If you’re just starting out, just learning and baby-stepping away from packaged and boxed foods into a diet based on wholesome, natural traditional foods, those first few weeks (months? years?) can feel daunting at best, and completely impossible at worst. It’s hard, especially if you were raised on Lean Cuisine, Pop Tarts and Crystal Light. Never mind the conflicting information in the media: the government tells you to stick to low fat, but recently published studies illustrate the importance of high quality fats – including butter. While Nourished Kitchen focuses exclusively on real foods, traditionally prepared to maximize nutrition, the site really centers around the pleasure of cooking – and for those just starting out, just giving up the frozen suppers and drive-thrus, it’s not enough to share recipes or techniques; rather, you need more practical and hands-on advice. So here it is. Print it out and pin it to your fridge, because it’s a good one – and I promise not to wax poetic about the luxury of raw cream or a freshly picked peach still warm from the sun – that is, until the next post. And if you want even more comprehensive guidance, check out Real Food for Rookies, a new online class from Kelly the Kitchen Kop covering everything from reading labels, to cooking healthy meals even the pickiest of spouses and kids will love. She even features exclusive interviews with leaders in the traditional foods movement like Sally Fallon Morrell of the Weston A Price Foundation and Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of the Whole Soy Story – something even long-time real food enthusiasts can appreciate.
1. Learn to read labels, really read them.
My first bit advice to anyone learning how to ditch processed foods and cook from scratch is simple: learn to read labels. When you take the time to actually read labels thoroughly, you’ll find crazy words like disodium guanylate, TBHQ (a form of butane – that’s lighter fluid!), MSG (a neurotoxin), artificial colors, nitrates and nitrites, BHA and BHT, and others. Taking the time to read labels, and then follow up on the ingredients you don’t immediately recognize is often enough to prevent you from tossing those foods into your shopping basket. After all, who wants to serve up a plate of food laced with lighter fluid, neurotoxins and known human carcinogens to their children?
2. Ditch the boxes and packages and learn to stick to single-ingredient foods.
So once you’ve read the labels on those boxes, backs, tins and packages of processed foods, it’s time to ditch them. Make the move to single ingredient foods; that is, only purchase foods from the store that contain one ingredient: a bag of brown rice, a bottle of olive oil, a package of butter, a pint of honey.
3. Give up that low-fat mentality, and dive into some butter and olive oil and maybe even tallow.
Do yourself a favor, and give up that low-fat mentality. The low-fat, low-cholesterol dietary dogma of the 70s, 80s and 90s has largely been discredited; moreover, it’s probably worse for our collective health as it ignores our evolutionary heritage and the very foods that nourished the good health of our ancestors who were largely free of chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Learn to love real fats: butter, coconut oil, olive oil and even grass-fed tallow and pastured lard. They’re rich in fat soluble nutrients – vitamins that are critical to reproductive and cognitive health. Kelly covers this topic extensively in Real Food for Rookies – she even includes interviews with Sally Fallon Morrell and Tom Naughton outlining why transfats are so harmful, and why natural fats are so good.
4. Ditch refined sweeteners, and choose unrefined sweeteners in strict moderation.
Ditch the sugar, the high fructose corn syrup and, yes, even the agave nectar. Sugar, natural and traditional or otherwise, is not good for anyone’s health; however, if you need a little something sweet to help you make that transition and reset your tastebuds, add raw honey, molasses, date sugar, unrefined cane sugar, sorghum syrup and brown rice syrup to your basket. Moreover, use these sweeteners in smaller and smaller quantities each time you prepare a dish, whip up a batch of cookies or sweeten your tea.
5. Shop for fresh, local and sustainably grown fruits and vegetables.
Vegetables number among my many not-so-secret loves, but if you’re going to start cooking real food for your family, you need to start to love them too. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly low prices of frozen and tinned vegetables; on a ounce-by-ounce basis, they’re not less expensive than fresh vegetables, purchased on sale and in season. Besides, fresh vegetables – particularly picked recently from local farms practicing sustainable methods – often offer richer and more complex flavors. Good flavor helps you to feed your family foods they’ll actually like – without dousing them in processed food additives or boiling them to death over the range.
