Ever since I started researching nutrition back in 2014, I'm constantly on the look out for new ways to make healthier food choices. What we put into our bodies is so important for looking and feeling our best. These are a few easy cooking ingredients and snacks you can start to incorporate in place of unhealthier ones.
1. Use Cacao Powder instead of Cocoa Powder
I don't bake very often, but when I do decide to make vegan brownies, I use this swap. Cacao is the unprocessed version of cocoa. The closer we can get to the natural form of something, the healthier it will be. I buy cacao powder and cacao nibs on Amazon in bulk because I use both in smoothies as well. This is a rich chocolate taste I can't live without!
2. Replace Table Salt with Pink Himalayan or Sea Salt
Table salt is not a healthy choice because it has been heavily processed. I use Pink Himalayan or sea salt for all my cooking now. Another tip is to season foods right before you eat so you get the full taste. Adding salt at the beginning of cooking may cause you to have to add more because it gets absorbed while it cooks. These healthier salts are not processed so you're getting vitamins and minerals that don't exist in denatured table salt.
3. Potato Chips with Vegetable oil vs Coconut or Avocado Oils
We all know snacking on potato chips isn't the healthiest choice, but why? The worst part of chips is the rancid vegetable oils they're slathered in. Now there are many brands that use coconut or avocado oil. The chips I like contain only potatoes, coconut or avocado oil, and sea salt. If you're going to eat chips, this is definitely the way to go! Jackson's Honest and Kettle are great brands. Just make sure to check the ingredients because there can be undesirable additives in certain flavors.
4. Stay Away from Soda...Choose Kombucha
I've never been a soda drinker so I've never had to break that addiction, but many people are addicted to it. If you're ready to ditch this health destructive habit, try kombucha. There are many different brands and it's easy to source at your local grocery store. If you're still wanting a sweet drink, there are flavors with higher sugar content. The goal would obviously be to choose the ones with less sugar (the kind I like has only 2g) but if you're trying to break a soda habit, this is still a great option. You'll of course get the fizzy aspect and there are many flavors to choose from.
5. Swap Soy Sauce for Tamari
Tamari is a gluten free version of soy sauce. I don't have a gluten sensitivity, but when I have a choice I usually go with the gluten free option because gluten is difficult to digest in general. Tamari tastes great and is an easy way to keep that flavor in your cooking.
6. Choose Nuts without Oils
I love snacking on nuts. Unfortunately, it's often difficult to source nuts that don't contain rancid vegetable oils. Thankfully, Back to Nature brand understands this. Their only ingredients are nuts and sea salt and they taste so much better without the added oil!
7. Sub Applesauce, Egg Replacer, or Flax Seeds for Eggs
In the amazing documentary What the Health, there is a statistic that says if you eat one egg a day, it's like smoking 5 cigarettes for life expectancy. Since seeing that film, I cut eggs out of my diet. It has been easy to swap in applesauce or flax seeds mixed with water while baking. I make vegan chocolate chip cookies on occasion and they are delicious with this hack. I've also tried Ener-g- Egg Replacer for other recipes, such as lentil "meat"balls, and it works great as well. You do have to play around and decide which one is right for each recipe, but once you figure it out, it's easy! Also, let's not forget how Carol on The Walking Dead used applesauce instead of eggs for her chocolate chip cookies. The Alexandria survivors couldn't get enough!
8. What About Sugar?
Sugar is probably one of the hardest things for me to eat less of because I love chocolate. When it comes to recipes though, I always use less sugar than what it calls for. I don't like foods to be overly sweet, especially if it's something other than dessert. For example, if I'm making an Asian sauce and it calls for 2 TBS of sugar, I'll use 1 tsp of maple syrup, coconut sugar, raw honey, or coconut nectar. These are great options for any recipe, it just depends on what flavor you're going for. Agave nectar is another popular sweetener, but I avoid it because of the high fructose levels. Always avoid artificial sweeteners as these are extremely toxic and detrimental to your health!!
9. Healthier Pasta
Recently, I've been enjoying lentil pasta instead of regular pasta. The only ingredients are red lentil flour and quinoa flour formed into various shapes. It's definitely a different texture and flavor, but I actually prefer it now. It's lighter on my stomach and tastes great with any sauce. I also like gluten free pasta, but you have to be careful with gluten free products because they're often full of unnecessary filler ingredients. The brand I like is Tinkyada because the only ingredients are brown rice, rice bran, and water.
10. Gluten-Free or Organic Wraps
When I'm in the mood for a wrap, I tend to buy the Food For Life brand from the freezer section at Native Sun. This gluten free option is great because you can quickly heat it up and make a wrap within a few minutes. When I'm not able to source these, I make sure to choose an organic wrap. These may not have the best ingredients, but at least they're the better option in a pinch.
I hope you'll try at lease one of these swaps! I love experimenting with recipes and it feels great knowing I'm cooking and choosing snacks with the best ingredients for me and my family.
Comentarios