Realfoodology - How to Read Food Labels + Find Healthier Grocery Swaps

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

311: Navigating the grocery store can feel overwhelming, especially when so many products are marketed as “healthy” without actually having the ingredients to back it up. In this episode, we’re breaking down how to shop smarter, read ingredient labels, spot misleading claims, and find better options without feeling like you have to overhaul your entire life overnight. Topics Discussed: → How do you read food labels? → What ingredients should you avoid? → Are seed oils unhealthy? → How can you spot greenwashing? → What are the healthiest grocery swaps? Sponsored By: → Function | Check your health the way I do with 160+ lab tests and access to scans through Function, all for only $365 a year. Learn more at https://functionhealth.com/REALFOODOLOGY and use code REALFOODOLOGY25 for a $25 credit. → Ogee | Thanks to today’s sponsor, Ogee: A higher standard for beauty. Go to https://ogee.com/REALFOODOLOGY and use code REALFOODOLOGY to get 20% off certified organic makeup that performs like luxury. Or visit Sephora.com, search Ogee, and shop the Crystal Contour Collection today. → Our Place | Stop cooking with toxic cookware, and upgrade to Our Place today. Visit https://fromourplace.com/REALFOODOLOGY and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 10% off sitewide. With a hundred-day risk-free trial, free shipping and returns, you can experience this game-changing cookware with zero risk. → Qualia | Take control of your cellular health today. Go to https://qualialife.com/realfoodology and save 15% to experience the science of feeling younger.  Timestamps:  → 00:00:00 - Introduction  → 00:01:04 - Health With Hunter:Eating Healthy Is Not Boring → 00:02:14 - Start At The Perimeter  → 00:04:19 - Shop The Sales → 00:05:14 - Keep It Simple → 00:09:13 - Common Health Concerns  → 00:13:48 - Secretly Unhealthy Food  → 00:15:45 - Baked Goods  → 00:20:33 - Best + Worst Creamers  → 00:22:52 - Coffee  Recommendations  → 00:25:13 - Underrated Clean Brand  → 00:28:34 - Kylie Fitzgerald: Navigating The Grocery Store → 00:30:46 - Seed Oils  → 00:37:29 - Added Sugar   → 00:41:21 - Erythritol + Allulose  → 00:44:46 - Artificial vs Natural Flavoring → 00:51:50 - Greenwashing  → 00:55:12 - How To Read A Label  → 00:58:11 - Produce Recomendations  → 01:04:46 - Egg Recommendations  → 01:10:18 - Raw Milk + Dairy  → 01:14:07 - A1 vs A2 Cows → 01:16:37 - Accessibility  Show Links:→ https://www.realfoodology.com/ Further Listening: → How to Navigate The Grocery Store  | Kyle Fitzgerald → Weight Loss Myths, Healthy Swaps & Grocery Store Hacks | Health With Hunter Check Out Hunter: → Instagram → TikTok → YouTube Check Out Kyle: → Instagram→ Youtube  Check Out Courtney:  →  LEAVE US A VOICE MESSAGE →  Check Out My new FREE Grocery Guide! →  @realfoodology →  www.realfoodology.com →  My Immune Supplement by 2x4 →  Air Dr Air Purifier →  AquaTru Water Filter →  EWG Tap Water Database Produced By: Drake Peterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 episode is how to navigate the grocery store. This is a lot of what I talk about on my Instagram. A lot of my reels and videos that I do online are based around this topic. And I figured I would just compile it all and put it into an episode to hopefully help you

guys when you are at the grocery store. Please take a moment to rate and review it. A five-star review takes about five seconds. and it really does help the show. Thank you so much for listening. What's your framework for when you're going through the grocery store? Because you're known for going through the grocery store and showing people healthier for you products.

So what's your kind of, yeah, what's your framework as far as like what you deem healthy and not? So something that I think is eating healthy, I mean, we just discussed it 50 times, but eating healthy is not boring. I'll repeat it. Eating healthy is not boring. Whether you want ice cream, chips, protein sources, fruits, anything. Waffles, there are healthy swaps. for every product under the sun. And by that, I mean, products that don't have enriched ingredients,

products that aren't loaded with microplastics, forever chemicals, artificial flavors, artificial dyes, which is in so many products, which is so damaging. We found them in protein bars yesterday. It's like, why are these died? It's so upsetting. I didn't, I actually don't even believe it. And then Courtney's like, look at this. And it's like red 40, yellow lake. And I'm like, what's going on? And it's something that shouldn't even have. have color in it. It's so backwards. And even if you're going for cookies or cookie, like, there's better swaps for everything. So what I like to say is, and Courtney definitely could agree with this, is the perimeter of every grocery store is where you want to start. That's where all of the,