6. Shop for fresh milk, or, at the very least, always choose grass-fed.
I’ve shared my love of fresh milk and why I drink raw milk before, but if you can tolerate dairy foods, choosing the right milks, butters, cheeses and creams makes all the difference – not only in flavor, but also in nutritive value. Fresh milk from grass-fed cows is rich in micronutrients; what’s more, it’s also rich in immune-building beneficial bacteria and food enzymes. If fresh milk just isn’t your style, at the very least choose vat-pasteurized milk from grass-fed cows as it is richer in nutrients and wholesome fats than conventionally produced milk and a far sight better than even most organic milk you find in the dairy case at your grocery store.
7. Learn to love (the right) meats.
Much like choosing milk, the effort you place into choosing the right meats makes all the difference. The conditions of concentrated animal feed operations are deplorable, but there’s an alternative beyond meatless Mondays and out-and-out vegetarianism. Choosing meats from pasture- and grass-based operations ensures that you consume high quality meats from animals that were raised with respect for their natural diets and humane treatment. These meats are richer in micronutrients, less apt to contamination by pathogens like e. coli and salmonella, and are better sources of wholesome fats than their conventionally raised counterparts.
8. Develop a repertoire of fast, easy, simple foods your family actually likes (so you don’t end up in the drive-thru).
Once you’ve figured out what not to buy, and also what it’s best to buy, it’s best to develop a plan that’ll prevent you from relapsing into your old ways and the unhealthy comfort of a standard american diet. We all get stressed. We all become overworked. We all become tired, so it’s important to have a back-up plan – a repertoire of fast, easy and simple foods that your family can appreciate and that keep you from heading to the drive-thru. Things like chicken fingers (made with almond flour, and without TBHQ), or homemade sun tea instead of soda, or, better yet, learn to use your slowcooker to make healthy “no-fuss” meals. In Real Food for Rookies, Kelly delves deeper into real-world and practical techniques families can use to prepare better school lunches, snacks and family meals, so be sure to check it out.
9. Try some super foods. Who knows? You may end up loving them.
Don’t be afraid to try something new. Traditional peoples thrived on foods native to their region and these invariably included some form of a highly nutrient-dense food: liver, roe, shellfish, oily fish, fresh butter, cod liver oil. Sure, liver may not sound appealing initially, but it’s extraordinarily rich in vitamins and you might not even notice it, if you prepare it properly.
10. Give back to the real food community.
Lastly, give back to the real food community. Share with friends – not only articles covering real food, or real food recipes, but also by preparing wholesome meals for your family or for get-togethers. Use social media like twitter and facebook to share articles, your favorite blogs, ideas and activism alerts (did you know you can follow Nourished Kitchen on Facebook?). Volunteer at your local farmers market. Plant a community garden. Give some real food to your food bank. Teach schoolchildren how to cook. Just give back, because the movement depends on each one of us.
Good stuff as always Jenny!!
My one tip would be when starting to eat good fats again, let yourself eat as much as you want. Often if you were low fat or just didn’t eat much fat, you’re body will need to make up for lost time and you’ll be surprised how much fat you start to crave once you let yourself have it. So don’t be afraid to gobble down sticks of butter in the beginning, just let your body tell you what it needs. Chances are you are about to see some health issues resolve rather quickly just by freely consuming plenty of good fats!!!!
And don;t forget coconut and hemp oils – they are great! I highly recommend Sally Fallon’s books – NOURISHING TRADITIONS and EAT FAT, LOSE FAT about the importance of good fats in your diet.
Hemp oil’s got too much PUFA and you don’t know what shape it was in before it wound up in the refrigerated case (which I hope it was in) at the store. I don’t mess with it. Butter and coconut oil and olive oil are fine (though sometimes olive oil quality is questionable too).
