Realfoodology - How to Navigate the Grocery Store with Kyle Fitzgerald

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

127: You probably know Kyle Fitzgerald as @CleanKitchenNutrition on instagram. He creates daily videos showing us how to navigate the grocery store. On today's episode we share with you our tangible tips and tricks for navigating the grocery store! Topics Discussed: Top ingredients to avoid at the grocery store  How to prepare for the grocery store  Vegetable oils and seed oils  Refined carbs and sugar  Hidden sugar in your food  Is Agave a good sugar alternative? Non alcoholic fatty liver disease  Sugar replacements  Artificial and natural flavors  Greenwashing  Budget friendly tips  "Fat Free" movement  "Ultra Processed" Foods  What meat to buy  How to navigate the egg aisle  What is raw dairy? A1 vs A2 cows Accessibility and food deserts  Check Out Kyle: Instagram Sponsored By: BiOptimizers: Magnesium Breakthrough www.magbreakthrough.com/realfoodology Code REALFOODOLOGY gets you 10% off any order. Organifi www.organifi.com/realfoodology Code REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% Off Cured Nutrition www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% off LMNT Get 8 FREE packs with any order at drinkLMNT.com/realfoodology Check Out Courtney: **REALFOODOLOGY PODCAST IS NOW ON YOUTUBE!** Courtney's Instagram: @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database Further Listening: Oral and Gut Microbiome Connection with Dr. Staci

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. If you look at something and you're like, I have no idea what this is made out of, maybe put it back. Don't fall for something because of what it says on the front. Always turn it over, read the ingredients. Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast.

I'm your host, Courtney Swan. I am the creator behind Real Foodology, which started out as a food blog, if you can imagine, 11 years ago when I was living in my apartment in Austin while getting my master's of science and nutrition and integrative health. And since then it has grown into my Instagram. And now of course this podcast, which I am so grateful for this platform to be able to share all the knowledge that I have learned over the years and also to share with you experts that I find on this journey. So anyways, I'm really grateful that you guys are here listening and I'm really excited to get into today's episode. Today's guest is a friend of mine, Kyle Fitzgerald. You guys probably know him as

Clean Kitchen Nutrition. We became friends on the internet as you do these days. We found each other on Instagram. We are both doing similar things on Instagram and I really loved his work. I love his videos. If you guys do not follow him, there's a link in the show notes. Definitely check him out. It's Clean Kitchen Nutrition. He has great content. He's really good at educating on the different nuances in health and nutrition and really helps to navigate the grocery store aisles, which is why I wanted to bring him on today. This is a bit more of a collaborative podcast episode than what I normally do. We share our tangible tips and tricks for navigating the grocery store. We talk about the ingredients that we avoid,

how to read ingredient labels, what to look for. We dive into sugar, where sugar is found. We talk about natural flavors, marketing and greenwashing. We dive into how to buy and what to look for with meat and dairy and eggs. So much stuff here. I really hope that you guys enjoyed the episode. I really hope that it's helpful for you.

We wanted to create an episode that would help you know how to better navigate the grocery store if you are looking to eat healthier because we know more than ever, it has become so confusing. You have to become like a detective now in order to buy healthy foods. So hopefully this episode helps you. And please don't forget to share about it on Instagram if you guys love it. Tag both me and him at cleankitchennutrition and at realfoodology.

And as always, if you guys are loving the podcast, if you could take a moment to rate and review, it would help me out so much. It really helps the show more than you know, and it takes less than a minute to do. And I really appreciate your support. Thanks so much for listening. Hope you enjoy the episode. Okay, so I talk a lot about the reds and greens from Organifi and the gold, but I haven't shared with you guys about Glow yet. Glow is another one of their drink powders that I love. This one is for my vegan friends that are looking for natural collagen support that is plant-based. Also, you don't have to be vegan. I'm not vegan and I still drink it, but I do get a lot of questions from my vegan plant-based friends that do not want to consume collagen. So this is a great alternative. It has things

like tremella mushroom, rosehip, aloe vera, bamboo silica, pomegranate. It tastes amazing. It is full of antioxidants and it supports natural collagen growth. My favorite thing to do is to add it into just plain sparkling water to give it a little bit of flavor. I really like the flavor of this stuff. As always with Organifi, it is USDA organic and it's also glyphosate residue free, which is great because we do not want glyphosate that causes cancer in our body.

So if you wanna try Organifi, make sure that you go to organifi.com slash realfoodology. That's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash realfoodology. And also make sure that you use code realfoodology and you're gonna get 20% off. I hope you guys love it. Did you guys know that over 70% of sodium in the US diet is consumed from packaged and processed foods?

When you adopt a whole foods diet, you're eliminating or hopefully eliminating these processed foods and therefore sodium from your diet. Now, the solution is not to reintroduce processed foods in your diet, but by not replacing that sodium, you can actually negatively impact your health and performance. If you guys listened to my episode, The Salt Fix with Dr. James Dinek, we learned that

sodium is actually a really imperative mineral for the body. Sodium helps maintain fluid balance. It's an electrolyte, so it helps keep us hydrated. It also aids in nerve impulses. It regulates blood flow and blood pressure. It's incredibly important. And if you're eating a whole real food diet, chances are you're probably not getting enough sodium. Also, this is probably going to be a shock to hear, but if you are just drinking water without adding minerals back into your water, you're not actually hydrating. My personal favorite way to stay hydrated throughout the day is through drinking Element every day. That's L-M-N-T. It's a delicious tasting electrolyte drink mix that has everything

you need and nothing you don't. So that means lots of salt. There's no sugar in there. It's formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs and is perfectly suited for people following keto, low carb and paleo diets. It has a science backed electrolyte ratio, a thousand milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium. I drink one of these every single morning. They have a ton of amazing, super delicious flavors. I know a lot of us listening are avoiding natural flavors. So they also have an unflavored one, which is my personal favorite. I love to put it with lemon, but if you want the flavored ones, they have a great variety of different flavors and they have given me an awesome offer to share with you guys. So you guys can claim a free Element sample pack when you make a purchase through the link. The link is drinkelement, that's L-M-N-T.com

slash realfoodology. And in the Element sample pack, you're going to get one flavor, one packet of every flavor so that you can try all of them and see which one is your favorite. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. Again, it's drinkelement.com slash realfoodology. That's drinkelement.com slash real foodology. That's drinkelement.com slash real foodology. I have been looking forward to this episode for a while, Kyle. You and I got connected on Instagram, which is so awesome. I don't even remember where I found, I don't even know how I found your account, but I was so happy I did. I was like, yes, this guy is awesome. I love your content.

And I'm sure everyone listening, hopefully if you guys are not aware of his Instagram, you need to be following him immediately because he has great content. Thank you, thank you. I knew I had been following you for a while. You've been doing this a lot longer than me. And I think I might have swiped up on one of your stories or something and then we just

had a back and forth and then we eventually did those videos together, which we need to do more of. Yes, I was just going to say the same thing. But yeah, I love it. Yeah, so we talked a little bit about this before we started recording, but for the listeners, I want to kind of clue you guys in here. We want this to be a really comprehensive guide on how to navigate the grocery store. So it's going to be kind of like our videos in a long form podcast style. So we kind of want to go over all the ins and outs of ingredients and how to read labels and

et cetera. So first and foremost, just because I want to know your story, and I'm sure some other people do as well, how did you end up doing this? What inspired you to follow this path to health and how did you start doing your Instagram? Yeah, so it all started in college, my sophomore, junior year of college. I was never really into eating healthy or nutrition or anything like that. I always played sports, was very active, that sort of thing, but didn't really give second thought to my diet. And it wasn't until sophomore, junior year of college when I started to develop a lot of lower back pain, a lot of digestive symptoms, and just

random, random things that, you know, the average, I guess, college student wasn't, wasn't experiencing. So looking back, it was probably, you know, an accumulation of the terrible diet, studying, constantly stressed, that sort of thing. But I first went to a few different doctors. First went to some back doctors. They prescribed me a few different types of medications and different things. And I was like, I didn't know better. I was like, all right, yeah, we'll try this, see what works. And unfortunately, things only worked temporarily out of, out of the, the different medications and prescriptions that I was taking and the pain would always come back. And sometimes it would come back worse and worse.