you know, whether it's the seafood counter, the butcher counter, all of the proteins and the produces. And then you just have to dive in the middle section, which is where the aisles usually are in every grocery store to pick out your better-free cereal. And the way that I do it is, I look for ones with no vegetable or seed oils. There's never a product. And I, a lot of products in my apartment and you have a lot in your home where none of them have vegetable or seed oils in them. That's like my non-negotiable. And so many people might think that the way that you or I live is so unrealistic and unsustainable, whereas I could speak for myself. And when I go out to dinner with friends, I try to choose healthier restaurants. I am not so

psychotic where I freak out if one of my friends chooses a restaurant that might cook with a certain oil. I still try to do my best to ask for a swap. I could always ask if they could cook it in butter, olive oil. But that's just part of life for me in New York. And I'm not able to control all of those. So I control those controllables. So what I do is I make sure that when I'm grocery shopping, if I want chips, I know the brands to go for, and I know what ingredients to look for. And you just want to look for things with simple ingredients. It's not rocket science. And you want to look for things without seed oils, vegetable oils, maledxtrin, MSG, refined added sugars to the point where it's, you know, more than five or six grams per serving, which is crazy. And just anything

that doesn't belong in the food, like when things say contains a bioengineered food ingredient on the bottom, that should signal that it's a red flag to you, you know? And that's not necessary because whatever product it is, there is a healthier, better for you swap out there. And that does not mean healthy for weight loss. It just means a healthier alternative when it comes to ingredients, which could help you feel better. Well, I say this all the time. We live in a time where if you do not make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness. You just will. You just will. So it's either you pay the farmer now or you pay the pharmacist later. Would you rather put maybe a little bit more money into eating better, feeling better, and so that your brain

works better, or would you rather be sick? And then on, you know, 10 medications and going to the doctor every week. And that's the other thing I say, shop these sales. It does not need to be for proteins, whether you were going for cereal, crackers, oatmeal, buy high-quality ingredients when they go on sale because they go on sale very often, especially at stores. And also, Thrive Market is like a godsend. Thrive Market, if anyone doesn't know, you order frozen or fresh or pantry staples or bathroom staples online. It gets sent to your door in two days and they price match. So if you find something online at, say, Target for $5. But on a thrice, it says $7.

You shoot them an email or contact their customer service through their form. They will price match it for you and change the price after you order it, which is insane. So I always like to say, so many people are like, I'm too busy. I can't go to the grocery store. You could spend five minutes browsing Thrive Market at night once a month and doing a huge bulk order and it's free shipping and comes right to your doorstep. So there really are no excuses. And that's something I like to say for college students too and those who work very long hours

and want to fit in the gym and everything and don't have time to go to the grocery store. Thrive is at your disposal, and it's something that I recommend, and it's changed people's lives. Yeah, I love Thrive Market. Thrive Market is the best. I've been a member forever, because, like you said, it just makes it so much easier. And Thrive Market is great, too, for those people that maybe don't live super close to, like, a Whole Foods or, like, you know, sprouts or whatever. That's so easy. And it's also a great way to discover new fun products that are healthy for you. Yeah, and I love their, they have a feature. It's so funny, we're just, like, praising Thribe Market right now, but they have a feature that's my favorite where you can shop like through the aisles,

essentially. Oh, yeah. Which is kind of like you're shopping through the grocery store, because that always helps me remember. Because going through the grocery store, I'll be like, oh, yeah, I needed this, I needed that. Dietary restriction. If you're gluten-free, soy-free, whatever it is, I mean, this sounds like an ad. I know. It's not an ad. You can sponsor us if you want. Yeah, exactly. That's so funny. It's amazing. So what would your advice be? Because I know a lot of people are struggling with their health right now. I mean, in America, we know that 74% of Americans are metabolically, or no, actually, it's 93% of Americans are metabolically unwell, but 74% of Americans have at least one chronic disease. So somebody maybe that's really struggling with their health right now, what do you tell your

clients that you find really helps people that are struggling with their health? I think making one simple swap at a time and not going from zero to 100 with anything is really important, whether it's swapping out the oils that you're using, swapping out your pots and pans, swapping out your plastic Tupperware for glass Tupperware, one swap at a time. Focus on making one swap a day or a week or a month because it will gradually add up over time. You do not need to go from zero to 100 overnight. And I also will say for those of you who are on more of a budget or a tighter with your money, don't think that you need to immediately throw out everything in your pantry. Finish what you currently have and then go for the better option. So many people think that they need to stop immediately.

and while that might work for some people, it definitely won't for others. And also, I really think looking at where you are allocating your budget matters so much. Also, plan ahead. Think about what you, if you have a family, think about what you guys want to eat for the coming week and make a big grocery list. And you could, again, get it delivered or you could go and pick it up. But going into the store with a plan, don't go to the grocery store hungry. You and I experienced that yesterday.

