I have devised a simple plan to help you kickstart your transformation. By reading the previous chapters you’ll now have a really good idea about what’s good for you and what’s not, But before you get into the 7-day plan, here is some general advice so you know what to buy and what to avoid in the supermarket.
HOW TO SHOP
A diet high in nutrients and low in additives and preservatives is the key to good health, but supermarkets can be confusing places with so many different types of foods, labels and brands. Use the following as a guide to help choose which foods to include and which to avoid to maintain good health.
When you walk through the supermarket, aim for the produce aisles first. This is an aisle bursting with energy from the raw, unadulterated fruit and veg, the way nature intended. Go for what you desire. If you feel like buying a punnet of strawberries, go for it. Which foods speak to you? Often, if your body needs something, you will start to think of the food that will take care of that need. Seek out those fruits and vegetables that seem to be the healthiest, that look in the best condition. Squeeze the peaches for softness. Examine the apples for blemished skins or holes. Do not buy or eat old, decrepit looking, wilted fruits or veg. They will have no life force and little nutrient content. Note: It’s always a good move to choose food that is organically produced as it has fewer chemicals and additives.
Canned beans
- » Choose beans cooked without animal fat or salt.
- » Avoid canned beans with sugar, salt or preservatives and frozen beans.
Why? Beans are a fantastic source of nutrients that can help reduce cholesterol but their nutritional value can be depleted if they are canned or cooked in fat and salt. Canned beans are more likely to be high in toxic preservatives and additives. Beans cooked in saturated fats and salt can counteract the cholesterol lowering effect of beans and increase the risk of heart disease, fluid retention and high blood pressure.
Beverages
- » Choose herbal teas, fresh (preferably organic) fruits and vegetables and fruit juices, cereal grain beverages, mineral or distilled water.
- » Avoid alcoholic drinks, coffee, cocoa, pasteurized or sweetened juices, fruit juices, sodas and teas.
Why? Your body is made up of two-thirds water and water is essential for all bodily functions so it is important to keep your liquid intake high. Pure water is the best drink for quenching thirst and hydrating the body, but don’t forget that fruits and vegetables consist of 90 per cent water. Alcohol and caffeinated beverages deplete your body of essential nutrients so best to avoid.
Dairy products
- » Choose non-fat cottage cheese, unsweetened yogurt, goat’s milk and cheese, skimmed milk, buttermilk, rice milk and all soy products.
- » Avoid soft, pasteurized or artificially coloured cheeses and ice cream.
Why? Dairy products are a good source of protein but soft cheeses, ice cream and artificially coloured cheese products are high in saturated fat, dyes and preservatives. Best to choose the low fat, additive free alternatives.
Eggs
- » Choose organic free range if possible. When cooking best to boil or poach.
- » Avoid fried or pickled.
Why? Fried or pickled eggs are high in cholesterol raising saturated fat. Best to avoid. Organic eggs won’t contain the toxic hormones and antibiotics pumped into factory produced eggs.
Fish
- » Choose all freshwater white fish, salmon, boiled or baked fish, tuna.
- » Avoid all fried fish, all shellfish, salted fish, anchovies, herring, and fish canned in salt and oil.
Why? Freshwater and oily fish are rich in the good fats, known as omega 3, essential for reducing cholesterol and promoting health and wellbeing. They are also low in salt, saturated fat and nutrient depleting additives.
Fruits
- » Choose all fresh, frozen, stewed or dried fruits without sweeteners, unsulphured fruits, home-canned fruits. Try to buy organic where possible.
- » Avoid canned, bottled, or frozen fruits with sweeteners added.
Why? Fruits are high in essential fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Always best to eat them fresh, because when they are processed or juiced their nutrient and fibre content decreases and their sugar and additive content increases.
Grains
- » Choose all whole grains and products containing whole grains; cereals, breads, muffins, whole-grain crackers, cream of wheat or rye cereal, buckwheat, millet, oats, brown rice, wild rice.