So eventually I finally go to a GI doctor, uh, and get a colonoscopy done. And they tell me, yeah, you have Crohn's disease. So I'm like, okay, well now we know what's wrong. Now, what are the next steps to, to get rid of this so I can get back on track and back to enjoying my life? Um, so, you know, of course, same thing. I try these different medications, these different pills, different infusions, and same result. Maybe symptoms would reduce a little bit in the beginning, but then it would always come back. And I thought, there's got to be another way. Like, this can't be it. Because my doctor's

already saying, all right, we're going to try this medication. And if this doesn't work, then we'll try this one. And I'm like, it just seems like it's nonstop. Let's just keep going until something works. And I was like, no, this doesn't make sense in my head. And I specifically remember going into my GI doctor one day and saying, could diet have a role to play in this at all? No, no, that wouldn't help. I'm like, okay. You know what's so funny? Because as you were telling the story, I was literally thinking of that meme that's been circulating

on Instagram where it's a doctor and a patient and the patient asks, well, okay, so do I need to change my diet and lifestyle at all? And they're like, no, no, no, we're just going to give you a pill for it. Exactly. What? Yeah. And yeah, it's so sad, but it's so true because that's what they're taught. They're there. They, in a way they don't know any better. Yeah. Um, so finally, uh, I guess, oh, after, after that appointment, I go home and I think I literally Google how to heal my gut naturally. Cause at this point it was, I was having so much digestive pain with everything I ate and you know, all these results come up a healthy diet, healthy lifestyle,

functional medicine, supplements, probiotics. And my eyes were just like, Whoa, like this, this is, this is what I need. So basically this was, I'd say, beginning of senior year of college was when I finally found this after months and months of different prescriptions and medications. And I just went all in, changed my diet right away, started taking some supplements, started working with a functional doctor, and saw dramatic improvements in my health. But it didn't stop there. I just, I was so, this whole topic was just so interesting to me. And part of the reason was everyone I talked to about it had no idea what I was talking about. Like when I would go to the grocery store and I'm like, oh yeah, I read the ingredients. Like I look at what I'm putting in my body and they're like, oh really?

I look at the calories, but that's about it. I'm like, no, there's so much more than that. That's kind of how my Instagram and other social media channels started was because everyone I would talk to didn't know what I was talking about. In school, I didn't major what I was talking about. And in school, I didn't, I didn't major in nutrition or anything like that. I majored in accounting. I did my master's of accounting. I got my CPA. I started working in public accounting. And it was

about six months into that job where I was like, I'm just, I'm not enjoying this at all. And I want to do something just for fun on the side, just to make me happy. And one of my passions was this nutrition and reading ingredients and teaching people how to navigate the grocery store. So I started posting videos literally on TikTok just for fun. I had no intent of this becoming what it is today.

And sure enough, the first few videos blew up and ever since then I've been posting videos. So that was about a year and a half ago. That's so awesome. I mean, that's something that I love so much about your content and I'm sure other people feel the same way is that your passion really shines through. Not only are you very well educated,

you know what you're talking about, and you make it very digestible, but you also make it fun because your passion really shines through, which I think is a really important component of it. Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, it's cool. Well, okay, so let's start with what is your kind of method just overall when you're thinking about navigating the grocery store and maybe you want to tell a friend or a family member, what are some of your maybe top ingredients that you avoid and what's kind of your method overall about navigating it? Yeah. So I guess I'd say to start off, I always recommend, and you probably heard this before, but shopping the outside of the grocery store. I know a lot of the stuff that I talk about and the videos that I make are more of the items in the aisles and more of reading ingredients.

But ideally, I tell people, if you can, come with plan, that's even better of what maybe what you're going to be having for your meals for that week or the next couple of weeks. Shop the outside of the grocery store, shop the fresh fruits and vegetables first. In season is even better because they can be less expensive. Go to the meat section, go for, you go for the grass fed meats which we can get more into later on pasture raised eggs, chicken, things like that dairy if you eat dairy and then really those things should be

most of your diet and then go to the inner aisles for really what you need what you have in your budget left over that should go towards the inner aisles for really what you need, what you have in your budget left over, that should go towards the processed foods. Hopefully the healthier, the better for you processed foods, but that's usually what I recommend. Another one that's really important, and I'm sure a lot of people have heard this before, don't go hungry. I was reminded of this actually the other day, because this is normally a rule of mine where I will not go hungry to the grocery store because what ends up happening is you get

home with all these like really random snacks that you're like later when you've had a meal, you're like, why did I buy all of these like cookies and pretzels? And you end up buying a lot of like really snacky stuff that you probably normally wouldn't buy if you weren't just starving and just pulling everything off the shelf. This happened to me very recently, so it was top of mind for me. That is so true.

It's so underrated too. Especially eating not only a meal before, but a higher protein meal even. Obviously keep you satiated and not make you buy all those snacks, which I'm definitely guilty of as well. Yeah. So what are some of the top ingredients that you look to avoid? Yeah.

So I get this question all the time and it's definitely, it's the same three ingredients. And usually these three ingredients are found in 90, 95% of the food at the average grocery store. Maybe not like a Whole Foods or Sprouts or that kind of store, but you know, your average grocery store is going to have so many products that contain these three ingredients, which are vegetable oils, refined carbs, so like wheat, if you see enriched wheat flour or bleached or unbleached, either one, wheat flour, these are just refined carbs, and then refined sugar. So cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, even agave, which we can get into. But the vegetable oils first, because this is a big one and this is in most foods.

When I tell people first, okay, the number one ingredient I'd say is probably vegetable oil because it's in so many things. So you can easily eliminate so many products. And people come back to me, they're like, Kyle, vegetable oils are in everything. I'm like, yeah, I know. Like non-dairy milks, places that you would be like, why is there oil in my milk? And part of the reason is because it's so cheap for these companies to put in.

And obviously all they want to do is just maximize profit. And the reason why they put them in these non-dairy milks is it creates this creaminess. And I think it helps with the emulsion and I think it helps make it frothier, which is why they're putting them in oat milks and stuff like that. But at that point, just drink the real thing. It's like we're adding in all this extra stuff

to try to recreate something that already exists. And then in doing that, we create something that's super unhealthy. So just go back to the original thing. Yeah, completely agree. And between all the different gums and emulsifiers and all that, it's just, yeah, it's scary. But the vegetable oils, a lot of people ask me why, because you hear something like vegetable oil and you think,

oh, that's got to be healthy. It's just vegetable in oil form. Yeah, not really. So vegetable oils are very high in polyunsaturated fats. And the problem with these is that they're so unstable and break down so easily when exposed to chemical stress. So like high heat or high pressure, things like that, that all happen in order for a sunflower seed to be turned into sunflower oil. And a little bit of these polyunsaturated fats are fine,

but normally it's when they're in nature. So we'll go back to sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds have polyunsaturated fats in them, but nowhere near the amount that you would get from sunflower oil or canola oil. And when I say vegetable oil, I guess I should clarify soybeans, sunflower, safflower, canola, grapeseed, rice bran, so many. Yeah, I think you covered all of them. I was trying to think of any other ones, but yeah. Yeah, those are definitely the main ones, I guess, that you'll see most often. But in the processing and refining of what it takes for a canola plant to turn into canola oil,

it's exposed to high heat numerous times in many different steps, high pressure, which at the end of the day is chemically altering these fats and turning them into toxins, basically. So when we consume them, it promotes free radicals in our body and damages our cells, our mitochondria, and so many other things in the body. So that's my kind of quick summary

as to why I don't recommend vegetable oil. I don't know if you want to add anything to that. Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, you basically already said this, but yeah, what happens when it's exposed to that high stress, the high heat, it causes the oils to oxidize and then they become rancid. So essentially what we are consuming is rancid oils. And then you also made a really good point that the amount of oil that we would be consuming is so much more than if we were just

having a handful of sunflower seeds. And I think something that a lot of people don't understand about these oils is that it's very hard to extract an oil out of something like, let's say, a sunflower. When you think alternatively, let's think about olive oil. Olive oil is made super easily. All you have to do is press the oils and the oil comes out very easily from the olives. They have to go through such extreme processing just to get the oils out of the sunflower seeds. Or for example, with canola oil,

