7 Simple Swaps That Will Transform Your Diet

Does your diet need an upgrade? Three vital words: eat real food.

The way to do this is to change your kitchen into an environment of nourishment and healing. Take away all the sugary and highly processed foods that increase your weight and damage your health. Eat real foods such as fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and pure animal proteins like fish, chicken, and eggs.

The seven simple swaps below will improve your diet without radically changing your lifestyle.

1. Change your breakfast to a protein smoothie.

Instead of eating sugary food for breakfast, go for a protein shake. It will feed your metabolic flames and help you burn more calories all day. It will also help you maintain your blood sugar at an optimum level and keep your energy high. Blend super foods similar to kale or kiwi with proteins such as walnuts or hemp seeds, healthy fats such as avocado or coconut, and phytonutrients such as berries or mango.

2. Improve your choice of meats and eggs

Stay away from hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and mercury that can be found in grain-fed meats, eggs, and commercial fish. Instead, search for products from pasture-raised, grass-fed and free-range animals. Buy fish from wild or natural farms. Don’t worry about restricting yourself to egg whites. Yolks consist of vitamins and fats that help the brain function properly and help stabilize your mood.  

3. Replace gluten starches with green vegetables

Gluten, a protein in wheat, barley, rye, spelt and some oats, can create problems for some people. However, even gluten-free grains increase blood sugar and insulin. To prevent weight gain and diabetes, choose leafy or cruciferous vegetable instead of starch.

4. Replace bad oils with healthy oils

A lot of our calories come from corn, soybean, canola and sunflower oils. These oils have unhealthy omega-6 fats. Instead, consume extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) or extra virgin coconut butter or oil for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.

Coconut butter and coconut oil are high in lauric acid. This is a healthy fat that is contained in breast milk. For high-heat cooking, grape seed oil is also a safe bet.

5. Replace bad fats with healthy fats.

Think of healthy, anti-inflammatory fats. Examples of healthy fats are ¼ avocados or 1 serving of wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, nut butter (like almond or cashew) and seed butter.

6. Replace snacks with nuts

Replace sugary and processed snacks in your diet with raw unsalted nuts (almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts or pecans). They will fill you with protein, fiber, minerals and healthy fats. Avoid nuts prepared in oil. Enjoy 1-2 handfuls (10-12 nuts each) once or twice a day.

7. Replace coffee with green tea

Replace coffee with green tea to profit from healthy antioxidants and stick to one to three cups per day.

Next step: upgrade your kitchen too. Spend an afternoon hunting and gathering.

Take out all the sugary and processed foods. Have no mercy! These result in weight gain and can cause damage to health.

Fill up on fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and lean animal protein (fish, chicken, and eggs).

Finally, applaud yourself! You have changed your kitchen into an area of nourishment and healing.