- » Avoid all white flour products, white rice and white pasta.
Why? Grains are a great energy source, high in energy releasing nutrients that feed your cells. Whole grains don’t have the additives and preservatives that white products do and give you a sustained burst of energy instead of a roller coaster of highs and lows. Unlike white products, whole grains are also rich in fibre which is essential for healthy digestion.
Nuts
- » Go for all fresh, raw nuts.
- » Avoid salted or roasted nuts.
Why? Nuts are a good source of protein but you don’t need the extra salt, fat and preservatives that go with salted and roasted nuts.
Meats
- » Choose organic skinless turkey, lamb and chicken.
- » Avoid beef, all forms of pork, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked, pickled and processed meats, corned beef, duck, goose, spare ribs, gravies, and organ meats.
Why? Red meats are high in saturated fat. Factory farmed meat and poultry often contain hormones and antibiotics that upset your hormonal, immune and digestive systems. Bear in mind too that many processed meats/foods not only are high in additives but also come in packets ready to warm for heating. They are stored wrapped in plastic and aluminium which adds additional non-food chemicals into your food, especially when heated.
Oils
- » Choose all cold-pressed oils: corn, safflower, sesame, olive, flaxseed, soybean, sunflower and canola oils; margarine made from these oils, and eggless mayonnaise.
- » Avoid all saturated fats, hydrogenated margarine, refined processed oils, shortenings and hardened oils.
Why? Saturated fats contain substances that encourage blood clotting and inflammation and help raise cholesterol. Processed oils are also high in additives which can harm your health. Cold-pressed oils don’t contain these substances or as many additives and are rich in health boosting essential fatty acids.
Seasonings
- » Choose garlic, onions, cayenne, Spike, herbs, dried vegetables, apple cider vinegar, tamari, miso, seaweed, and dulse.
- » Avoid black or white pepper, salt, hot red peppers, all types of vinegar except pure natural apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar.
Why? Salt causes fluid retention and can raise blood pressure. Instead of salt, experiment with preservative and additive free alternatives, such as garlic, thought to reduce cholesterol, and seaweed, packed with minerals and providing incredible health benefits.
Soups
- » Choose salt- and fat-free bean, lentil, pea, vegetable, barley, brown rice and onion home-made fresh soups.
- » Avoid canned soups made with salt, preservatives, MSG or fat stock and all creamed soups.
Why? Many canned soups are high in toxic additives and preservatives and contain substances which block the absorption of cholesterol lowering essential fatty acids. There are some varieties of canned soups which do not contain added chemicals and salt. Also, check in the fridge sections for fresh soups.
Sprouts and seeds
- » Choose all types of sprouts, wheat grass and all raw seeds.
- » Avoid all seeds cooked in oil or salt.
Why? Sprouts and seeds are nutritional powerhouses. The majority of these nutrients are destroyed when they are cooked in oil, or when additives and salt are added.
Sweets
- » Choose barley malt or rice syrup, raw honey, pure maple syrup, blackstrap molasses that is unsulphured.
- » Avoid white, brown, or raw cane sugar, chocolate, sugar candy, fructose, all syrups (except pure maple), all sugar substitutes, jams and jellies made with sugar.
Why? Sugar and sweets high in sugar have no nutritional value and are packed with calories, additives, colourings and preservatives. You don’t need them.
Vegetables
- » Choose all raw, fresh, fresh-frozen and preferably organic vegetables.
- » Avoid all canned or frozen with salt or additives.
Why? Too much salt added to your vegetable intake can raise your blood pressure. Additives added to canned or frozen vegetables can deplete essential nutrients called phytochemicals – substances that have incredible benefits for your heart, skin, hair and mental and reproductive health. Fresh, raw vegetables contain no additives or preservatives and are higher in phytochemicals.
You will find a full selection of the nuts, seeds, beans, grains, pulses, sprouts and legumes I recommend in your local health food shop. These shops will also stock lots of vitamin supplements, minerals, herbal teas and superfoods. They often stock alternatives to lots of conventional products too, and offer foods which are organic, chemical and preservative free. And if it all looks pretty confusing, just ask.
