10 Healthy Food Swaps for a Healthier Lifestyle

10 healthy food swaps that will change you and your families health for the better.

June 17, 2018 forever changed my life. 

That Father’s Day I lost my mom. Without warning, without any signs. One minute we were in a conversation and the next she was with our Heavenly Father. She was 59 years old. 

We later learned what happened. She passed away from Cardio Vascular Disease. Cholesterol plaque completely covered her heart and we had no idea. She had just gone into the doctor a month prior for a yearly “check up” and had a clean bill of health. However, we had no idea the health problems going on inside her body. 

Finding my why.

As I continue to celebrate each birthday and anniversary year after year, I am forced to reflect on the why of it all. Why did this happen? Why am I taking so much time to make our own food? And even more important why is this homesteading lifestyle so important to me?

As I reflect on all the whys, I am reminded of my deeper why that started this all. You see, when I started this homesteading journey it was because of my middle daughter’s extreme eczema. But after June 17, 2018 my why shifted entirely. My entire why is no longer about keeping eczema at bay. 

The reason I feel so strongly about the foods we eat, is to make sure that what my family puts into their bodies are clean, wholesome, and healthy. God opened my eyes on that day to remind me that the foods we put into our body make a difference in how we care for the INSIDE of our bodies. 

So, I choose to make the harder choice. I choose to grow my own food instead of buy from the store when I can. I choose to buy bulk ingredients and make as much as I can from scratch. And I continue to choose to keep as much processed foods out of our diets as possible. Because all those things matter deeply to me.

I didn’t just wake up one day and do all these things. It is a process and a process that you need to start at a slow pace or you’ll get burned out. Slowly changing out your process snacks for a healthy snack or one ingredients for another,  will take time so enjoy the journey.

Are you wondering where to even begin with healthier options? Today I will share my top 10 healthy food swaps that you can do in your kitchen. The healthy swap of different foods I am sharing is where I started. These simple changes is where my whole journey began.

1. Table Salt to Real Salt

One of the first ingredients I changed in my kitchen was salt. 

I always bought the cheap salt to save a buck. But then I learned how bad they are for you and how much better a good wholesome salt is. I use Redmond Real Salt, that I get right from their website, in and on all my foods. I save the cheap table salt for cleaning.

The typical modern refined salt has been stripped and processed, thus making it very unhealthy for our bodies. Once it is stripped of all its natural minerals, they then add in iodine, fluoride, anti-caking food additives, and bleaching residues. All these things are not good for you. 

So, what you are looking for is a salt that is natural and pure. A good sea salt that they have not stripped and added anything to. For me, I really enjoy Redmond Real Salt. 

This is a really great way to get started and probably one of the easiest!

2. Fake Syrup to 100% Pure Maple Syrup

A change I made right away was to stop buying the cheap processed syrup and switching to 100% pure maple syrup. Spoiler alert….. the fake syrups aren’t even syrup at all! Look at the ingredients, there is no maple syrup in the bottle. It is just made to taste like it.

You will pay more for real syrup, but it is the better choice and so worth it. Pure maple syrup is so sweet already that there is no reason to have to add anything else to it. 

You are looking for a syrup that has 1 ingredient, 100% pure maple syrup. I buy my syrup from a sweet family in New Hampshire, called Tamarack Farms. They have delicious syrup that you can buy in smaller bottles or even in bulk. I tend to buy in bulk twice a year!

I use this on pancakes and waffles, in things that I want to add a healthy sweetener to, and in my coffee! (I’ll share my coffee recipe next!)

3. Coffee Creamer to Splash of Milk and Honey/Maple Syrup

This was a hard transition for me because I loved my different flavored coffee creamers. 

There are so many unhealthy ingredients and added sugar to the store bought coffee creamers, I knew I needed to make the change. 

I was able to transition off of the creamers by putting a splash of milk and a dash of pure maple syrup in my coffee. As I got use to this my need for super sweet coffee changed and I started adding less and less maple syrup.

Eventually I was able to stop the maple syrup all together and I just like a splash of whole milk or heavy cream in my coffee now. 

For the times that I am looking for a coffee creamer treat, I now make my own. I love to make up this pumpkin spice coffee creamer in the fall and this peppermint mocha creamer in the winter months. I also will add ground cinnamon right into my coffee grounds, every once in a while, before they brew which gives my cup of coffee a nice flavor!

Making my own coffee creamers at home lets me be in control of how much sugar I am intaking with a cup of coffee. 

I used to worry about not having coffee creamer for guests, but now I will make them up a cup with my syrup and milk concoction and guests have enjoyed it as much as I have. Well at least that’s what they tell me!

4. Crisco/Margarine to Full Fat Butter

If you are using Crisco for your baking, please throw it out! 

Did you know that our bodies actually need real fat? Contrary to what society and other fad diets have told you, our bodies need good healthy fats. But they need them to be the real deal. 

Butter, tallow, or a healthy cooking oil is the healthy choice. Crisco and margarine are fake substitutions for butter and your body does not know what to do with it. It is much healthier for you to use butter.