I tell people the same thing about flax. PUFA. We get too much in the diet already.
That’s the exact experience I had, Lydia! I’ve been eating real food for 5 months now, and I would say for at least the first 3 and a half I could not get enough fat – this after years of not eating anywhere NEAR enough. I was eating so much butter and bacon grease… it was almost shocking. ; ) My body seems to be content now (and yes, health issues resolved very quickly), and while I eat less fat now than I did when I first switched to real foods, I still eat MASSES compared to how much I ate when I was vegan!
Skye, that’s great!! Good to hear a former vegan loving saturated animal fats and truly benefitting!! What changed your mind to switch from veganism? I love testimonies!!!
@ Lydia: Some people have been eating low fat for so long that their bodies can’t handle very much at first due to a lack of digestive enzymes (lipase) and stomach acid/bile. They need to build up the amount they have slowly and (maybe) take supps to help.
Betaine HCl is safe enough, NOW Foods sells one with pepsin added (always get it with pepsin, I hear that if you’re low on acid you’re often low on pepsin too). Take it right when you start your meal–start out with 1 capsule per meal, go a few days, go up to 2 capsules per meal, and go on like that til you feel a mild burning sensation in your stomach afterward, then cut back by 1 capsule. I’m given to understand that a LOT of people are short on acid–infection with H. pylori, if nothing else, will do that to you and coming off a carb-heavy diet (especially the industrially refined stuff), you can wind up with bacterial growth as well, in an organ which is supposed to be sterile. Bad stuff.
Wonderful post Jenny!
Love tip all the tips. I can really relate to 9. I recently tried raw bee pollen and I’m convinced it has really helped me improve my workout performance. The taste is even growing on me. Any tips on how to incorporate it into my diet. I’ve tried it on overnight whey oats and plain. Anything else you would suggest?
(At the other end of the spectrum I haven’t been brave enough to try an organ meats. Hopefully, in time.)
My husband eats it straight (I can’t), but it’s great added to smoothies.
Smoothies…good idea. Thanks. I’ve tried it straight but it’s not really my thing either.
BTW I meant “Loved all the tips.” Yeesh. I need to get more sleep.
Thanks for sharing all of your tips. I can’t find raw milk in my area, but continue to buy milk from the farmers’ market. Any suggestions on where to find butter from grass fed cows?
You can find grass-fed butter online (http://nourishedkitchen.com/where-to-buy/#butter). I really like Pure Indian Foods Ghee (LOVE IT, actually). Also, a well-stocked grocery store should stock KerryGold which is grass-fed and a good health food store will stock Organic Valley Pastured Butter (it’s in a green foil wrapper).
Organic Valley makes Pasture Butter which may be available in some health food stores or online.
http://www.organicvalley.coop/products/butter/pasture/
Great post Jenny! I’m going to share it on my page. Now more than ever I’m going deeper into traditional food as I prepare my body for pregnancy. I had liver for the first time last week and for the second time this week! My goal is to eat it once a week and I’m doing really well with it so far! I’m really surprised, I thought it would be the hardest transition. The first recipe was a curried chili and the second a rice bake. We ground up the liver and honestly, it didn’t taste any different than ground grass-fed beef or bison! I’m happily surprised!
2 great books that I’d like to suggest for your readers on top of your blog is Nourishing Traditions and Eat Fat, Lose Fat. Both really great books for real food newbies to learn about the principles behind traditional foods.
Hi Crystal – I saw you were a pre-natal coach and would like to suggest to you another book for your library in addition to Sally’s books (which are also incredible). When I was pregnant I LOVED the book by Nina Planck: Real Food for Mother and Baby which is an extension of Real Food; What to Eat and Why. It was my nutrition bible and kept me looking forward to the next meal instead of dreading the weight gain. I now have a healthy 11mo old, still nursing due to the nutrition suggestions by Nina for enhanced milk production and I’ve lost ALL the pregnancy weight (27lbs lighter than the day I found out I was pregnant actually) due to Real Food for Mother and Baby. It seriously changed my life through pregnancy and I will never go back to my media influenced, food pyramid, traditional college nutrition class days when “fat-free” was all the craze – and it caused me to put on over 30lbs over a 4 year period! Fat is where it’s at!!
