By Carolyn Guilford
Even in the middle of summer, it’s not too late for spring cleaning. In fact this is a great time to clean the pantry and prepare for cleaner eating, and better health.
Let’s start by eliminating all processed foods, old boxes of packaged foods, white flour, sugar, and the old dusty canned goods. Move canned veggies and fruits to the staging area for emergency/get-away/evacuation gear. You’ll want to take them when you go.
However, for day to day healthy eating you want the freshest and best foods for a quick stir-fry of veggies and salads. Or, make a cool smoothie made with with fresh fruit and kale in the blender.
Remove all traces of food stuffs with hydrogenated vegetable oils, imitation fats, brominated vegetable oils, BHT, and BHA, artificial sweeteners, Acesulfame-K, animal or vegetable shortening, trans fats, chemical dyes, MSG, nitrites, nitrates(found primarily in lunch meats, cured meats, deli meats), hydrolyzed vegetable protein, high fructose corn syrup and anything else your Grand Mom wouldn’t have recognized or used in her kitchen.
These modern-day food chemicals have caused the heartbreak of untold families in the form of reproductive disorders, developmental problems, brain damage, weakened immune systems, diabetes, cancer and heart disease, all leading to disability and premature death.
Re-stock your cupboards with whole grain pastas, glass packed tomatoes and other favorite veggies, and small quantities of canned wild caught salmon and tuna for a quick turn over, as well as clean organic cereals. These are lower in sugar, and absent unhealthy chemicals.
Pair the cereals with something new. Instead of cows’ milk opt for Rice Milk, oat milk, or almond milk – try each over time to determine your families favorite. Use other dairy products sparingly. But when you do buy dairy products, choose ones that are all natural, organic and only consume in small amounts.
On your shopping list, buy eggs from cage-free chickens, then add fresh wild caught fish, kosher and organic meats. The goal is to really pay attention to what you eat, and where it came from.
To do this, read all food labels; you don’t want to start bringing food chemicals back into your home.
Remember that the best produce is organically grown, in-season and close to home . It’s easy to start a pot of something you love, growing vegetables in your own yard.
A really great trick for snackers in your family is to keep a large bowl of cut-up fruit in the front of the refrigerator so that anyone who opens it will see the fruit bowl first. Also, keep easy salad fixings in the front of the fridge, with eggs already boiled and peeled, tomatoes and other favorites cut-up, and spice it up with grapes, raisons, or other dried fruit, nuts and home-made dressing. These are the best snacks of all.
The next step in this lifestyle spring and summer cleaning is to start clipping and trading recipes with friends and neighbors, or go online to find coupons for healthy products.
Of course, making food from scratch is the best way to feed your family in a healthy manner versus processed foods, so look for recipes of quick, easy, foods made with wholesome, healthful ingredients.
Take lunch to work and school to minimize unhealthy choices. The result is you will see your family grow and flourish in health.
Remember, Health is a Choice! This is the perfect time of year to bring a new sense of wellbeing and health to the home, by creating new lifestyle habits. Out with the old, and in with a brand new way of life.
Editor’s Note: Carolyn Guilford is a former Critical Care Nurse who now specializes in the care of Clients with Heart Disease, Diabetes and Cancer as a Certified Consulting Nutritionist. She is the author of three books, “Health Restoration 101,” “Health is a Choice!” and “Turn Cancer Off – And Live,” and can be reached at: 912 236-8987 or by e-mail at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Comments