taste using celtic sea salt or Himalayan sea salt

-Table salt is also important for healthy Iodine levels but if you live in America, you are most likely getting some amount of iodized salt each day in your processed foods, dressings, dips, etc.

- If you’re not eating processed foods, you can incorporate table (iodized) salt into your cooking

Fat

-Eat it

-Fat is not bad-fat helps with hormone production and MANY other processes in the body

-If you try to avoid cholesterol, your body will make more to overcompensate and this could in turn raise your levels…mind-blowing stuff.

-Not all fats are equal-here are a list of great sources of fats to incorporate throughout your day

-Olive oil

-Grass-fed Ghee

-Clarified butter

-Typically tolerated by those who are lactose intolerant

-Can heat to high temps

-Grass Fed Butter

-Can heat to high temps

-Kerrygold is a popular brand (Kirkland has a grassfed butter at Costco)

-Avocado Oil

-Can heat to high temps

-Coconut Oil

-Can heat to high temps

-Sesame Oil

-Can heat to high temps

-Raw nuts/seeds (roasting can alter fat content)

-Wild caught fish (not farm raised)

-Grass-fed beef, bison, venison

-Organic eggs, chicken, pork

-Avocados, Olives

**Grass-fed options contain higher levels of omega 3 versus those grain-fed (high levels of omega 6)

-Both omega types are essential BUT processed foods, grains, etc have higher amounts of omega 6 so we need more omega 3’s to tame the inflammation

-Omega 3: anti-inflammatory

-Omega 6: inflammatory (while its inflammatory, we still need it in small amounts to help when we do need our body to inflame and take care of an ailment)

Fruits/Vegetables

-Opt for organic when possible

-Google the “Dirty Dozen” to learn what produce should absolutely be organic

-Try to pair fruit with protein or fat for a slower release of blood sugar

-Apple and mixed nuts

-Banana with nut butter

-Berries with collagen and seeds in a smoothie

-Skip juice and eat the whole fruit-the fiber in the fruit slows the release of sugar into the blood stream

-Drinking juice with breakfast each morning leads to sugar addiction and causes a big blood sugar spike first thing in the morning

-If sugar courses through our blood stream in higher amounts than it should, it gets stored as fat

-Sugar can also be destructive to our blood vessels

-Eat. The. Fruit.

-Eat a variety-eating the same fruits and vegetables each day can cause our bodies to start to resist them AND we aren’t maximizing on different forms of nutrients

Grains

-The less processed the better-look for items that only contain a few ingredients

-Crackers, cookies etc that contain lists of ingredients should not be prohibited but should be kept to a minimum

-If you are looking to un-inflame yourself, cutting gluten and corn are the first go-to’s because they are the most modified

-You could try one and then the other to see if you feel better without them

Dairy

-Choose grass-fed whenever possible (less inflammatory)

-Buy full fat everything

-When purchasing low fat dairy products, the product is being altered and is not in it’s natural state, the way our body was designed to receive it

-Low fat, no fat and less fat products will almost always have more chemicals-AVOID!

-Cheese

-Buy blocks of cheese over shredded cheese

-Pre-shredded cheese has additional ingredients to preserve the cheese and prevent it from caking

-Some sharp cheddar cheeses are naturally lactose free and therefore may be tolerated by those who are easily affected by dairy (stomach ailments, skin ailments, etc)

-Cabot Hunter’s Sharp is my personal favorite and I shred it to put on pizzas when we have a family pizza night

Snacks

No snacks are off limits but some options are better than others

Here are some options for popular snacks

-Tortilla chips --> Cassava Chips (Siete brand is a popular one) if avoiding corn

-Potato Chips -->Look for potato or plantain chips chips cooked in the good oils (avocado, coconut, palm)

-Avoid highly modified oils such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil

-Cookies --> opt for homemade cookies-they will naturally have less of the processed stuff

-Yogurt --> The more fat the better-these types typically have less sugar and even if there is a bit of sugar, the fat will help to slow the release into your blood stream

-Hummus --> choose organic when possible

-Cheetos --> Give Pirate’s booty a try to avoid the unnatural orange coloring

-Mixed Nuts --> Raw is best but roasted is okay if the oil is one of the good oils listed above

-Sunflower, safflower, soybean, corn, canola, etc are going to negate the benefits of eating nuts in the first place-again it’s fine once in a while but if you are buying nuts for the pure health benefit then this is something to consider

-Fruits-pair with fats/protein

This is a lot of info and is not meant to be overwhelming. Similar to ridding the home of toxic substances, go slow and ease into swapping products. Use up what you have. Don’t do what I did at 15 years old and get rid of everything in the pantry/fridge while your parents are on vacation…eek. I had recently learned about how food can be directly correlated to our health and the rest is history.

Listen to your gut, literally. If you want a food, eat it. If you are sensitive to a food like gluten for example, be mindful of rotating what you replace gluten with. For example eating almond flour crackers and breads and cakes everyday can wreak some havoc on the system. This makes sense considering we are not meant to eat hundreds of almonds each day. I have learned this one the hard way so allow me to shine some light. You can rice products, coconut flour, potato flours, etc.

Remember that our bodies need fuel. If you are not consuming enough calories, your body cannot function the way it would like to. Increasing healthy calories is a quick way to get more energy. ☺