READ THE LABELS
It’s important to pay attention to food labels and get used to spotting hidden ingredients. Additives in our food have been linked to a variety of health problems including headaches, asthma, allergies, hyperactivity in kids and even cancer. These additives in the form of colourings, preservatives, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers and thickeners can make your body’s own detox system less efficient and increase the toxic load.
We are fortunate today that food manufacturers are required to list the ingredients in their products. And recently in the UK, the Government Food Standards Agency enforced new rules to stop manufacturers of processed food confusing us with inaccurate descriptions and labelling lies. Despite this, studies show that food labels can still be confusing and misleading for consumers. Look out for the following.
COLOURINGS
A dangerous class of additives, and one of the easiest to avoid, are the dyes capable of interacting with and damaging your immune system, speeding up ageing and even pushing you in the direction of cancer. Steer clear of foods made with artificial colours. Watch out for labels with any of the following: artificial colour added, the words green, blue or yellow followed by a number, colour added with no explanation, such as tartrazine (E102), Quinoline yellow (E104), Sunset yellow (E110), Beetroot red (E162), Caramel (E150) or FD and C red no 3.
Some foods contain natural colours obtained from plants and these are safe. The most common is annatto, from the reddish seed of a tropical tree. Annatto is often added to cheese to make it more orange or butter to make it more yellow. Red pigments obtained from beets, green from chlorella and carotene from carrots are also okay.
PRESERVATIVES
The main function of preservatives is to extend a food’s shelf life. Citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C, ascorbates, E300–4) are natural antioxidants added to a number of foods and they are safe, but synthetic additives such as BHA and BHT (E320–21) may not be. They may promote the carcinogenic changes in cells caused by other substances.
Alum, an aluminium compound, is used in brands of many pickles to increase crispiness and is also found in some antacids and baking powder. Aluminium has no place in human nutrition and you should avoid ingesting it.
Nitrates (Nitrites, E249–52) are a type of preservative often added to processed meats, such as hot dogs, bacon, and ham. They can create highly carcinogenic substances called nitrosamines in the body. It is best to avoid any products containing sodium nitrate or other nitrates.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG or 621) – a natural product used in East Asian cooking – is added to many manufactured foods as a flavour enhancer. It is an unnecessary source of additional sodium in the diet and can cause allergic reactions. Omit MSG from recipes, don’t buy products containing it and when eating Chinese request that food be made without it. Other flavour enhancers and preservatives to avoid include monopotassium glutamate (622) and sodium osinate (631) and benzoic acid and benzoates (E210–9) found in soft drinks, beer and salad creams.
Emulsifiers, stabilizers and thickeners
These are often found in sauces, soups, breads, biscuits, cakes, frozen desserts, ice cream, margarine and other spreads, jams, chocolate and milk shakes.
More and more manufacturers are cleaning up their products as people get more concerned about toxins in their food and you will increasingly see ‘no artificial sweeteners’ or ‘no artificial ingredients’. This is helpful, but watch out still for hidden fats, salts and sugars and alternative names for foods that aren’t very good for you when eaten in excess. Sugar, for example, has lots of different names and they include: sucrose, fructose, dextrose, corn syrup, maltodextrin, golden syrup and so on.
Sodium is just another name for salt. Animal fat is saturated fat and transfatty acid is another name for hydrogenated fat. Mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, saccharine and aspartame are alternative names for potentially carcinogenic artificial sweeteners.
Some chemicals are harmless, for instance, ammonium bicarbonate, malic acid, fumaric acid, lactic acid, lecithin, xanathan, guar gums, calcium chloride, monocalcium phosphate and monopotassium phosphate. But how can you tell when there are a long list of long chemical names that look unfamiliar to you? If that’s the case, a good general rule is simply to avoid products whose chemical ingredients outnumber the familiar ones.