I encourage anyone listening to YouTube the process to make canola oil. It's like an eight-step process. And they use hexane, they use deodorizers because apparently that oil is so rancid, it smells so rancid that they have to deodorize it to take the smell out of it. I mean, that's disgusting. Yeah. And if you look at it too, it's like dark brown when it comes out and smells terrible. So they have to deodorize it and bleach it so it's clear and has no flavor at all whatsoever. Exactly. So it's the processing of all of it and then the creation of these oils that are not great

for us. Also, they're higher in omega-6s than they are omega-3s. And we need a ratio in the body and we actually need the omega-3s to be higher than the omega-6s. And so that's part of the problem too, is it's leading to inflammation in the body. Oils that are good for you that you want to consume more and look for are avocado oil, olive oil, and coconut oil. And also ghee and tallow are great for cooking. And then back to your point earlier where you were saying that a lot of your friends come back and say, oh my God, they're in everything. That's part of the problem too. And that's a lot of the problem with wheat and corn and soy as well, is that it's not necessarily,

I mean, it is partially about what we're, okay, it's a lot of what we're doing to these crops, but also part of the problem is that we were not meant to consume all of these foods in such mass quantities. I mean, you look on the back of a package now and yeah, there's seed oils, there's wheat, there's corn and soy and everything that we're consuming now. It's crazy. Literally everything. Yes. And that kind of gets into these next two ingredients, which are

the refined carbs and sugar. Usually, if you look on the back of crackers or cookies, it's going to be enriched wheat flour, vegetable oils, and sugar. Usually as those first three ingredients in that order. And you want to know why? Because all these ingredients are really cheap. Yes. So they're easy to produce. Exactly.

And then they just add whatever artificial flavor or even natural flavor they want to make it taste whatever they want it to taste like. Exactly. So I guess the refined carbs, they go through, again, a processing that basically takes a whole grain that has fiber, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, strips everything away,

and you're left with basically empty calories or wheat flour. And then they add back in the synthetic lab-made vitamins. Exactly, yeah. That most of the time are not even bioavailable for the body anyways. Exactly, yes. You see that on, again, most processed food. Pasta is a big one too. And then you have your added sugar, which again, a little bit of sugar is not the end of the world. But when we're consuming sugar all day, every day, I mean, you think people

have a bowl of cereal and some orange juice for breakfast, they're already getting, I don't know, 20, 30, maybe even more grams of sugar. Lunch, you're having a sandwich with white bread, which again, it's not sugar, but it's going to spike your blood sugar. And then maybe you have a protein bar in the afternoon that has 15 grams of sugar. And then dinner, you have pasta with marinara sauce that has added sugar.

So it's the hidden the fact that it's hidden everywhere it can add up so easily and so fast without you even noticing so this is a really big one that I like to talk about a lot because I think a lot of people don't they're not aware of how much sugar they're consuming until they start reading ingredient labels

which is why you and I are so passionate about this and why we encourage people to always look at the back of the ingredient label. You can never look at the front. It's false marketing, which is something else that I think you and I need to go into when we're done with sugar. But let's give people examples of places

that they may not even know sugar would be in. So like you said, marinara sauce, non-dairy milks, peanut butter, where else would people find sugar that they would not suspect? Yeah. I mean, beef jerky. Yeah. I hate to say it, but really, really everything, like anything, like anything that you think, oh, there's no way this has sugar in it, turn it over because it might. Salad dressing is another really big one. Salad dressing is a big one. Yeah, definitely. So this is a big thing for me.

My process when I go to the grocery store and I look at ingredients, that's the number one thing that I look for is sugar first and foremost. I'm not looking at calories. I'm not even really that concerned about the fat because fat is good and healthy for you if it's a good source. I'm first and foremost, when I'm looking at the back is I'm looking at the ingredient label and then I want to know how many grams of sugar and what form of sugar is in there. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great point. It's not, not only how much, but what, what is the form of sugar? And yeah, I want to say too, just that you said salad dressings,

condiments and sauces, that's a big one. That's one I think that can easily sneak up on you and you don't realize that it's in there. The big ones I recommend avoiding, just cane sugar. If you see cane sugar, sugar, high fructose corn syrup. And I'm not a big fan of agave just because it's so high in fructose. I avoid agave. Yeah. You want me to say why? Yeah. Say why. So agave, so actually corn, so high fructose corn syrup, the reason why this is such a big deal and why

we want to avoid it is because it's really high in fructose. And it depends on the high fructose corn syrup that you get, but it's anywhere between like 40 to 50% fructose. And then the rest of it is glucose. Agave is 80% fructose. And the reason why this is a concern is glucose is the body's main form of energy. So we use glucose for energy. Fructose goes directly to the liver and is processed through the liver. And we are seeing such a rise

in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease right now in children and adults. So much so, it is so incredibly concerning. It's at something like 40% now. And this was not even a disease like 40 years ago. That's what's so crazy about it. And doctors and scientists are trying to figure out what's going on. And they think one of the main reasons, the driving forces of this non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is our consumption, our overconsumption of fructose. And so agave to me is a big no-no. I view agave as corn syrup

and corn syrup is like, I will not touch anything that has corn syrup in it and same with agave as corn syrup and corn syrup is like, I will not touch anything that has corn syrup in it and same with agave. Yeah, and the thing is, it's confusing because agave can be marketed as it's low on the glycemic index because it's much lower in glucose. So it's not going to spike your blood sugar, but obviously it's so high in fructose. So yeah, definitely recommend avoiding that one. It seems like one of the more popular ones nowadays is blood sugar, but obviously it's so high in fructose. So yeah, definitely recommend avoiding that one. It seems like one of the more popular ones nowadays is coconut sugar, which I definitely do like.

It's normally much less processed than normal cane sugar. It actually contains some vitamins and minerals in there. It's normally lower on the glycemic index. But with that being said, you know, it's still sugar. So you should still pay attention to how much of it you're consuming. And then I'd say my top two preferences,

which aren't very common in the processed food, but more if you just wanted to buy these separately would be raw honey and maple syrup. Just some of the most natural forms of sugar that, again, contain vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to our body, but again, don't want to be over-consuming them. If you're like me and you struggle with insomnia and stress, you're going to want to listen to this. Four out of five Americans are actually magnesium deficient and almost everyone is at suboptimal levels.

And the problem is, is that magnesium is involved in more than 600 biochemical reactions in your body. And as a result, if you have suboptimal levels of magnesium in your body, it can lead to irritability, anxiety, insomnia, muscle cramps, twitches, constipation. The list of symptoms is almost endless. So what do you do about it? You need to find a really good high quality magnesium supplement. This is why I love Bioptimizer's Magnesium Breakthrough. It has all seven critical forms of magnesium. Pretty much every function in your body gets upgraded from your brain to your

sleep, pain and inflammation. You have less stress. This is the first supplement that I've seen of its kind. It's the only full spectrum magnesium supplement that has all seven unique forms of magnesium that your body can actually use and absorb. And if you're like me and you want to take it a step further and really optimize your deep sleep and REM sleep, I highly recommend their Sleep Breakthrough. It's a sugar-free drink that you have before bed and it really does help to give you the best sleep ever. If you want to try any of the BiOptimizers products, please go to bioptimizers.com slash realfoodology, and you are going to save 10%.

