Eight Keys for Healthier Food Choices in the New Year

Start where you are and proceed step by step toward the goal. Follow these overall guidelines:

1. Read the label before buying anything. The best indicators of how highly processed a food is can actually be found in the list of ingredients. If what you are buying contains more than 5 ingredients and includes a lot of unfamiliar, unpronounceable items you should reconsider before buying. Avoid packaged and processed foods - don't buy anything in a box, bag or can.
2. Eliminate partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats from your diet. These have no nutritional value and serve no purpose other than to derail your health. Keep in mind that certain products that actual contain trans fat (like the chocolate chip cookie dough you can buy pre-made) can get away with listing 0 grams of trans fat on the label as long as the amount per serving is under 1 gram. Don't be fooled!
3. Don't use coupons! Yep, you heard me.... cheap food is usually just that, cheap! When was the last time you saw a coupon for a organic avocado? or for organic eggs or beef? That majority of coupons are distributed for big box manufacturers, like Kraft and Kellogg so you'll often be forced into buying boxed, packaged and highly processed food thinking you're saving money. Just don't! Instead buy from local farmers or in bulk and you still save money and avoid those "deals" that are detrimental to your health. If you do happen to find the rare coupon for whole foods, by all means use them!
4. Avoid eating at fast food restaurants. Instead plan ahead and bring a home-cooked meal or healthy whole food snack with you. Learn to cook at home with real whole food ingredients. If you really want to be in optimal shape and your best health in 2015, there is just no getting around the fact that you must learn to prepare food at home.
5. Dump the sugar and high starchy foods (crackers, potatoes, rice, scones, cookies, etc.). Sugar is the most inflammatory thing that we consume and most of us consume far too much. Recent studies showed sugar addiction to be a more powerful stimulator of dopamine reward pathways than cocaine! While it's hard at first, going through a sugar detox will free you from the need to eat every hour or two to keep blood sugar stable and will give you mastery and control over your food choices since you're not following cravings.
6. Use healthy low-glycemic fruits to satisfy sweet cravings. You can make some delicious desserts in a healthy way to satisfy a sweet craving. Some of your best options are fresh or frozen organic berries, green apples, or a fresh fig. Try my delicious recipes for Chocolate Avocado Pudding and No Bake Vitality Treats if you need a start...
7. Eat 4-5 servings of non-starchy vegetables daily. Best bets are cruciferous vegetables, like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and leafy greens. If you don't like them steamed, broiled or raw, try a green smoothie drink with lots of spinach or kale - it's delicious! Here's a great Green Smoothie you might enjoy. Be sure to add fiber, too, like chia seed, psyllium or flax to your meals, smoothies, veggies. Fiber is filling, good for healthy bowel function and aids in producing short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to feed your good bacteria.
8. “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself, ” to quote Michael Pollan. If you have to peel, chop and deep fry potatoes every time you wanted French fries then you might not eat them very often. Eating “junk food” such as cakes, sweets, and fried foods only as often as you are willing to make them yourself will automatically reduce your consumption.

Top Ten Lessons on Diet & Longevity From Non-Industrialized Cultures...

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Characteristics of Traditional Diets

1. The diets of healthy, nonindustrialized peoples contain no refined or denatured foods or ingredients, such as refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup; white flour; canned foods; pasteurized, homogenized, skim or lowfat milk; refined or hydrogenated vegetable oils; protein powders; artificial vitamins; or toxic additives and colorings.
2. All traditional cultures consume some sort of animal food, such as fish and shellfish; land and water fowl; land and sea mammals; eggs; milk and milk products; reptiles; and insects. The whole animal is consumed­--muscle meat, organs, bones and fat, with the organ meats and fats preferred.
3. The diets of healthy, nonindustrialized peoples contain at least four times the minerals and water-soluble vitamins, and TEN times the fat-soluble vitamins found in animal fats (vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin K₂--Price's "Activator X") as the average American diet.
4. All traditional cultures cooked some of their food but all consumed a portion of their animal foods raw.
5. Primitive and traditional diets have a high content of food enzymes and beneficial bacteria from lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages, dairy products, meats and condiments.
6. Seeds, grains and nuts are soaked, sprouted, fermented or naturally leavened to neutralize naturally occurring anti-nutrients such as enzyme inhibitors, tannins and phytic acid.
7. Total fat content of traditional diets varies from 30 percent to 80 percent of calories but only about 4 percent of calories come from polyunsaturated oils naturally occurring in grains, legumes, nuts, fish, animal fats and vegetables. The balance of fat calories is in the form of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids.
8. Traditional diets contain nearly equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids.
9. All traditional diets contain some salt.
10. All traditional cultures make use of animal bones, usually in the form of gelatin-rich bone broths.