Courtney and I downed an entire bag of chips because they were really good. good. And they were starving. Yeah, they didn't really taste like mac and cheese, but they just tasted like Frida's, but whatever. Again, like there's a simple swap for everything. And that's why there's accounts like Courtney's and mine where we show you for free, the best swaps, the best alternatives for everything, supplements, home products, kitchen essentials, foods, drinks, everything. And it's all at your disposal for free online. Yeah, that's what's so cool about this is there really is a swap for everything now. I remember when I first started, I mean, I started on my journey like 20 years ago, and I was making most of my things from scratch

because there wasn't that many healthy options. I remember there was like one healthy Oreo. Like I would buy like Numinos. And I don't even buy that kind of stuff really anymore. Yeah, really? Numenow? Yes. I've never heard of it in my life. That's so funny. There was a, God, I'm going to forget what his name is. Oh, Paul Newman started his own like healthier like food line. And it's so funny because now I look at his salad dressings and I'm like, oh, these aren't even good. They have canola oil. I know what you're talking about.

And he used to have Numinos, and he also used to make these, like, Reese's peanut butter cup dupes that were, like, a healthier Reese's peanut butter cup. I don't even think any of those exist anymore. And by the way, I'm not even saying that those are, like, healthy, but I'm just saying that, you know, especially when I was first on my journey, when I was trying to get away from eating Oreos, I was kind of, like, meeting myself in the middle where I was finding these, like, you know, things that didn't have all the additives in there,

and I was eating these, like, healthier Oreos and stuff. But now, I mean, oh, my God, there's such amazing options. the swaps are crazy. So I want to know what are some of the most common questions you get in the DMs? Like what are people really struggling with right now? A lot of people, I think, are trying to major in the minors and they're not focusing on the main issues at hand. They're asking me, they're like, it is impossible for us to find a fruit snack.

And I'm like, sometimes I ask them, well, and they might be repeating questions. Like I might have had previous conversations with this follower. So let's just say Mary, for example, follow. she'll write me and be like, I'm struggling to find a fruit snack for my three-year-old daughter that is, you know, die-free and doesn't have any additives. But I know that in the past, she's told me that she's struggled with, you know, so many other things. Like I would focus on the bigger issues, things that you're using every single day. Chances are if you are listening to this podcast, you probably track everything. Your sleep,

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slash real foodology and intercode real foodology to get 20% off. What I find a lot is I'll get a ton of messages from people all the time, and I say, you probably do too because we do similar things online, is people will write me very specific, what yogurt should I buy? Or like, what cereal should I buy? And I always try to, I write them back and I say, you know, the reason I make these videos is because I want people to learn for themselves how to navigate the grocery store, so they're not having to rely on people like you or me to give them every single brand. Like I want them to learn. It's that famous quote that I use all the time. It's like you give someone a fish, they eat for a day, you teach them how to fish and they

feed themselves for a lifetime. The exact same thing in this scenario. Yeah. So you probably, I bet you get a lot of questions of like, which yogurt do you eat or? I try to make it so simple. I'll do a yogurt swap graphic where I'll show 10 of the most popular yogurts at the grocery store that are full of refined sugar, dies, believe it or not, so many gums. And then the next slide will be 10, both dairy and plant-based yogurts to choose from. And you would think that would be enough. And then in the caption, I'll write what you want to look for in yogurts. Don't look like, try to avoid these things. And I'll list out like five or six things.

And some people just want the information given to them. And especially in today's society where people and I'm not, I fall victim to this too, could be glued to their phones. They don't really absorb the material and they just look for the answer right away. And there's some, like we both provide so many ways where you can navigate the grocery store on your own. But I understand that's stressful. And that's why both of us.

try to share products and brands that are accessible around the entire U.S. and world pretty much. So people could easily identify them. Exactly. What are some of the worst offenders that we find in the grocery store? Like where do people slip up, you think, that they think that they're eating healthy? So I think that there's different, like there's a hierarchy. So I think there's things like beyond meat and then there's the green fed conventional meat. Then there's grass-fed meat.