That's B-I-O-P-T-I-M-I-Z-E-R-S dot com slash realfoodology, and use code realfoodology. Have you ever tried CBD products and just felt like you didn't really understand the hype or you felt like they really didn't work for you? Well, there could be a couple reasons why this is happening. One, there are a lot of CBD product companies out there that are not doing it right. Either they don't use a good high quality CBD or there's really not enough CBD in there. Because in order for CBD to work, it needs to be a certain amount of dosage. And a lot of these companies are lying about how much CBD they actually have in there because in order for CBD to work, it needs to be a certain amount of dosage.

And a lot of these companies are lying about how much CBD they actually have in there. Not to mention, I have found personally, and I have read this and heard this from many people, that you need to take CBD consistently in order for it to work. So for me, for example, I deal with chronic anxiety and stress, and I need to take CBD on a day-to-day basis in order to really see a difference in my stress and anxiety. And I personally love Cured Nutrition CBD. If you want to hear more about the products and why they're so amazing and important, definitely check out my episode with their founder, Joe Sheehy. We talk all about CBD. We talk specifically about Cured, why I love them so much. Their farming practices are above and

beyond. Everything is organic, really high quality. They show all of their lab work. You can go and see all of the different batch numbers on their website and see the lab testing and see that everything that they claim is in there, the levels that they claim, the high quality CBD dosage that they claim is in the products, you can actually see on their website from their tests and from the lab work. So highly encouraged to go check that out. And if you want to try any of the cured CBD products, go to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology. Use code realfoodology and you're going to save 20%. That's cured, C-U-R-E-D nutrition.com slash realfoodology. My favorite's monk fruit because I have a hard

time sometimes with stevia because it has that weird aftertaste, depending on the stevia that you get. I do like stevia as well, but monk fruit is my personal favorite. And I know this one is, there's two of them that are debated between different camps. I'm curious to know your thoughts on these. Erythritol and allulose. So with allulose, I have actually experienced this myself. If you have too much allulose, it can cause some pretty bad gastro upset. So you gotta be careful. I'm okay with it in small amounts.

But like I said, a lot of people debate this in different camps. And then with erythritol, I'm okay with it. The biggest concern is that it comes from corn and if it's not organic, then it's coming from GMO corn. But otherwise, I'm okay with erythritol. But again, this gets debated a lot too. So I'm curious to know your thoughts on that.

Yeah, erythritol is a big one and it's becoming more and more popular with all these keto products and the whole keto movement. Yeah, I'm definitely okay with erythritol. I do recommend looking for organic if possible because like you said, it does come from corn most of the time. I literally just did a video on this the other day. So erythritol is a sugar alcohol,

but unlike a lot of the other sugar alcohols like maltitol, sorbitol, I don't even know all of them. I feel like they're not- Yeah, I can't remember the other ones. They're not really used. They're not as common, yeah. I know they're in certain products like gum. Yeah.

But unlike all of those other sugar alcohols, erythritol doesn't ferment in the gut like those other ones do. So it tends to cause the least amount of digestive problems and GI symptoms. But with that being said, people still do experience some digestive symptoms with it. So you just got to be careful at how much you're consuming. Normally it says it on the back, sugar, alcohols, and how much is in a serving. So yeah, it's just, it's something, it's something to watch out for and see how much you're consuming and really how you're feeling after. Exactly. There it is. You know, we're so bio-individual that you need to take note of how

you feel after consuming some of these foods. You know, I mean, I have one friend that's like, I can't even have a bite of erythritol. It makes me so sick. But for me, I can consume it and I don't really have any side effects. So I'm good with it. So it really is, comes down to, with a lot of this, you guys, it comes down to really taking note of how you feel after you eat and how things affect you. Because we can say X, Y, and Z is good, but if it doesn't make you feel good, then it's not good for you. Yeah, and I'll briefly touch on allulose. I can't say I know a whole lot about it.

I know it usually does cause less gas and bloating than, say, some of those sugar alcohols would. But yeah, I'd say, I mean, overall, I'd say it's a good substitute, but like you said, you know, see how you feel after and how much of it you're consuming. Because if you consume too much, it's not going to be a good thing. Yeah, exactly. So be careful on how much you're consuming on that. Okay, so I feel like we covered all that. Oh, another one that I wanted to discuss for a second

is artificial and natural flavors. So I think hopefully everyone listening already knows that they want to avoid artificial flavoring, but natural flavors is a big one that people don't really understand and there's a lot of confusion around it. So what are your thoughts on natural flavors? That's a big one. That's almost a giant

marketing gimmick because you would think, oh, it's natural. It's natural flavors. Yes, so natural flavors means that it's derived from something natural like fruit, vegetable, a meat, an herb, and they can then take that, take it to a lab and add up to is it like 100 something synthetic yeah I think it's like 170

we could be wrong on that number but there's some big number all these chemicals and solvents and emulsifiers and add these different things to it and then still call it natural flavors. So you got to be careful because it's also,

natural flavors can, well, it does, it varies company to company. The natural flavors in Oreos can be different than the natural flavors in a different product. So I normally recommend and tell people, hey, if you can reach out to the company and see if they can give you any sort of information as to what their natural flavors actually contain. Sometimes they aren't very transparent and sometimes they are. So

that would be my first suggestion. And then also I wanted to note organic natural flavors are different than regular natural flavors. They're required to not include like synthetic solvents and emulsifiers and a list of other ingredients that regular natural flavors can contain but organic natural flavors can't. So they are a little bit more strict. So people ask me is organic natural flavors any better? Yeah, I would say it's slightly better but in the grand scheme of things natural flavors is extremely similar to artificial flavors. Exactly, there's not much of a difference because the word natural is not an actual regulated term. So a company can say something's natural, even though it is not really that natural because it's not regulated. And that's the biggest concern. There's also a concern for people that have food allergies.

The biggest problem with natural flavors, like you said, is that it can contain any number of different ingredients and we have no idea what those ingredients are. And I will say the reason why they do this is to protect the proprietary recipe or like proprietary blend that this company is using, which I understand. But at the same time, a lot of companies do use it to hide certain ingredients that they don't want known to the public. So I think that's a really great point to reach out to the company and see how transparent they are about their ingredients. And that will tell you a lot about the integrity of the company and how good their ingredients are. And I will say this too, I want to be really vulnerable and honest with my audience and say that, you know, I've been avoiding natural flavors for probably like eight years or so now. And

it was a lot easier before because there weren't a lot of natural flavors in organic and cleaner type foods. But I will tell you guys, like I will admit I have natural flavor fatigue right now. Like I'm getting to a point where I'm consuming them more than I would like to admit because they are popping up in every freaking food and drink and beverage that I consume. Even beverages and stuff that I was consuming years ago, they didn't have them. And now all of a sudden they're sneaking them in and I'm exhausted by trying to avoid them all the time, you know? And so I will admit to everyone listening that Kyle and I, we're not perfect.

We want to share with you guys all of the different things to look out for, but does that mean that we are rigorously avoiding every little thing? I think it's completely impossible in our modern world. I'm literally drinking a raspberry flavored Element right now that has natural flavors. I will say though, Element released, I forgot what it was. I think maybe it was a COA about their natural flavors and apparently they're really clean.

And so that is a perfect example of reaching out to a company and knowing how clean they are with their ingredients. But yeah, I mean, none of us are perfect and it is becoming harder and harder to avoid natural flavors. That's funny you mentioned that. That's actually one of the companies that I've reached out to because it's so hard to find a good electrolyte product that doesn't have natural flavors.

