If you haven't cooked often its hard to know what to get for your kitchen and shopping can be overwhelming when there are so many kitchen gadgets! If you are trying to stock a new kitchen and trying to be healthy it gets just plain confusing. So, for all of you who either don't cook and want to start OR for those of you who want to start cooking healthier here are a few must haves for a healthy eating kitchen. 

1. Salad spinner: I use it to wash not only for leafy greens but basically all my produce. It makes lettuce last longer because it doesn't get too wet (and then wilt) when you wash it and it makes washing all other produce so much easier. 

2. Chef knife: You'll be chopping a lot of produce and nothing makes it easier than a good, sharp 8" chef knife. Make sure you keep it nice and sharp so it is easy to use. 

3. Storage containers: A good set of tupperware is a must have. You'll need it to store all your delicious, healthy goodness and keep it nice and fresh. 

4. Spice wrack: Healthy eating is all about enjoying the real flavors of food (which we usually miss because we slather things in salt, butter and/or sugar). Part of enhancing the natural flavor in food is using herbs and spices. You'll be surprised at how good healthy tastes when you season properly. 

5. Menu planner: Healthy eating is impossible if you don't have a plan. Have a menu planner to help you save money, waste less, and eat better. It really works. For more info on that go here. 

6. Oil mister: Helps you get enough oil to do the job, but not so much you are getting excess fat. Its great for greasing pans, putting a little oil on salads, adding extra flavor and mouth feel to vegetables and oiling bread dough. I'll be honest, I don't have one yet, but it is on my wish list. 

7. Blender: I can't tell you how handy it is to have a blender. I use it for chopping and mixing so many things. Like my alfredo, avocado sauce, and tomato soup. 

8. Handheld shopper: If you are new to cooking and your knife skills aren't that great this is the gadget for you. You roughly chop the produce, throw it in, and simply push down the top until it has chopped it as small as you want. My husband loves using it. 

9. Kitchen scissors: I use mine to chop herbs, open tofu packages, trim fat off meat and a million other things. They are such an simple addition but they really are worth adding to your kitchen's gadget collection. 

10. Small plates: The sizes of your dishes really determines how much you pile on your plate. Keep your dinner plates and bowls small and you'll eat less without even trying. 

People ask me all the time for my opinion of various diet plans. "What do you think of the Paleo diet? Have you heard of the Atkins diet? Have you looked into the Alkaline diet? I'm on the cabbage soup diet, what do you know about it?" This list of diets goes on and on.  Everyone wants to find the best diet but with so many out there its hard to know which one to follow. So, to everyone who wanted to know which diet I think you should follow, here is the answer: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet. Bet you haven't heard of that one! Well, maybe you have if you went to the doctor for high blood pressure. Its more commonly known as the DASH diet. I like this diet better than My Plate, Weight Watchers, Carb Counting, or the Mediterranean Diet (all of which are good diets to follow, I just don't think they are the best). 

Why do you think DASH is the best? 
After researching different diets it is my professional opinion that this diet best represents what the human body is designed to eat. It includes all the food groups and emphasizes low fat foods, eating less meat and eating more produce. After seeing the health benefits associated with this diet, and learning about our body's nutrient needs, I feel this is the best diet to recommend hands down. This really is what your body needs. 

What do you eat on the DASH diet? 
For a 2000 calorie diet you need:

• 7-8 servings of whole grain (7-8 ounces) 
• 4-5 servings of vegetables (2-2.5 cups) 
• 4-5 servings of fruits (2-2.5 cups) 
• 2-3 servings nonfat dairy (16 ounces) 
• 2 or less servings of meat (6 ounces or less) 
• 1 serving of nuts, seeds, and legumes (1/2 cup)
• 2-3 servings of fats and oils (3 teaspoons oil)
• Less than 5 sweets per week. 
  

It may sound simple, but I dare you to try it for a week. Getting 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day takes work and believe me, if you are eating like this you won't have room for sweets. 

What makes it so beneficial? 
This diet was originally designed to help combat high blood pressure. It is high in calcium, potassium, and magnesium which are important for regulating blood pressure (and bone health). It is also low in fat which is good for your heart. It is high in fiber which helps protect you agains things like diverticulits and colon cancer. It is low in calories which helps with weight loss but it is also large in volume which keeps you full. It helps you maintain a healthy weight which protects agains type 2 diabetes. It is high in phytonutrients and antioxidants which decrease your risk of cancer. I could go on, but you get the point. Pretty much every disease plaguing America today can be prevented by following the DASH diet. Now when you are talking about diets with your friends you can tell them that you know which diet is the best, hands down, and you can tell them why. 

Let me know how it goes trying to follow this diet for a week! 

Over the summer David's 86 year old grandmother told me the funniest organic food story. Her friend was a farmer who grew produce for a vegetable stand in the summer. One day they were discussing the latest food fad of organic produce, which the farmer felt had been extremely good for business. "I mark half my tomatoes as organic and sell them for twice as much. I keep the others as non-organic and sell them at regular price. All my tomatoes are gone and I'm making more money than ever!" David's grandma thought it was pretty funny that people were willing to pay twice as much for tomatoes just because they were called organic.  The question remains, is it worth it? 

What does organic mean? 
According to AND organic means "meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products [that] come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones" and "organic plant foods [that] are produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering or ionizing radiation." In addition "a government-approved certifier must inspect the farm to ensure these standards" are upheld and in addition "there are USDA standards for organic handling and processing."  AND also clarifies that "organic foods aren't necessary grown without pesticides or fertilizers, but instead with those types found naturally in the environment, with substances on an approved list, or with insects that are natural predators."