And then there's grass-finished meat. Obviously, if you have that, you have that. the funds, I would try to go for the highest quality proteins, whether it's wild caught fish, wild caught salmon, shrimp, organic pasture-raised eggs. But that doesn't mean you need to beat yourself up over getting traditional free-range eggs or regular meat. Like people sometimes get very stressed because they can't do the most and it's not somewhere where I would freak out over. I think that a lot of people think that when they want more of like a fun food, like a cereal or a granola, every option is going to be crap

where there still are better for you options when it comes to granola, you always know purely Elizabeth is going to be there ready for you. You always know there's grain-free brands like paleoanola that are incredible. And when it comes to cereal, we love our love birds, seven Sundays,

and there's the real cereal company and so many other brands that are doing it right. And so many people just get stressed in the grocery store. And that's what we want to try to alleviate. And then obviously, like, the things that are a big know to me

are anything with the Cs. oils or hydrogenated oils. And it's very easy to find products that don't have these once you know what to look for. And I have very good brand recognition where I could, I realize that where, like, I'll be able to be in the grocery store and I could realize where in the grocery store products, you could just tell, like, you could always look at the gluten-free section because those tend to be a little bit healthier. But so many people just stress themselves out, stress themselves out so much. And they're like, I don't know what to buy. and they'd just panic and buy whatever they see.

Whereas if you go in with the plan, you could either do screenshots of people's Instagram posts or guides online or like... He's a scanner. Or you could use this food scanning app. Yeah. It alleviates so much stress for you. Oh, yeah.

So I would say where I see people trip up quite frequently would be yogurt and creamers. Creamers is the bit... Creamers and bread. Oh, yeah. Oh, and bread. Bread's a big one too. And you and I, well, we're not like the biggest bread people.

No. And I physically cannot remember the last time I have ever bought bread in the grocery store. Oh, no, me neither. I usually get bread either from, there's a local place now that we get it from that does a gluten-free sourdough bread or I'll order from AWG bakery. Have you ever had them? Incredible, grain-free, delicious. But the creamers and the bread, the bread laundry list ingredients might be the longest ingredients list. What do you think is like the product or brand or food type with the longest ingredients list?

Probably. Crumble cookies. Oh, God. Oh, God. We went to crumble yesterday and it was really frightening. We didn't need it. Don't worry. Do you don't worry.

But what do you think is like a brand or fun? I would say like baked goods in general. Yes. So when you go to like, I was just thinking, I was just picturing Costco, you know, when you go to Costco. The birthday cakes. Dude. Even the whole foods.

The cookies. That too. Or even if you go to just a standard, like I don't know what you guys have in New York, but like Kroger or like we have H.E.B. here. If you just go into any of those and the bakery items, the cookies, the cakes, oh my God, when I was in high school, I loved those sugar cookies that have the, like, the frosting, like, mound on top. And I don't remember what those are called, but, oh, my God. I know you're talking about. And the ingredient list is, like, 30 ingredients. They, like,

melt in your mouth, like, caught in candy. Yes. Oh, my God. There's. Moment of silence for those. RIP. Yeah. But that's something that Courtney and I would both love, and they, they, we love them, but neither Courtney and I, we would not be caught at eating those right now. Because we know how we feel now. And we know how awful those ingredients are in those foods. And even though they might have been so freaking delicious, however many years ago, like, it's something where I am completely fine avoiding it now. And there's better cookie and browning alternatives now where we don't even need to go near it. Yeah, and I don't even miss them. And honestly, I would be curious to see if they even taste good to us anymore. Like, Crumbull is a great example. We walked into Crumbull last night.

And when we left, all three of us had like migraines and I felt nauseous to my stomach. Like the smell didn't even smell good. It smelled like you were spraying yourself with perfume and it stayed on our bodies after we left. Yeah, like it was like a bath and body works like. Candle shop. Yes, yeah. Exactly. And to me like those kind of things and I think that's what people don't, people that have not fully switched over or maybe people that are still eating standard American diets don't fully understand is that once you let that grip of addiction go.

you no longer crave or even really like those foods anymore. Also, we didn't even mention crumple is expensive for what you're getting. It's a $4.50 a cookie. And there are many better for you cookies. Even if you go to the store and get Sietta or Simple Mills cookies, you could get an entire bag. You got a box for like five or six dollars. Yeah. And I'm like, what are you nuts?