And I always say Element and then Redmond's Relight, those two. And people are like, those have natural flavors. I'm like, yes, but sometimes you got to think what's the benefit that I'm getting from it? And then companies like those that I genuinely trust and know and were transparent as to what their natural flavors contain,

I'd say, no, it's totally okay in my opinion. And yes, we're definitely not perfect. I consume products with natural flavors all the time. I try not to, obviously. And I think sometimes I will consume a product with natural flavors and then maybe, I don't want to say get hate for it, but people would be like,

Kyle, that has natural flavors in it. I'm like, yeah, I know, want to say get hate for it, but people would be like, Kyle, like that has natural flavors in it. I'm like, yeah, I know. But like in the grand scheme of things, yeah, I know. Like come here, break. But you know, if there is, if there is a product that, an alternative product that doesn't have natural flavors and I can easily go for that, then yeah, obviously I'm going to go for that, then yeah, obviously I'm going to go for that. But avoiding it 100% of the time, like you said, especially now where more and more companies unfortunately are cheapening their ingredients almost to, whether it's because of inflation

and the cost of their ingredients have gone up or they're trying to make more money, they're using cheaper and cheaper products. And one of the first things that they may do is taking that real strawberry or whatever it was giving that flavor and turn it into natural flavors. Yeah, it's a bummer. Because like I said, avoiding them in the past was super simple because I wasn't eating Oreos and all of the highly processed foods that a lot of people are really popular and that you find natural flavors in. But now they're starting to sneak into all these cleaner brands. It's really frustrating. It's hard.

It's becoming harder and harder to navigate. It's crazy that you and I have to spend over an hour dissecting the grocery store just to help people navigate the grocery store you know another one um that I really wanted to dive into with you is greenwashing and what for people who are listening that don't know what that means essentially a brand will make it seem as though their product like like they'll advertise it. It's basically advertising on the front of the package. They will make it seem as though their product is really healthy and it's clean and X, Y, and Z.

And then you turn around on the back and you read the ingredients and you're like, okay, well, this has seed oils and high fructose corn syrup or whatever it is. So yeah, let's talk a little bit about that, like false marketing, greenwashing, maybe things for people to look out for. Yeah. And I will say before I touch on this too, I want to mention, since we were talking about natural flavors and how overwhelming it can be that it's in so many products, I just want to say

to everyone out there that's new to clean and healthy eating or reading ingredients, I don't want you to feel overwhelmed by all of this. So just, I tell people all the time, just take it one item at a time, swap out, you know, whatever, ketchup or whatever it may be, swap out one product at a time. and then over the course of a month or a few months, you'll look back and you'll realize all of the positive changes you've made. That's a great point. I know how overwhelming it can be.

I was overwhelmed in the beginning, so I just wanted to mention that. I want to add one more thing that I find really helpful too. If your budget allows, or even if your accessibility allows, what is really helpful is to go to grocery stores that don't allow a lot of these ingredients in their products in the first place. And those are places like Whole Foods. Whole Foods has a whole list of ingredients that they won't even allow in their store. Although I think they're

still honoring that since Amazon bought them. Look for like co-ops, farmer's markets, natural food stores. Sprouts is another really good one. Natural grocers is another really good one. And if you don't have any of those in your area, another great option is a lot of these grocery store chains are creating their own organic natural brands now. Like what is that one? O Organics, which I think is like Kroger's brand. And it's their own, I forgot the term for it, but it's like their own in-house brand that's like a natural cleaner version. A lot of it's organic and it's about half the price of the well-known organic brands. And you can find them at your traditional grocery stores like Kroger, Albertsons, HEB, whatever's in your area.

If you can just start shopping at places like that and shopping for those kind of brands, you will eliminate a lot of this and a lot of the stress because these companies are already not allowing a lot of these ingredients and things in their products. Yeah, no, that's a great point. Because not only are those cheaper, but like you said, they have normally better ingredients and organic, things like that.

And even when I go to places like Wegmans that I know isn't everywhere, or even Target, their Good & Gather brand, a lot of their products are pretty good for the most part. Not every single one of them, but most of them are good and are much more inexpensive than some of the big brand names. So I'd say the main thing that I've seen, especially more recently, is since keto has become so popular and there's all these no sugar or sugar-free or X percent less sugar products out there. And the first thing I

think of when I see that is a lot of these artificial sweeteners like sucralose, asulfame, potassium, aspartame, those sorts of things, which really nobody should be consuming. These are just not natural at all. They mess with our gut bacteria and are providing no benefit. It's honestly, it may be even better to just go for regular sugar

over these artificial sweeteners. And then you see things like fat-free. That's a big one. The whole fat-free movement, which we did a video on, has become so popular. Now I think more and more people are hopefully realizing that, okay, fat's not actually bad. We don't need to be scared of that if it's the right type of fat.

But yeah, that's something, yeah, go ahead. I was going to say, if you see the term fat-free light diet, anything like that, that is code for chemical shit storm. Put that back on the shelf. It's going to be bad news. Let me just tell you now. Yes. Yep. Those are all red flags. And even, you mentioned it earlier, but natural, like that word, I don't think is regulated at all. So you find that on so many different products. You're like, okay, this means absolutely nothing. Gluten-free has been a big one recently. A lot of people are realizing, oh, they may be sensitive to gluten or gluten you know, gluten, I really shouldn't be consuming gluten. It's not great for my gut. So there's all these gluten-free

products, but a lot of the time they'll still contain these vegetable oils or the added sugar. So even though it's gluten-free, it doesn't mean it's healthy. And people ask me all the time, is it just because a product is gluten-free means it's good, right? No. You still got to read the ingredients. Yeah, that's a really great point too. Natural is a really big one. Sugar-free is a big one too, because that usually means that it has, like you said, the ACE-K, which is, how do you actually pronounce it? Something potassium? I say A-sulfame potassium, but I've heard people say A-sulfame potassium. So I don't know.

I think you can do it. Yeah, I say A-sulfame potassium just because it's easier. Yeah, I just say A-s-K because I'm like, I don't know how to pronounce that. That's even easier. Okay, which actually brings me to another point that I share quite often with people. So I think a lot of people have heard this notion of,

if you can't pronounce it, put it back on the shelf, you shouldn't be eating it. And I think that causes a little bit of confusion for people because then there are things like acai where they don't know how to pronounce that, but acai is actually like a really healthy berry. So the way I get around that and make it easier for people is I say, if you look at an ingredient list, you're at the grocery store, you pull out a box of cookies or whatever it is, and you look at these ingredients and you recognize everything as an ingredient that you

could buy at the grocery store. Like let's say you don't have, I'm not saying you have to remake these, but I'm saying saying you have to remake these, but I'm saying if you look at this and you're like, oh, okay, yeah, it's like almond flour and coconut sugar and chocolate chips and baking soda. Like I could buy all these like right here in the grocery store. Then it's fair game. If you're looking at it and you're like,

what the hell is TBHQ and where would someone buy that? Put that back on the shelf. That's a really easy way to just completely, like just know immediately that that's not something you should be buying. Yep, that's a great point. Can I buy this ingredient by itself? Yes or no?

It's so simple, but so effective. Yeah, it makes it so much easier because while you and I are huge advocates for whole real foods, and I want to get into this, we're going to get into meat and dairy and all that stuff. We live in modern times and we're also buying processed foods to a certain extent, meaning foods in boxes, but there is a way to navigate these processed foods that are healthier for you. And you're not buying these over, what is, Shawn Stevenson calls them hyper-processed foods, which is a difference between just like a processed food is like bread or a cracker, a simple cracker, but a hyper-processed food is like,

like you look at a Dorito and you're like, what ingredients would even be put in this to be made into a Dorito? That would be a hyper-processed food. How did they get to a Dorito? What ingredients are in that? Exactly, yeah. I guess I've heard the term ultra-processed food. Maybe that's what it is.

Maybe that would be similar, I don't know. But yeah, that's so true. If you look at something and you're like, I have no idea what this is made out of, maybe put it back. Don't fall for something because of what it says on the front. Always turn it over, read the ingredients. The first thing I do is read the ingredients and then maybe I'll look at the nutrition facts

and say, okay, how much added sugar does this have? I mean, if you're watching how many carbs you're eating, then yeah, that's obviously something to look at. And same thing goes for fat. But for me, the main thing, ingredients and then how much added sugar. That's the main things I look for when I'm reading ingredients.

