Processed Food

Whole Food

Why Substitute?

Bacon and sausage, commercial

Applegate uncured bacon and sausage

Commercial products are cured with nitrites which can break down in the body to cancer causing nitrosamines.

Bouillon cubes

Homemade stock

Bouillon cubes depend heavily on flavor enhancing neurotoxins such as MSG, which is found in some form in most processed food.  MSG has been linked to tumors and seizures, not to mention headaches, shortness of breath, and other unpleasant side effects.

Cheese

Try to find raw milk cheese, or at least organic.

Raw milk comes with the beneficial enzymes which help humans digest it.  It is full of real, whole vitamin and mineral complexes and fully supports human health.  Pasteurized milk has been heated and homogenized, which destroys the milk protein, the enzymes and most of the natural vitamins.  Synthetic vitamins are added instead.  In addition, the cows may have been injected with hormones to increase milk production.  Those hormones are in the milk that these cows give and have been linked to various health problems in humans.

Cheese Food

Try to find raw milk cheese, or at least organic.

Cheese “food” such as Velveeta, or Kraft American slices are made with refined/hydrogenated oils.  These oils are linked to cancer, heart disease and other health issues.

Cornstarch

Organic arrowroot powder, non-GMO cornstarch or sprouted wheat flour

A large portion of the corn grown in the US is genetically engineered to produce its own pesticide.  This "GMO" corn kills any insect that tries to feed on it, and it has been linked to cancer and other health issues in humans. Corn products are used heavily in processed food in the form of high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin and other corn based additives.

Diet Soda

Naturally flavored seltzer water and stevia

Soda, and particularly diet soda, are pure chemical concoctions.  The artificial sweeteners aspartame and splenda are linked to neurological damage.

Lunch meat/cold cuts

Home cooked meats, sliced thinly or nitrate free lunch meats

Lunch meat is a highly processed product made specifically to extend shelf life.  It contains a host of unhealthy chemicals including nitrates, high fructose corn syrup, and a long list of preservatives and additives.

Margarine

Butter

Margarine is created from hydrogenated, highly refined vegetable oils. The heat from the refining process destroys the good fats and creates trans fatty acids, no matter what the label says.  Trans fatty acids are linked to increase inflammation in the body, arterial damage and heart disease. In contrast, butter contains several essential vitamins and healthy fats. 

Mayonnaise

Homemade mayonnaise

Commercial mayonnaise is made from soybean oil, a refined vegetable oil.  Most soybeans in the US are genetically engineered to resist heavily applied pesticides. Kaayla Daniels writes that soybean oil is an industrial waste product which has been cleaned up and sold as food.

Pasta

Spaghetti squash

Most pastas are made with bleached white flour, a processed food devoid of any nutrients and heavily laced with insecticides.

Pasteurized milk and cream

Raw milk and cream

Raw milk comes with the beneficial enzymes which help humans digest it.  It is full of real, whole vitamin and mineral complexes and fully supports human health.  Pasteurized milk is not real food, it is a processed food which has been heated and homogenized. These processing methods damage the milk protein structure, destroy the enzymes needed for digestion and strips out most of the natural vitamins.  Synthetic vitamins are added instead.  In addition, the cows may have been injected with hormones to increase milk production.  Those hormones are in the milk that these cows give and have been linked to various health problems in humans.

Salad dressing

Homemade dressing

Salad dressings are based on refined vegetable oils.  Refined vegetable oils are unstable and turn rancid easily. During the refining process, the heat used to deodorize these oils destroys the good fats, and creates trans fats.  The resulting rancidity in the form of "free radicals" is linked to cancer and elevated triglycerides, a marker for heart disease.  

Salt, table, iodized

Celtic or Himalayan salt

Commercial salt contains sugar fillers and chemicals.

Soy Milk

Coconut milk (or raw milk if you aren’t casein intolerant)

Soy milk is full of anti-nutrients such as lectins and phytic acid, and it has added chemicals and sugar to enhance the naturally awful taste.

Vegetable oils, refined (canola, sunflower, etc)

Expeller (cold) pressed olive oil

Refined vegetable oils are heated to very high temperatures during the refining process. This heat destroys the omega 6 fats, and creates trans fats and oxidization.  The resulting rancidity in the form of "free radicals" is linked to cancer and increased inflammation, a marker for heart disease.  Using more of these oils means using less of the healthier, more stable fats such as butter and coconut oil. 

Vegetable Shortening

Virgin coconut oil, Virgin palm oil, clean lard or tallow.

Vegetable shortening is hydrogenated which means it is full of transfat.  Transfats are linked to increases rates of cancer and heart disease, and they interfere with the immune system.

White flour

Soaked whole wheat flour, spelt flour or sprouted grain flour

White flour is completely devoid of nutrients and so takes a toll on the body’s supply when consumed. In addition, most commercial white flours are made from wheat which has been sprayed heavily with pesticides and insecticides.

White sugar

Stevia, maple syrup, rapadura sugar, honey

While all sugars elevate blood glucose too quickly, and over long time periods can cause insulin resistance, the less refined natural sugars will at least provide some nutrition as well.

Yogurt, brand name flavored

Organic yogurt sweetened with stevia and fruit

Most commercial yogurts are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.  HFCS can only be metabolized in the liver, and eating large amounts his linked to elevated triglycerides and fatty liver syndrome.