Glad to hear about the book about real food for pregnancy.
I’m in the planning stages of preparing a cooking class for pregnant families as well as new families.
Hi Crystal. I hate to be one of those people…but please be careful about consuming that much liver when pregnant. Vitamin A toxicity is the cause of some SERIOUS birth defects. Since Vit. A is stored in adipose (fat) tissue, you could end up with quite a load of it in the body. I wonder if you’d consider cutting back to a modest portion once a month or so, and then skipping any supplements with > 1,000 IU of A.
Jackie –
I’d disagree. Vitamin A toxicity is virtually nonexistent when that vitamin A is consumed from food-based sources. Moreover, lack of vitamin A is concretely linked to malformation of the palate and other birth defects. Fat soluble vitamins are critical for health, and for expectant mothers in particular. I recommend people read this article on vitamin A: http://www.westonaprice.org/abcs-of-nutrition/167-vitamin-a-saga.html and would encourage expectant mothers or those trying to conceive to follow this nutrient-dense diet for conception, pregnancy and lactation: http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/311-diet-for-pregnant-and-nursing-mothers.html
… and not only if it comes from food-based sources, but if it is also balanced with the correct amount of vitamin D…
Get your vitamin A in a 10:1 ratio to vitamin D or better (9:1, 8:1, etc.). Also, there is good reason to believe that 40 to 50 percent of the population can’t make enough vitamin A from beta carotene. Urinary tract defects are the most common form of birth defect in the developed world and of course we are seeing a lot more kids now with nearsightedness and the like–all these matters governed by vitamin A. The embryo and fetus, believe it or not, have the ability to regulate how much vitamin A they take in. Read that on Science Daily, not a blog. They link to all sorts of studies. So this bit of people telling pregnant women not to eat liver really bothers me. It’s causing more harm than good.
Also, make sure you get K2, analog mk-4, not the mk-7 from natto: my sources tell me mk-7 does not cross the placenta and you want to ensure good facial and jaw development, good bone development, etc. in the baby. K2 mk-4 is what you get from grassfed dairy and so on. Good, good stuff. I have not heard of a ratio to look out for with K2 versus A and D and I don’t think anyone’s established one yet. From what I understand K2 is fairly safe.
Agreed on all these tips. And for those who have not tried the more nutrient dense foods yet, don’t be surprised when you start craving them not long after you first sample. I only tried pate a little less than two years ago. Good thing there was a lot in the house because I found myself wanting it DAILY. Now I crave liver on a semi-regular basis. Still not always happy about the taste, but I want it anyway!
I love the list you put together especially #8 and #10. This summer was a big challenge with everyone home needing attention and trying to take the time to prepare nourishing meals and snacks that everyone can enjoy. Being part of the real food community really helped me with ideas for new recipes and tips for quick healthy snacks.
I would stress even more so the activism alerts to keep these foods available and legal and keep harmful genetically modified foods and hazardous pesticides and chemicals out of our food supply.
Wonderful article. I especially like #8. I notice that being unprepared is the biggest mistake to being able to eat healthful, whole foods consistently. Getting your system and go-to meals/recipes organized is key!! Thanks!
Would love to see a 10 tips for eating out healthy.
I love your work as always,
Janelle
Brilliant idea, Janelle! I think I’ll do that this week.
I have just begun taking my own baby{food}steps to healthier eating for my family…esp due to my 18mo old daughter’s mysterious reactions…
thank you for these top 10′s…I am still making my way through the changes and trying not to get too overwhelmed!
Bravo! Exceptional advice, especially that of using grass-fed lard and enjoying other healthy fats. And I have to agree, there are few pleasures greater than buttery yellow, raw cream! Thank you again for blogging so beautifully!