Yeah, that's the same for me as well. Yeah, I think it's really important for people to hear. So let's break down some really common foods that people are pretty confused about what to buy. So let's talk about meat. What is your criteria? What do you look for when you're buying meat and why? Yeah, so I guess my criteria

has not completely changed over the years, but it's definitely shifted. So I always used to think 100% grass fed, all organic or nothing like regular, like stay away from regular beef. You don't want to go anywhere near it. And while yes, I still do recommend going for 100% grass-fed meat if you can afford it and find it, which you should be able to nowadays because it's so accessible in places like Walmart and Aldi

for $5, sometimes even less than $5. Target, there you go. It's literally everywhere now. If you can't find or afford it for some reason, I don't think there's really a problem going for the regular beef. I think I might've messaged you about this, but I watched the documentary. Sacred Cow. Yes. Diana Rogers. I knew it. Yeah. Yeah. They talk about this. There's studies done. And they say there's really not a whole lot of difference between the nutritional,

we're just talking the nutritional profile here, of grass-fed meat versus grain, I want to say grain-finished, because most cows, as you know, they spend, I think it's 70 to 80% of their life eating grass. And then it's those last few months of their life where they're finished on grains. To fatten them up. Take them to a feedlot.

Yep, get them as fat as possible. Make it taste better. But in terms of the nutritional profile, like I said, it's very similar. So I guess that's, I used to think, oh, 100% grass fed, nothing else. And now I'm like, well, yes, it's very similar. So I guess that's, I used to think, oh, 100% grass-fed, nothing else. And now I'm like, well, yes, it's ideal. Ideal if you can get 100% grass-fed, especially if it's coming from a farm that practices regenerative agriculture,

that's putting more health into the soil. But now I'm like, hey, if you can't do it, you can't find it, regular meat is also extremely nutritious. So I don't know what your, I assume, similar take on that. Yeah, so it's very interesting because I more recently have been saying the same thing and it was actually because I had Diana Rogers on my podcast from Sacred Cow and she dropped that knowledge on me as well.

And I was pretty mind blown because for the last 10 to 15 years, I really have been preaching and have been a huge advocate for organic grass-fed, grass-finished meat. And I still am. I really wanna, I wanna speak to the nuance to this for a second. I think that overall,

it's better for people to have meat and have access to meat, period. I used to, back in the day, preach that if you couldn't find organic grass-fed meat to eat vegetarian, and that could not be further from what I preach now. I'm like, absolutely not. Eat the meat no matter what. I personally am a huge proponent. And if I'm buying for my house, I only buy organic grass, finished grass, yeah, grass-fed steak. And the reason why is because, yeah, especially regenerative agriculture, like you said, they take care of the soil, but also a lot of it is about the way that the cows are being taken care of. And two, cow's stomachs were designed to eat grass. They were

not designed to eat grains. So while yes, the studies show that there's not a huge difference in the nutritional profile, you're still kind of consuming a sick cow if they were fed in a feed lot, fed grain and corn. And I don't say this to like scare people away from eating the conventional meat. I still believe everything that we said, but if you can get grass fed, grass finished, it's going to create a healthier meat for you. And not only that, I really want to stress this, but the way that we are processing cows right now and forcing them in these feedlots is inhumane. And I really care about the health of these animals as well. And I want them to live healthy, happy lives

as nature intended on grass. And so that's a really important component of it to me as well. And the more money that we spend on this, the more that the public is gonna be able to drive more access to grass-fed meat and make it cheaper and make this become more the norm. So I believe that if I have the ability, the accessibility and the budget to do it, that I want to put my money towards something that I

think is really important for an overall really important social cause. Yeah. I mean, and you hear it all the time, vote with your wallet. If more and more people are buying the high quality, grass-fed, grass-finished meat, the more demand, then there's going to be more supply for it and more and more, hopefully, of these farms raising cows in a humane way. Just because a product says grass-fed

or pasture-raised even, still talking meat here, they can still be finished on grains. You really want to look for two things, either 100% grass-fed or grass-fed and finished. And normally, if it doesn't say it on the front, you can turn it over and sometimes it'll say, it'll clarify it on the back, or you can, you know, reach out again, reach out to the company, ask them exactly what their cows are eating. From what I've read about this, beef, nutritionally speaking,

not a whole lot of difference between 100% grass-fed and the conventional. Chicken, on the other hand, much bigger difference from pasture-raised chicken and pasture-raised eggs to the factory-farmed eggs, the very cheap chicken and eggs that you're going to find at most stores. So I kind of just said it there, but what I recommend looking for, pasture raised.

Ideally organic, if you can find that, for both eggs and chicken. Yeah, absolutely. And it's confusing because there's a lot of companies that do this, Vital Farms being one of them, not to put them under heat, but they have just a generic pasture-raised egg. I don't love that they do this because it's just so confusing for the consumer.

And look, I want to say I love Vital Farms and I buy their organic pasture-raised, but it's confusing because they have non-GMO and then they also have just the regular pasture-raised and then they have the organic pasture-raised. And I can speak very well to this because they actually flew me out a couple of years ago and I visited their farms, a couple of their farms. And I asked them about this. So what's happening there is just the general pasture-raised eggs.

These are, they're still pasture-raised. So they graze during the day on grass and whatnot, but they're also supplemented. So they graze during the day on grass and whatnot, but they're also supplemented with grain and corn feed. And because this is not the non-GMO varietal, they're given GMO corn feed. Then the non-GMO pasture raised, it's the same thing, but they're being given non-GMO corn feed or whatever. And then the organic pasture raised are grazing as nature intended. And then I think they're giving a little bit of supplement, but everything's organic. So it's organic corn, which is a huge thing for me. And I know for you as well, because if they're

not consuming organic corn, then they're consuming most likely Roundup Ready corn, which has glyphosate in it. And that's a huge concern, which we don't have to go into. I mean, we can a little bit, but I talk about it. That's a whole nother podcast. Yeah, I was like, we're gonna be here for two hours. Yeah, so, and again,

going back to what we were saying about the meat, if you really don't have access to anything other than just the conventional eggs, then I still think it's really important to eat eggs. But again, it goes back to taking care of the lives of these animals. Chickens and the way that we raise chickens in the traditional conventional sense

is absolutely horrific. It's terrible. Even if you're buying free range and cage-free, you should Google this because it's on the USDA website. There are certain regulations around it. Cage-free just means that they're not in cages. They are still so packed tightly in warehouses that they're basically living on top of each other.

They have to cut off their beaks because they're so stressed out from living in such tight quarters that they're pecking at each other. And then free range, the law is that they have to have a door with the access to outdoors. Well, the problem is all they need is one little door and you think about hundreds of chickens in this warehouse,

the majority of them don't even know that the door exists and never even get outside. It's just, the law just states that they have to have access, but there's no law around like actually getting them outside. And this is why pasture-raised is the most important because pasture-raised means that they are outdoors, grazing on the grass, they're getting vitamin D from the sun,

they're eating as nature intended, and they're happier as well which is something that we kind of scoff at but a healthier egg for you it honestly is crazy that these companies are allowed to put free range because it'll be free range then it'll be pictures of chickens outside

greenwashing there you go, that it'll be pictures of chickens outside. It's like greenwashing. Yeah, there you go. That's a perfect example of that. Because like you said, they just have a door and we don't know if they're going out there, how long they're going out there. And I think I read something that I think chickens like to stay close to each other. So they're all just going to stay together in the warehouse. And that reminded me too. So the living conditions for chickens and pigs are, I want to say, much, much worse than it is for beef and cows. Yeah, it's pretty horrific.