What are the benefits? 
The main benefits are that it lowers your exposure to pesticides and resistant strains of bacteria. According to an article written by David D Holzman for the Environmental Health Perspectives "organic produce had a 30% lower risk of pesticide contamination than conventional produce."  However, he goes on to explain that an organic diet "has not been proven to offer a clinically relevant nutritional advantage over a conventional diet." 

Why is it so expensive? 
What it boils down to is that farming organic isn't as effective as conventional methods. According to John Kearney in his article, Food Consumption Trends Drivers,  the"higher price for organic foods (especially meat) can be attributed to reduced crop yields, higher cost of organic feed, lower animal stocking rates and higher labour requirements." It takes more time, money, and energy to grow organic and in the end you get less yield. To compensate farmers have to charge more for organic. 

Is it worth it? 
That all depends on why you are doing it. If it is important for you to decrease your exposure to pesticides by 30%  then yes. If you think it is better for the environment, go for it. If you are doing it because it is more nutritious you aren't getting what you paid for. I personally don't "buy organic." When I can I do go for locally grown produce, but I rarely pay for organic. It just isn't worth it to me. If it is worth it to you, great, just realize organic does not mean more nutritious. 

There is one last point I need to make about organic produce to clarify why I get a little worked up when people say organic is so much healthier and encourage people to buy organic. 

First, have you been to Whole Foods? I was greatly disappointed by that store. I expected to find great unique foods to add some fun variety to my diet. Instead I was bombarded with bogus marketing campaigns trying to make you feel good about getting ripped off by their prices. I was disgusted. Same brand of almond milk as Winco, but its $1.50 more. Don't even get me started about how all the produce was over $7.00/lb. No wonder people think they can't afford to eat healthy! I feel organic is often used as a marketing hype to take advantage of people who are trying to do the right thing. It makes me mad! Especially because my goal is to show people that everyone can afford to be healthy which is hard to believe if you think you have to shop at Whole Foods to be healthy. 

Second is something called orthorexia. Basically orthorexia is when people are so health conscious they become unhealthy. No, really, healthy can be taken too far. Check out the link. It has been my experience that often the people most "passionate" about organic often suffer from orthorexia. You know who I'm talking about, the ones who get angry or are almost in tears when the can't eat their healthy foods? The ones who are so smug or nazi about health food you can't stand to be around them? I'm not saying all "health nuts" have orthorexia, I just feel organic is often used as a crutch for them and that is not healthy. 

I do get frustrated by this organic hype. When I walked out of Whole Foods for the first time I called my husband and vented to him for 30 minutes. There are certain prominent fitness instructors that I really think take nutrition too far and it drives me crazy when people try to eat like them because it is "healthy." This stuff gets my blood boiling faster than anything else, but I want you to understand why. It isn't about being right or wrong, though many people think that. 

I got into nutrition when girls at my junior high started to have eating disorders.  It got me thinking about the relationship people have with food. So often eating healthy is a major stressor in peoples lives because of weight loss, organic food, eating disorders, or just worrying about if they are providing the best nutrition for their family.  Hype and food fads bother me because it uses people, confuses people, and takes their money without giving them any real benefit. People who are just trying to do the best they know how with the knowledge they have. I started Natural Nutrition because I wanted to help people get out of the confusion and find real answers. I do it because it is something I'm passionate about. So if I ever roll my eyes at Whole Foods or the latest fad diet please don't be offended. Its not you, its the food fad. 




 

*Check out the end of this article to learn about a FREE CLASS and FREE GIFT. 

Most people think that eating healthy is so expensive. Its not. Period. Let me explain. 

Many people confuse convenience and cost. Is it more convenient to eat off the Wendy's menu? Definitely. Less expensive? Not at all. Don't believe me? Click on the image to the left. You can get a whole lot of healthy foods for a lot less than a BigMac meal. 

Still not convinced? Let me teach you the basics of eating healthy on a budget and you'll start to see how inexpensive it can be. 

Where to start
Assess: You need to asses what healthy is for you. Everyone is different (shocker, I kn0w), and therefore their nutritional needs will be different as well. Assess your individual needs to figure out what you need to be healthy. A good general starting place is eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and eat less processed foods, animal fats, and sugar. 


Plan: If you don't make a plan you'll never get anywhere. The same thing goes for healthy eating. Plan out a menu, plan out a shopping list, plan out how much you will spend, plan your snacks, and plan out time to make (and eat) meals. If you don't have a plan you'll spend a lot more on food and eat a lot less healthy. 


Carry It Out: A plan you don't carry out is pointless. Do what you've got to do to make it happen. Get a day planner, get a menu planner, make meals ahead and freeze them, set reminders for yourself. Follow your plan and you'll be successful and save money.  

How You Save
There are multiple ways you save by doing this, but let me list out a few of the big ones.

• Less food waste
• Less eating out
• Less unnecessary purchases 
• Less on medical bills

Seems pretty simple, right? I won't sugar coat it; it is hard and inconvenient at first, but you CAN do it. If you want to get started but feel overwhelmed contact me and I can help or check out my resource page to get you started. 


P.S. 
I teach a FREE CLASS on this in March. Like Natural Nutrition on Facebook so you don't miss the info on when and where and as a bonus you'll be entered in to win a FREE GIFT.