EXCELLENT post !!!!!!
i gotta say -the one that throws me a bit – is the whole controversy with sweeteners. Yes, Aspartame is bad etc – but i thought agave nectar was a “good guy” ? So thats a bit confusing…..
other than that — excellent article. I find a lot of people feel overwhelmed by the different attitudes and lifestyles… (some people will tell you to swear off meat — others will tell you its a staple for our diet … ) so its understandable when things get confusing when everyone is saying something different. wouldnt you agree ?
Agave nectar is produced by enzymatic conversion of sugars – this same process used in making high fructose corn syrup. The process was invented in the early 1990′s, and agave nectar that you purchase in the store is a far cry from its original form – aguamiel which is a traditional and natural sweetener. Just because it’s sold in a health food store doesn’t make it good for you.
Meats and wholesome fats played an strikingly important role in the native diet of every society – to swear off meat would be to ignore human evolutionary heritage. Eat the foods you evolved on.
Agave is far too high in fructose. If you are getting enough choline in your diet from egg yolks and liver you MIGHT get away with more fructose in your diet but I would not chance it. If you’re going to use a fructose-y sweetener at least go with honey, since it’s had less processing by humans, and the bee processing doesn’t seem to hurt anything.
I avoid sugars but I’m sugar-sensitive now and I suspect fatty liver even though the enzymes came back normal (they sometimes do, but I have abdominal fat now, and I mean I look pregnant, so come on now). I also don’t get enough choline, I’m about 99 percent sure. Working on that. I forget to eat too often.
This is a fantastic post Jenny! I have just reposted on my facebook page!
Jenny- thank you so much! I am a small farmer and I am passing your information and site along to my customers. We raise our chickens on pasture and as we grow in the coming months we will be raising our pork in pasture and woods and our goats and sheep on pasture as well using rotational grazing.
Angela
Thank you for such good info..
I am a newbie here and this may be a dumb question. If i were to buy oats, how do I know which brand of oats is non GMO? or are oats not genetically modified? Is it okay if I buy any brand of Old fashioned oats? The same applies with tomatoes and potatoes… i read that ‘organic’ does not neccesarily mean ‘non gmo’. So how do i know which potatoes/tomatoes are good? Any guidance would be highly appreciated.
I don’t have any access to a farmers market. But I do have a Wholefoods nearby.
Are their products non GMO?
Organic certification means non-GMO, at least for now, though the agribusiness mega food conglomerates are working hard to erode the meaning of USDA Organic certification. Look for “non-GMO” or words to that effect on the packaging to be sure. Alas, Whole Foods seems to have thrown in with Big Ag on the GMO issue, so you have to read labels there just as carefully as at Safeway or Wal-Mart..
Hello Jenny
I love this summary. I have given this to many of my personal training clients and have encouraged them to embrace our traditional way of eating.
My wife and I try to follow this to the letter. We love cooking with coconut oil and consume a good healthy dose of our fats. Grass fed organic meat tastes so much better as do seasonal fruits and veg.
Thanks for this great summary.
John.
Another great post! I would add that when people add saturated fats into their diets, and eat more fat than they used to, it’s really helpful to also cut down on starches and sugars. I found that I gained weight at first when just adding more fat to my diet, but once I lowered my intake of grains and sugar the weight just melted off. Fat’s not what makes us fat!
That’s right! The carbs convert to glucose and get your insulin elevated and then it puts EVERYTHING in storage–sugar, amino acids, and dietary fat. By itself fat does not trigger insulin release and doesn’t store–in the presence of insulin, it will store. Once again the carbs are the problem–if it doesn’t nourish you, and the really starchy stuff doesn’t (even with minerals you get more of those from bone broth), leave it alone most of the time.
Great post, Jenny! As I have been transitioning to real foods, I find the benefits truly amazing (healthwise), and the challenges become really obvious. I’m going to check out Kelly’s site, keep refining the household food stores, and make more efforts to plan (a tough one for me). Thanks, too, for the course on Fermenting all things. I LOVE it. I’ve started encouraging through my facebook, and most of all, just by talking.