So again, it goes back to voting with our dollars. And if we want, as a society, to treat our animals better, then we need to voting with our dollars. And if we want as a society to treat our animals better, then we need to start putting our money there. And giving money to the farmers that are working really hard to not only create a healthier chicken and a healthier egg for us, but also that are respecting and taking care of the lives of these animals. Yep, 100%. So dairy, I'll start with ideally the best type of dairy

that you could get is usually not found at grocery stores and it's raw dairy. Normally you'll have to find this from a local farm or a local farmer's market or something like that. From a drug dealer on the streets. I mean, it's illegal to be sold in stores in many states. I think, is it legal in California? You know, I don't really understand.

I guess it is because yeah, we can find raw milk at the grocery store, but there is still a weird law here that I don't actually. And I should have looked it up before we did this, but yeah, it's weird. It's actually illegal to buy in some states, which is crazy because then you think about all of it. You just go down the grocery store aisle and you see all the crap that we sell to people and raw milk is illegal. Yeah, yeah. Like what? It's milk. It's messed up. It is.

So ideally, that's what I would recommend buying, raw milk, raw yogurt, raw cheese, if you can get your hands on it. And actually, I don't even know why this is a thing, but I've seen raw cheese in store before. Organic Valley has raw cheese, which is in pretty much most stores nowadays. Awesome. I haven't seen that. That's normally the one that I buy, Organic Valley.

But if you can't get access to raw dairy, your next best option at stores is normally 100% grass-fed, fill in the blank, yogurt, milk, cheese, whatever it may be. Much higher in healthy omega-3 fats, something called conjugated linoleic acid, which is great for our heart and really everything. Naturally higher in vitamins and minerals and going back to the whole much more ethical and humane, these 100% grass-fed cows as opposed to conventionally raised cows. And then you can add something, anything you want to add there. But I also want to talk about A2 versus A1 because it's something that I've been researching more recently.

Okay, so I want to talk for a second a little bit about the reason why we're proponents for raw milk because I think that it's really misunderstood because we have essentially been brainwashed to think that raw milk is really dangerous. And for some people listening, they may think, well, it's illegal to protect us and to protect the public.

But like I said earlier, what's so ridiculous is that if we are that concerned about protecting the public, then why are we not banning things like red number 40 and yellow number six? Like things that are banned in other countries that have been linked to hyperactivity in children. And also Doc Amen, I don't know if you,

I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here, but he was talking about these dyes and he's a very famous brain doctor and he does these scans on people and he's seen, he was like, the scans that I've seen on people after eating dyes are insane. So anyways, my point to this whole tangent is just because something is on the shelves does not necessarily mean that it is good and healthy for us. And just because something is illegal, like in the sense of raw milk does not mean that it is dangerous for us. And the whole reason

that raw milk is such a thing is that when we pasteurize and we homogenize the milk, what's happening is we are stripping this milk of all of the healthy nutrients and enzymes. There's digestive enzymes in there that make it more easily digestible and assimilated. So we're actually going to be able to get the nutrients from the milk. But when we heat it up like that to pasteurize it, we're killing off basically everything good that milk has to offer. So that's why there's an argument for raw milk and raw cheese, because you want to keep all those natural enzymes in there and all of the nutrients in there and the vitamins and the minerals and everything that is what makes dairy and milk really good for us. Yeah. Like you said, it kills all the enzymes, the bacteria,

and even certain proteins. So a lot of people that have that, and we'll get into the A2 in a minute, but a lot of people that think they're lactose intolerant, but then have raw milk and they tolerate it fine. They can drink it just fine. Yeah, exactly. That's why they think that, yeah, a lot of people are having issues with milk. It's not the milk itself. It's what we have done to it. Yep, exactly. Yeah. And then I can quickly talk about A1 versus A2. So basically most of the milk that you're going to find at the grocery store

comes from, it's technically A1 slash A2 cows. Historically, we always had A2 cows and A2, A2, but for simplicity purposes, I'll say A2 and A1. We always had A2 cows, but thousands of years ago, they don't know exactly when this happened, but there was some genetic mutation that produced these A1 cows, which for some reason, people have much more problems digesting, specifically a lot of digestive problems and can cause inflammation in the gut. And I did a video about this probably a few months ago saying, hey, if you think you're lactose intolerant, if you think you're sensitive to dairy, maybe try A2 dairy and see how you handle it.

And I had so many people DM me and message me and say, wow, I just tried A2 dairy for the first time and I didn't have any problems. So I think there's definitely something to be said about that. Yeah, it's really interesting. And there's more and more companies that are coming out with A2 milk, which is awesome. There's that one brand,

I never know how to pronounce it. It's Alexandra. It's like Alexandra, but with an E on the end. So I talked to them at Expo East a few months ago. And I was like, I talked to them for a while

and I was like, I got to ask, how do you pronounce this? And they're like, Alexander Farms. It's just Alexander. Oh my God. Okay. It's confusing. Okay. Okay. All right. So it's Alexander Farms. I'm a huge fan of a lot of their products. So that's a great one. Cool. Yeah. This is awesome. I'm glad that you brought up the A2 because I didn't even think about that. Also, I was Googling this. I had mentioned that there is raw milk that I can find on the shelf in California. There's a brand called Organic Pastures. And I know they ship and they do raw cheddar, they do raw milk. I think that they do a whole line of raw dairy stuff.

And it's from Grass Graze Cows. That's a great company if you guys are listening and you want to check them out. This is something else I wanted to talk a little bit about, and I don't know how much you know about this, but so accessibility. This is a question that I get a lot and I'm assuming you probably get this a lot as well. There's this notion that eating healthy is elitist and it's a luxury and it's really privileged. And I say all of this while also wanting to validate and acknowledge that we do have a big problem with accessibility in this country. There's food deserts. There's people that don't have access to cars.

There's people that don't live within walking distance of a grocery store and they're having to shop at like convenience stores and stuff. So I want to acknowledge that that really is an issue. But I also want to maybe leave the listeners with some tips and tricks about how to make this more accessible, you know, depending on what your living condition is and what your budget is. Because at the end of the day, you and I both started this with the intent of just wanting to help people better their lives, better the quality of their life. And we know how incredibly important it is to nourish your body with the right foods.

You shared at the beginning of this episode how much it completely changed your life. It really does change the quality of your life. And I want that for everyone. A lot of people are used to shopping in the middle of the aisles and getting this food for really cheap. So when I recommend an alternative to those crackers or that cookie, and you see how expensive, like how much more expensive it is because they're using real ingredients, I think it can be overwhelming. But at the end of the day,

when you shop for the real foods, the real fruits and vegetables and meats, and even if it's the lowest quality meat and the lowest quality eggs and even chicken and pork, I think that is still going to be a better option for you than just being like, oh, well, I can't afford that. So I'm just going to buy all the processed food that's a lot cheaper. I keep on saying it, but it comes back to shopping around the grocery store first and what's actually essential. And also don't be afraid to buy frozen vegetables

or frozen fruits. Sometimes that can be cheaper, but it's still just as nutritious. Absolutely. And I want to say too that some of this does require reprioritizing certain things in your life. I mean, we forget that we're either going to pay up front at the grocery store or we're going to pay exponentially more later at the doctor's office and with our insurance deductibles and monthly medications. I mean, that stuff is so expensive. And also we pay for it with our health, literally. We're only here for so long. And a lot of this is about your quality of life. I get this argument all the time like, oh, what are you really trying to live to 150? To me, it's not even about trying to live to a certain number. To me, it's about day to day.

