And welcome back. Today we're going to be giving some shopping tips and some cooking techniques. So, when you're shopping at your local grocery store, it's imperative to understand why foods are labeled and packaged the way they are right. Many packaged products have very appealing imaging in an effort to draw your eyes as the consumer. So the graphics and color schemes used are designed to get the attention of you the potential consumer and these come in the forms of things like bright colors and large keywords, and flashy sales techniques. If you take one thing away from this lecture, I want this to be it so when you're going shopping for food, always look at the ingredient list.

If it has something you can't pronounce in it, you should stay away from it. And this will be a major shift for you to help transition to a more Whole Foods organic based diet. And this will help you cut out the extra fillers and processed sugars that have been detrimental to your health. That being said, labeling is still used with enticing phrases and the labels may not be telling the whole truth. So the only way to really understand what is in the foods you buy is to read the ingredients list and make the choice from there. And we'll go into some of these labels that are used and what they might mean.

So again, some of these may be telling the truth, some of them might not and it might require further investigation. So let's go through it. So if you see something that's labeled all vegetarian free feed, this is obviously applied to meat products. That being said, it's possible that the meat or the animals might have still been eating something that contains green soy or corn as the primary portion of their diet. So you really want to look further into understanding where their food is coming from. So free range free range is a tricky, tricky one.

And back in 2007, federal law stated chickens can be labeled free range As long as a door to a small field is open five minutes a day. So if that's the case, that still means many of these chickens are cooped up in dark crowded spaces. So let's move on to all natural technically, there is no FDA or USDA definition of all natural. So again, you want to check your ingredients and do some further investigation. If you see something labeled no cholesterol or low cholesterol, chances are the cholesterol was replaced with some sort of bed omega six fat and a similar thing applies to no trans fat so if you see no cholesterol, low cholesterol, no trans fats, generally they are replaced with fillers that are poor quality, omega six fats. hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated this again goes along.

These are usually contain high amounts of poor quality omega six fatty acids and should be avoided. Heart Healthy so this is a tricky label with the label because something like Cheerios can be slapped with a heart healthy label, but something like salmon isn't. So again, you want to make sure you're checking the labels and understanding what's in the food you're eating. Another common one is all organic ingredients. Again, this is why I like to emphasize, understand where your food's coming from, whether it be produce or meat, because GMO crops can be labeled organic if they're held to certain standards. So when you're at the butcher shop, choosing meats out can be understandably very confusing because there's a lot of labeling and plays on words and some of which we went over already.

It's hard to figure out what's good for you and what's not. So, interestingly, let's take chickens for an example if they're raised on organic feed, well, wild chickens actually are insectivores. They eat insects, so they're not eating grains, even if they're organic by choice. Similarly, all cows eat grass at some point in their lives, but that doesn't necessarily mean that all our majority of their diets were made up of grass, most likely, especially in the United States. These cows were raised on feedlots fed mainly a diet of corn and grains. And these were filled with things like antibiotics and pesticides, and things that are detrimental for their health.

And remember, if it's detrimental for their health, and we are eating them, we ultimately become what we eat, and we're going to inject in just those pesticide antibiotic residues. Be aware of what you're buying. So none of the labels are inherently bad on face value. Again, it just means that you should be doing more research and understanding where your foods coming from. So keywords that might trigger healthy in the minds of consumer, they might not be the case and again, look at the list provided those are very common sources that can be helpful and again, just something to be aware of when you're shopping for food. The simplest advice I would give would be to get to know your local grocery store.

Get to know the local butcher and fishermen and farmers markets and try to develop a relationship with them and just ask how, where they're getting their food from and how its raised and how it's sourced. Again, you want to strive to be as close to find the table as you can get. So let's move on to food preparation and what it might mean in terms of losing or gaining vitamin and mineral contents. So if you're eating something raw, say like a raw fruit vegetable, this obviously minimizes the loss of nutrients in fruits and vegetables, but can be harder to digest. If you boil the fruits and vegetables, the minerals actually leach out into the water and but it definitely makes foods more edible. So again, there's a trade off you're going to lose your nutrient content.

At at the cost of making something more edible. Steaming is not as drastic as boiling and who's probably a preferred method if you're looking to retain those nutrients, so Tang and stir frying it actually seals in nutrients and softens the fiber content which makes it easier to digest and you only need a little bit of oil to saltaire stir fry and it's a good way to prepare your foods boiling so this Browns food quickly and also requires a little oil and that lessens the chance of the oil going rancid. So another good way to cook if you're baking or roasted something this might reduce some water soluble nutrients but also enhances other nutrients. So there's a give and take. It's also a pretty common and useful way to cook frying. This reduces the nutrients and foods.

