Eating Right Made Easy
Eating better isn’t easy. Most of the choices you have to make about food come at you quickly, when you are often far from the information you need. And how many people even know what tef is?
We have decided to put together a handy list of which foods make the best, healthy substitutes for the unhealthy foods you are already eating.
This should help quiet that persistent argument that eating healthy means giving up the foods you love. On the contrary, almost every food on the unhealthy side of this list has a very similar, if not identical cousin on the healthy side.
Eating well is more about knowledge than limitations. We hope this helps you open the door.
Note: Both charts can be re-categorized by clicking on the column headings
| Traditional Food | Healthier Alternative(s) |
|---|---|
| Vinegar (white) | Raw + Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Rice Vinegar, Plum (umeboshi) Vinegar |
| Milk (Cows, Pasteurized) | Almond Milk, Rice Milk/Organic Soy Milk, Raw Organic Cow’s Milk |
| Butter, Traditional | Spectrum Spread, Flax seed Spread, Raw, Organic Butter, Clarified Butter (Ghee) |
| Cheese (Cow’s Milk) | Goat Cheese, Feta Cheese, Rice Cheese, Raw Milk Cow Cheese |
| White Bread | Sprouted Multi-grain Bread, Sprouted Whole Wheat, Rye Bread + Linseed – real!, Whole Spelt Flour Breads |
| Saltines, Refined Wheat Crackers | Brown Rice Crackers |
| Beef/Lamb – Factory Farm | Pasture-Raised + Grass-Fed Beef, Pasture-Raised + Grass-Fed Lamb, Seitan-meat substitute, Fermented Soy (Tempeh) |
| Chicken – Factory Farm | Pasture-Raised Chickens, Cage-Free Chickens |
| Eggs – Factory Farm | Pasture-Raised Eggs, Cage-Free Eggs, Omega-3 Enhanced Eggs, Tofu Scramblers |
| Pancakes, Refined Grain | Whole Buckwheat Pancakes, Multi-grain Pancakes |
| Waffles, Refined Grain + HFCS | Buckwheat, Gluten Free Waffles |
| White Sugar | Brown Turbinado Sugar, Stevia, Rice Syrup Crystals |
| Syrups, ‘Maple’ + HFCS | Agave Syrup, Maple Syrup |
| Honey | Raw + Unfiltered Honey, Agave Syrup, Local Honey |
| Orzo – Rice Shaped Pasta + Couscous | Quinoa |
| Refined Grain Pastas | Whole Wheat Pasta, Brown Rice, Quinoa, Amaranth, Tef, Buckwheat (soba) Noodles |
| White, Wheat Flour | Whole Spelt Flour, Whole Buckwheat Flour, Brown Rice Flour |
| White Rice | Brown Rice, Red Rice, Wild Rice |
| Potato Chips | Sweet Potato Chips, Taro Chips |
| Corn (GMO) Chips | Blue Corn Chips, Rice Chips |
| Peanut Butter | Almond Butter, Cashew Butter, Sesame Butter, Organic Peanut Butter |
| Roasted Peanuts | Raw Almonds, Pecans, Macadamias, Cashews (dry roasted) |
| Salted Sunflower Seeds | Raw Pumpkin Seeds |
| Pizza | Brown Rice Flour Pizza with Rice Cheese, Whole Wheat Pizza with Buffalo Cheese |
| Salt, Iodized | Celtic Sea Salt (Gray), Himalayan (Pink), Salt Lake Salts (Red) |
| Jellies – w/ HFCS | Fruit Juice Sweetened Preserves |
| Vegetable/Cooking Canola Oil | Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (High Flash Point) |
| Salad Dressing Soy Oil | Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Flax Oil, Avacado Oil |
| Soup Bouillon | Organic Chicken Broth, Free-Range Broth, Vegan Vegetable Buillon |
| Dark Soft Drinks/Sodas | Fruit Juice sweetened Spritzers |
| Citrus Sodas | Club Soda + Lemon/Lime and Stevia |
| Coffee | Whole Leaf Teas (Danelion Root in Spring, Chicory, Green, Black), Tecchino Coffee Substitute, Mushroom Coffee |
| Candy + Milk Chocolate | Dark Chocolate (+60% cocoa) |
Revisions
Version 1.0 of this chart was released on 2009-03-16. All revisions will be noted here.
March 16th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Great list and very helpful.
March 16th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I used to munch on corn chips all day, now I eat walnuts. No more salt plus I get the advantage of omega 3 fats. Try it, you’ll like it!
March 16th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I can relate to this article as I know from first hand experience just how hard it is to lose weight, and to maintain it. I wrote a book called Alone in the Storm, which has recently been published, and it is about an overweight woman who subconsciously put on the weight to protect herself from being hurt by love. She struggles with her weight issues, and in the end she manages to overcome them, but not before she learns some important lessons about herself and life.
Carla Cunningham, Published Book Author of Alone in the Storm
The website for my book is – http://www.eloquentbooks.com/AloneInTheStorm.html, or if you’d like more information about my book you can email me at cmccunningham@msn.com
March 17th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Now a days, it is pretty easy to obtain these items too, even in the “value” grocer chains. Just a few years ago, you would have had to go to a specialty health food store that would ask you to join their cult and rip you off.
The great thing is many of these substitutes above are not only 25x better for you than their predecessor but they taste better as well!
Buckwheat pancakes…yum!
John should post my recipe for the ‘cakes.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Maybe I will tone…I can roll out your recipes. Why not really?
July 18th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I don’t get it, why substitute the sunflower seeds, I thought they are healthy?
August 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Helen,
The reason salted sunflower seeds are listed is due to the packaging. When seeds are already roasted and salted, they use hydrogenated oils to roast them and they sit in packaging or in bulk bins and they become rancid. It is best to purchase seeds raw and roast yourself in olive oil, cocunut oil or sesame oil.