Great article! I just shared it on Facebook.
When I see phrases like “TBHQ (a form of butane – that’s lighter fluid!),” it frustrates me.
I had not heard of TBHQ before, but it’s obvious to anyone with most basic understanding of high-school chemistry that it bears about as much relation to butane lighter fluid as ham does to hamburger.
Similarly it’s pure scaremongering to refer to monosodium glutamate as “a neurotoxin”.
These minor and completely unnecessary flaws marred what was otherwise an excellent piece.
My little girl’s dad gets migraines from MSG. It’s a protein salt. I haven’t been able to get a straight answer out of anyone as to whether protein salts are common in nature but I’m suspecting not, or I would have seen more on Wikipedia, at least, about them (accurate or not).
Oh and his is not a placebo effect. He’ll get sick and then go back and look at the label. Not fun.
As for TBHQ, “they” have decided it’s safe, but it’s used as an antioxidant for fats. Does that not mean it sticks to them? They had to use high doses in lab animals in order to produce ill effects but if it’s in your fat, it’s going to stick around a while, which only magnifies the effects. Why eat it at all? There are actual edible substances that didn’t have to be invented in a lab that do the trick just as well.
And I hope you realize there’s no ham in hamburger. But TBHQ is a derivative of butane. If you want to eat butane, knock yourself out. To me it’s like eating something that derives from cyanide. Probably won’t kill me but I don’t consider it advisable and at least, in theory, if a cyanide derivative does not permeate my entire circulation, it’ll be cycled out when my body breaks down old red blood cells. But TBHQ might not go anywhere until I mobilize my adipose tissue (weight loss). Man, what a *crappy* outcome for weight loss. You do it to feel better and then it makes you sick.
BTW, I went and looked up TBHQ on Wikipedia and the largest concentration allowable is in frozen fish. Be careful and read labels.
I stopped reading for a minute to go look up MSG on Wikipedia, after reading your claim that it is a neurotoxin. According to the citations given there, it has not been proven harmful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid_(flavor)#Safety_as_a_flavor_enhancer
Oh, and TBHQ is also a derivative of hydroquinone and that IS considered a carcinogen. Lovely!
Hi there ! These things need to be taught as a curriculum to home school parents and charter schools. This to me is foundation health 101! Thank you for doing this!!
Jennifer
I have been eating the NT way for awhile now but this was a wonderful post to give me a reminder about some things I had forgotten. I especially appreciated #9. We recently tried two new things…bone marrow on toast and then salmon roe. Both were delicious super foods.
Thanks for all the great info!
Love,
Mary
over the past couple of years i have slowly taken baby steps towards a much more natural and healthy diet. I make my own trail mix, i cook most meals from scratch, i bake with whole wheat flour or even substitute beans for flour…it has made me feel sooo much better. i haven’t been able to completely cut out all processed foods or sugar (my nemesis), but am faithful that it will happen!
This is so great! My family recently make the switch to eliminate processed foods and the baby weight is just melting off!
Thanks for all the excellent tips, Jenny! I also love Kerry Gold butter….my favorite! I had fun at mother’s day showing all the relatives the grass fed raw butter. The first reaction was ‘what’s that?’. My response: “Oh, that’s what real butter looks like.” The expressions had a Kodak moment kind of feel to them. Love that.
Hi Jenny. I only recently discovered your blog (withing the last 6-8 months or so) and I really love it. You’re a beautiful writer and I especially resonated with this post. You really hit on all the key components of real food and I love that you addressed the importance of fat (I think it is one of the most misunderstood nutrients out there.) and high quality animal proteins. I don’t eat a lot of meat and my body does not tolerate dairy, but when I do have a little meat it always is high quality and it’s worth every penny. Thank again for this post!
I love real foods and follow many of your tips, though I have cooked with lard before, where do you find grass-fed tallow and healthier lards? I think our grocery store carries one brand in the Hispanic food section. Any brands or idea for a small town gal?