It's generally high in bad fats if you eat because foods may begin to go rancid and often aggravates or triggers other health issues especially if you're eating fried foods often pickling or fermenting foods. This actually adds extra enzymes, vitamins and nutrients. It helps also with the digestion process. So some tips and tricks when you're talking about cooking, I always encourage people to cook with their friends and family. It's a great way to socialize and bring people together while you're still able to create these healthy scrumptious meals. If you can purchase organic versions of a food, you should always go that way.

Again, I've mentioned the Environmental Working Group ew g.org. Many times throughout this course, you want to use their list that it's updated frequently. It's called the clean 15 and dirty dozen. It'll tell you which conventional ways raised products are best to buy in which you should avoid completely. In terms of meat, you want to choose lean cuts that are grass fed and or raised in the wild if you can, and always try to find the least version of a food possible. If you like specific condiments, you should try to make your own homemade version because many store bought ones contain sweeteners like high fruit Those corn syrup and fillers and other products that could be detrimental to your health.

If you're going to buy a sauce or cotton condiment, just make sure you're reading the label and reading the ingredient list because it's a sneaky way for them to add sugar to it. If you're going to cook use oils like olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, and avocado oil. So pasta is a tough one. I'm actually an Italian American pasta was something I was raised on as a kid. And now I've tried my best to get it almost out of my diet completely. And it's one of the hardest things for many people to give up.

But now there are actually many substitutes out there, which I think are helpful in a transition stage and you could find them they're made of things like beans and lentils. These are healthier options. And personally I think they have more flavor. I don't use them personally that much anymore. But it's a great transition for people who have had pasta for a long time and are trying to limit their intake. Additionally, there are other noodles out there that are made from vegetables such as zucchini or sweet potato You can use a spiralizer and make them yourself.

If you're gonna use a sweetener stick to something like honey or coconut nectar or maple syrup, and just make sure you're using them in low to moderate amounts to make sure you're not just having too much sugar and again, you want to be avoiding processed sugars and refined carbohydrates as much as possible, it's going to make a massive difference on your overall health. So when buying produce if you buy the fresh option, always choose that over the frozen package. It will have higher nutrient content if you want. However, freezing vegetables once you buy them fresh is a great way to preserve them. obduracy salt when you cook, it will contain more minerals than your ordinary table salt. If you're dairy free, which I recommend anyway, nut milks are a fantastic alternative.

You can also look for things like coconut cream and coconut milk. When you see a recipe that calls for heavy cream. If milk is an ingredient, feel free to use your favorite color. have whole cow's milk, not milk, organic soy milk. And this applies if you do not have an allergy or sensitivity to any of the aforementioned ingredients, so just something to be aware of. So if you're looking to lower the amount of animal products that you're consuming, try substituting them with beans and mommy tempi, tofu, lentils, and other vegetarian sources of protein.

It's a great way to vary what you're eating. If you're trying to buy a standard yogurt stick to plain yogurt, and also there are other many now, forms that aren't that don't include any dairy so things like cashew yogurt and coconut or yogurt, there are a bunch of options out there. Nutritional yeast is a great substitute for Parmesan cheese if you're trying to eliminate dairy. And now there are many cheese substitutes out there. If you just do a quick Google search you can find many and they use nuts like cashews, many of them can be used They're okay if they do not contain any additives or BPA lining. So make again, make sure you're reading the ingredients.

It's best if you can buy dry beans and then soak them overnight and then they'll be soft and ready to go the next day when you cook them. So stocks if you're going to make a stock or broth, it's actually an excellent way to minimize waste and extract all the nutrients from the foods we provide because you can just use the scraps and leftover carcasses and put them all together and and you'll get a broth that contains a ton of different vitamins and minerals and it'll add more flavor. Next time you use it. If you're using it to maybe boil rice or flavor vegetables, it's there's a ton of different ways you can use it. And another important point here is to make your own imprint on recipes. And if you want to substitute something in a recipe like don't be afraid to do so.

So put your own imprint on it. You can replace things with other Whole Foods and other Another important thing is don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's a journey. I, five years ago, five, six years ago, I never cooked the day in my life. And now I do it every day. And it was a learning process.

So don't look at it as Oh, I'm not a professional chef. You want to make sure you're making improvements every day and just make it an experience, you're gonna make a mistake. The most accomplished chefs make mistakes. Just learn from them, and improve and be more creative. And the more creative you get, I think the more you'll begin to enjoy it. And when you're cooking, just make sure you realize that you're taking responsibility for your own health and how you feel.

And it doesn't need to be a chore. You can make it as fun as you want. So I encourage you to get out there and try as many things as you can and and see what you like and then go from there.