I want my quality of life to be better. I want to feel better in my body. I want to have energy. I want to be able to, when I have kids, I want to have energy to play with my kids and I want to feel better in my body. I want to have energy. I want to be able to, when I have kids, I want to have energy to play with my kids and I want to be able to hike every day. And, you know, like it's a lot about quality of life and then reprioritizing certain things that are important to you. I mean, when I first started really getting into nutrition and health,

I was the brokest I have ever been in my life. I mean, I was barely making rent. And at the same time, I was learning all this stuff about food, like,. I mean, I was barely making rent. And at the same time, I was learning all this stuff about food, like, oh my God, I need to buy organic. And like, oh. And what I was doing was I was not going out to eat. I was shopping at multiple grocery stores. I knew all the places that I could go for the deals. I knew I could go to Trader Joe's and I could get X, Y, and Z for really cheap. And then Aldi has really great prices. I knew I could go for the deals. I knew I could go to Trader Joe's and I could get X, Y, and Z for really cheap. And then Aldi has really great prices. I knew I could go to Walmart and get X, Y, and Z. And I know that requires a little bit more of an effort, but you make time for the

things that you prioritize and a lot of it's reframing. And I can't tell you how many of my friends postmate like five times a week. And I'm like, that shit is so expensive. Stop eating out and stop postmating. Yeah, exactly. Cut out all the food you're eating out and then come back to me and tell me that you don't have enough money to go to the grocery store and buy real food. Exactly. And again, I just want to say this is not to invalidate people that are stuck in really horrible conditions where this isn't even an option as well. I want to acknowledge that, but I think these tips can be applied for a lot of people.

Shopping the sale items, which is something that I've been trying to post more of, like Whole Foods, they actually have great sale prices. Obviously their regular prices aren't the best, but they have good sale prices. So I always try to do videos there. I try to do videos at Costco and Target and places that a lot of people have access to.

So when you see things go on sale that you know, oh, I know I'm going to be using that over the next few months. Don't be afraid to go and stock up on that because it's probably going to be worth it. And even something like a Costco membership, which I know we've talked about before, or Sam's Club is good too. BJ's is good.

I'd say Costco definitely has the best selection in terms of the products that I recommend. But yeah, that can also be a great way to save money. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, shopping the sales is a really good one. Shopping for the name, not for the popular commercial brands, but shopping for the in-house brands.

Like I mentioned earlier, Whole Foods has their 365 brand, which is significantly cheaper than the other ones. And most of the time, they're the same product as the really popular name brand. They just put their own 365 brand on it. And it's like half the cost or whatever it is. Yeah, so hopefully these tips will help people. And another one more thing I want to add,

it is too about prioritizing the best bang for your buck. Instead of going for that boxed processed macaroni and cheese or whatever, get a pound of ground beef, even if it's not organic. That's going to be so much healthier for you and actually provide nutrients for your body over some packaged boxed product. Yep, completely agree. Well, is there anything else that we haven't covered

that you feel like people need to know? I feel like we definitely hit on all the main things. There was just one thing you mentioned earlier. Just don't feel like you need to buy everything organic. There are certain things that test higher in pesticides that you can go and find out. It's called the Dirty Dozen, which obviously you're familiar with.

But yeah, don't freak out and think, oh, I need to buy everything organic, because you don't. Yeah, absolutely. I talk about this on a lot of other podcasts so we don't have to go into it now. There is a certain reason why if you can buy organic, do it. But you're right, also go to farmer's markets.

We haven't really talked about that a lot. If you have a farmer's market in your area, it's a great way to get to know your farmers and then you're buying produce that was grown locally in your area. It didn't have to travel very far. Oftentimes these smaller farmers are not using glyphosate and these other pesticides and herbicides. So that's another great way of getting around that too.

Yeah, honestly, that's the first place I would go to and then you can go to the grocery store and get everything you couldn't buy at the farmer's market or from a local farm. I buy the majority of my produce at the farmer's market and then I just go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or something for everything else I can't find there. It's really good.

This is a personal question that I have for you that I ask all my guests. What are your health non-negotiables? These are things that you do every day, no matter how crazy busy your day is, non-negotiable to take care of your health. Yes, I listen to your podcast all the time, so I knew this was coming.

Thank you for listening, that means a lot. Thank you. So first thing I would say is moving my body every single day, whether it's going for a 10-minute walk. Normally I try to do it longer, but hey, if that's all I have time for, do that. Push-ups, pull-ups, anything I can do to move my body in one way or another, I'm doing it every single day.

So definitely that. Not only is it good for your health, but it's also good for your body. It's mentally good for you, especially being out in nature. And I guess that kind of leads into my second one, which is something I've prioritized much more recently over the past year or so, and it's getting sunlight, especially first thing in the morning when you wake up. It can really help with your circadian rhythm and your sleep. So that's something I've definitely been prioritizing first thing in the morning, but also throughout the day too. And watching the sunset, something that seems so small, but can have such a great impact on your overall health. So moving my body, being in the sun, getting exposure to sunlight every day.

And then the third one is specific to me but it could be applied to anyone and it's doing something fun or doing something that makes you happy every single day for me it's music if you're watching this you can see my guitar and piano over here at the end of the day every day I go to my piano and guitar

and play a song, sing a song, because it makes me so happy and it's so fun for me. So whatever your thing is that makes you happy or that you really have a fun time doing, try to do that. Even if it's, sometimes I'll just play one song and be like, all right, that's good. But prioritize yourself and do something that makes you happy at least once every single day. Damn. Yes, Kyle. That is my second favorite answer that I've gotten yet on the podcast. And I will tell you why it's the second, because like, first of all, thank you for sharing that. Because I think it's really important for people to hear that, to prioritize more fun in your life. Yes, that was so good. And the reason why it's second is because the first one was, I had Ricky Lake on recently because her and her business partner

created this documentary all about birth control. And her non-negotiable was eating an edible and having sex with her husband every night. And I was like, damn, that's awesome. Who else would share that than Ricky Lake? And I was just like, snaps, that's hilarious and amazing. But yeah, yours, that's really important. It's a great reminder for people it gives them permission to prioritize joy and fun in your life

yes 100% because with all these things we have to worry about whether it's your full time job or providing for your family or just trying to navigate the grocery store yourself you got to find time for yourself and have some fun. Yes, God. I mean, life is too short to not have fun. We got to stop being so serious.

We got to prioritize things that are fun. Agreed. Love that. All right, well, Kyle, where can people find you? So, Clean Kitchen Nutrition. You can search that on just about anywhere, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube.

I spend most of my time on Instagram nowadays, posting stories, posting reels almost every single day, Monday through Friday. So definitely check me out and shoot me a DM if you have any questions or anything. I'm always happy to help. Awesome. Thank you so much, Kyle. And if you guys are listening, well, you are listening, definitely give him a follow if you're not already following him because his Instagram is great. I really love your stuff. Thank you so much. And thank you for having me.

Yeah, I was going to say thank you so much for coming on. I really, really enjoyed this episode. Yeah, big fan of this podcast, so keep up the good work. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the real foodology podcast. If you liked the episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know.

This is a resonant media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. The theme song is called heaven by the amazing singer, Georgie. Georgie is spelled with a J for For more amazing podcasts produced by my team, go to resonantmediagroup.com. I love you guys so much. See you next week.

The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider-patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first. Do you suffer from IBS or other digestive issues? Are you looking for a new podcast to listen to? From the producer of the Real Foodology podcast

comes the all new health and nutrition podcast, Digest This, hosted by Bethany Ugarte. You may know Bethany as the face of the popular Instagram page, Lil Sipper, or you may have even read her book. Now you can find her wherever you get your podcasts. On Digest This, Bethany examines topics such as gut health, nutrition, the food industry, and highlights specific ingredients that can be beneficial or harmful to your gut health.

She also explores non-toxic options in beauty, home, and cooking essentials. If it has to do with your health, Digest This is talking about it. Each episode features an interview with health experts, doctors, and wellness advocates, and delivers you information that is, well, easy to digest. Bethany also delivers a weekly segment every episode called Bite of Knowledge, where she highlights an ingredient commonly used in food, skincare, household cleaning, you name it, and gives you the lowdown on the benefits or dangers that ingredient might have in your everyday life. From Botox, potassium, olive oil,

and magnesium, all the way to those ingredients you can barely pronounce on the back of your cereal boxes, Bethany has you covered. There's a reason why it debuted at number two on Apple Podcast Nutrition Charts. Check out Digest This on your favorite podcast app. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Produced by Drake Peterson and Resonant Media.