Crisco can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease. Both things I want to avoid, so I remove it from our diets. 

Much along the same lines of Crisco, margarine does the same thing. If you don’t use Crisco when baking, but use Margarine, I encourage you to start using regular butter instead of either of them. Cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol level come from trans-fat, like saturated fat, and a stick of margarine is loaded with it. 

5. Vegetable Oils to Avocado Oil 

This probably isn’t a new thing for anyone. It has been talked about for a while now. Vegetable oil and canola oils are just not healthy for you. 

They are cheap, which is why most companies and restaurants use them, but they are not good for you. Switching out your oils to an avocado oil, olive oil, or even a coconut oil is much healthier.

Avocado oil and olive oil are not chemically processed and they offer a higher amount of healthy fats as compared to canola oil or vegetable oils. 

Making these small changes like switching out your oils can have huge health benefits to your body.

I prefer avocado oil over olive oil because it has a milder taste and can be added to any dish or baked good and you can’t taste it. I buy my avocado oil in bulk on Azure Standard. This has been the best price I can find for a whole gallon. 

6. All Purpose Flour to Whole Grain

This pantry item is not one of the easy swaps but I feel strongly about it so I wanted to add it.

All purpose flour has been stripped of the germ and bran, thus the products made with it are stripped of the good wholesome nutrients that wheat has. When your grain is left whole and in tacked, then milled right before baking you are going to get the most nutrient dense food.

Wheat is one of the first whole foods, but what we have done to it during the process is what has made it unhealthy. 

Traditional white bread made with all purpose flour is full of starch and protein, but is voided of vitamins and minerals. Our bodies were not meant to live on just the starch and protein of the wheat. 

I do understand this isn’t as easy of a switch as the other ingredients. You can’t just find whole wheat berries at the grocery store and you do need a grain mill to be able to use them. It may take time work up to this, but I urge you to look into whole grains. I buy my wheat berries on Azure Standard. 

My dear friend Andrea, at www.dearmark23.com and I created a beginners course to whole grains, including gluten free whole grains. If you are unsure the health benefits of whole grains or don’t know how to bake with them I encourage you to check out our course to get started. 

Andreas website is full of whole grain recipes as well and I have shared our whole grain gluten free bread recipe here before.

7. Canned Fruit in Syrup and Canned Vegetables to Fresh Fruit and Fresh Vegetables

This one is pretty self explanatory and an easy way to get started. Replacing canned fruits in syrup with real fruits and vegetables is always better. 

If you truly enjoy fruit in cans, look for fruits that are in 100% fruit juice instead of syrup. This reduces the amount of added sugars you are getting into your body, plus it will be much better for you.

Getting a good dose of healthy fruits and vegetables will always be better for you. The next time you reach for the canned peaches, try buying a bag of real peaches instead!

8. Refined White Sugar to Raw Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar

If you have a sweet tooth, I have good news for you!

Sugar gets a lot of bad rap for what it does to your body. And I agree! The processed refined white sugar that you can buy anywhere is not good for you. 

But my unpopular opinion is the type of sugar you put into your body matters and determines how healthy the product is. 

Of course this is in moderation. Anything, even good things, that are overused can be bad for you. Sugar is an inflammatory food so being wise with your sugar content is important. 

In my opinion a great alternative to refined sugar is raw evaporated cane juice sugar, that I buy on Azure Standard. This is a much different product than the refined white sugar you buy at the store. The juice from the cane sugar plant is evaporated and crystalized into sugar but stopped there. Which means it is in it’s rawest form.

I always look for ingredients in their rawest form to cook with. The least processed you can get the better. 

9. Processed Honey to Raw Honey

Just like above, raw is usually always better. Honey is no different. 

Finding a local raw honey source will always be the best for you. Honey is an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and an antioxidant. This means you can use raw honey in cooking but also medicinally. 

It’s amazing the properties raw honey holds and if you can get it locally it’s even better. 

10. Baking Powder to Aluminum Free Baking Powder

This one is still up for debate. However for me I try and stay away from aluminum in any of my products, including beauty products. 

Although there are resources out there that state it is only harmful when consumed in large quantities, I choose to stay away from it. Not to mention the metallic taste baking powder with aluminum can leave.

Aluminum free baking powder reacts with liquid and not heat. Which means when making this switch you will need to move fast and get your baked good in the oven fairly quickly to get the maximum rise. 

These 10 healthy food swaps are the start to a healthy lifestyle change.

If you are like I was years ago, wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, but unsure of where to start, I encourage you to first find your why? Behind every why is the driving force that will encourage you and push you through the hard days when you want to run to the store and buy the quick processed stuff or fast food.

Your why will give you the strength to step out of your comfort zone and learn to make good wholesome foods from scratch. 

These 10 healthy food swaps is where I started and it made a big difference in how I cooked and fed my family. There is always a healthy option that you can change out, so start with these 10 simple swaps from your kitchen. 

Remember it is not a healthy diet we are following but a lifestyle change using delicious real food ingredients. It may take some time for your taste buds to get used to the switch but they will and you will be so much healthier for it!