Dietary Guidelines

1. Eat whole, unprocessed foods.
2. Eat beef, lamb, game, organ meats, poultry and eggs from pasture-fed animals.
3. Eat wild fish (not farm-raised) and shellfish from unpolluted waters.
4. Eat full-fat milk products from pasture-fed cows, preferably raw and/or fermented, such as raw milk, whole yogurt, kefir, cultured butter, whole raw cheeses and fresh and sour cream. (Imported cheeses that say "milk" or "fresh milk" on the label are raw.)
5. Use animal fats, especially butter, liberally.
6. Use traditional vegetable oils only--extra virgin olive oil, expeller-expressed sesame oil, small amounts of expeller-expressed flax oil, and the tropical oils--coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.
7. Take cod liver oil regularly to provide at least 10,000 IU vitamin A and 1,000 IU vitamin D per day.
8. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables--preferably organic--in salads and soups, or lightly steamed with butter.
9. Use whole grains, legumes and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors and other anti-nutrients.
10. Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis.
11. Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb and fish and use liberally in soups, stews, gravies and sauces.
12. Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.
13. Use unrefined salt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.
14. Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and a small amount of expeller-expressed flax oil.
15. Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, date sugar, dehydrated cane sugar juice (sold as Rapadura) and stevia powder.
16. Use only unpasteurized wine or beer in strict moderation with meals.
17. Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.
18. Use only natural, food-based supplements.
19. Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.
20. Think positive thoughts and practice forgiveness.

Dietary Dangers

1. Do not eat commercially processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, TV dinners, soft drinks, packaged sauce mixes, etc. Read labels!
2. Avoid all refined sweeteners such as sugar, dextrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup and fruit juices.
3. Avoid white flour, white flour products and white rice.
4. Avoid all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils.
5. Avoid all refined liquid vegetable oils made from soy, corn, safflower, canola or cottonseed.
6. Do not use polyunsaturated oils for cooking, sautéing or baking.
7. Avoid foods fried in polyunsaturated oils or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
8. Do not practice veganism. Animal products provide vital nutrients not found in plant foods.
9. Avoid products containing protein powders as they usually contain carcinogens formed during processing; and consumption of protein without the cofactors occurring in nature can lead to deficiencies, especially of vitamin A.
10. Avoid processed, pasteurized milk; do not consume ultrapasteurized milk products, lowfat milk, skim milk, powdered milk or imitation milk products.
11. Avoid factory-farmed eggs, meats and fish.
12. Avoid highly processed luncheon meats and sausage.
13. Avoid rancid and improperly prepared seeds, nuts and grains found in granolas, quick rise breads and extruded breakfast cereals, as they block mineral absorption and cause intestinal distress.
14. Avoid canned, sprayed, waxed and irradiated fruits and vegetables. Avoid genetically modified foods (found in most soy, canola and corn products).
15. Avoid artificial food additives, especially MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and aspartame, which are neurotoxins. Most soups, sauce and broth mixes and most commercial condiments contain MSG, even if not indicated on the label.
16. Individuals sensitive to caffeine and related substances should avoid coffee, tea and chocolate.
17. Avoid aluminum-containing foods such as commercial salt, baking powder and antacids. Do not use aluminum cookware or deodorants containing aluminum.
18. Do not drink fluoridated water.
19. Avoid distilled liquors.
20. Limit use of a microwave oven.

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