Like how, that's not normal. Like that is not okay considering the ingredient list is like a CVS receipt. It's like to the floor. It's so bad. Yeah, it's so bad. But I would argue that if we were even to try one of those cookies now, I don't even think that they would taste good. Yeah, and then right after I posted it on my story, people were like, Hunter, I had a corner of one of those cookies a week ago at a birthday party, and I did not feel while I had to lay down for hours. And I'm like, this might sound so crazy

to people listening to this, but when you stop eating those addictive, poisonous foods and ingredients, and then you revert back to it once or twice, you realize how awful you felt on it. people think that is the normal. And that's something I really want to stress. Yes, it's so true. Again, once you let that grip go of those addictive foods, they just don't taste the same to you anymore. Okay, I have some kind of rapid fire questions that I want to ask you about. What are your favorite snacks, your go-to snacks? So I try not to snack a lot because I would much rather have a breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I will make this rapid fire, though, something that I love, and it is my kryptonite. I'm obsessed with ice cream, and I know that it might be bad, but there are times when you could catch me eating a few

scoops of ice cream out of a pint in the middle of the day. But going for ice cream for bears and thrown in, those are my two go-toes that I am obsessed with. And we were talking about this yesterday, Alex culture cups. I am all about portion control because I am someone who could eat a lot of any food. And having an 120-calorie ice cream with the cleanest ingredients and a hard chocolate shell on top of it is perfect. Those are so good. I'm not like a chip or popcorn person. I'm an ice cream person. Like that's my thing. I love that. Well, then you just make them a the creamy and they're, you know, full of protein. Let's see.

We already talked about bread. What's the healthiest creamer and what's the worst creamer? Healthiest creamer, if you want plain, is grass-fed half and half. I think that is my go-to. If you want a flavor, if you like dairy-free, I think milk makes incredible vanilla and caramel creamers. I think the unhealthiest creamer is what we saw yesterday. It is the coffee meat, Harry Potter, Dracula creamers, which the cleanest ingredients, which the

cleanest ingredient is that in that one is probably S-Sulfate potassium, which is an artificial sweetener. Like every single, guys, it is so mind-blowing. You look at the back of a milk creamer. It is water, organic almonds, organic vanilla extract, organic coconut sugar, sea salt. And then you look at the back of a coffee mate creamer. And it is, actually, it might have water, which it might have a drop. It might have water. Water, artificial flavors, carigenin, mono and diglycerase, which are transatlose. fats, by the way. Which, that could be another topic. Amulsifier. Ace K. Splenda. Oh, and then a lot of them have sugar and artificial sweeteners in them. Why do they need both? You know what's really concerning about those specifically? Is that how, that's how most people are starting their day. So it's maybe

sometimes the first thing they put in their body first thing in the morning and they're doing it every day because it's a daily habit. Oh, not only every day. Some people, including me, if you're a coffee junkie, you could have it three or four times a day and they do multiple servings multiple times a day. So if you're one serving, and I'm not even talking about the calories in this case, if you saw what is in these creamers, that is the number one product that I would focus on. If you were worried about your kids' Welsh's fruit snacks, but you are still dumping coffee made, international delight, creamer, or even the Starbucks one was horrific. And you're dumping those into your coffee every single day, multiple times a day. Do not worry about your kids' fruit snacks. Worry about that coffee creamer because

that is one of the biggest toxins that I think you could find. It's a heart attack waiting to happen. No, it's horrible. It literally is. It's a heart attack waiting to happen. I think that's the unhealthiest food at the grocery store. Like, yeah, a baked good. I don't think that people are going to be having Costco's baked cookies, you know, the

bakery cookies, every single day, three times a day. But people are having their coffee three or four times a day. And that's reminding me we need to go get that coffee after this. We do. We're going to go do that after. Speaking of, what's your coffee order? Okay, so I'm a big cold group person at, heart and I love making mine at home. Another way you save so much money. Guys, if you are not,

if you like ice coffee or hot coffee, I make cold brew at home. I bought a $20 cold brew maker on Amazon. It's a glass pitcher with a stainless steel filter and I fill it up with high quality mold-free coffee, ground coffee. You could add cinnamon. You could add pumpkin spice to the ground coffee to make it flavored if you want a flavor. And then you fill it up with water. You leave it in your fridge overnight. Twenty-four hours later, you take the filter out, and I have my own cold brew. It's an enormous picture, probably like 60 ounces. I don't even know, 60 fluid ounces. You need to because you like cold brew or like ice cream. We love cold brew. That's like all we drink. It's incredible. And there's so many better for you coffee brands out there when it comes to

grounds coffee or whole bean. And that entire picture probably costs at most to $3. Whereas you go to Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, you are getting a coffee that could be this big. few inches and not only is it filled with mold because people don't realize coffee is one of the most coffee beans and like at the actual farms that's one of the most sprayed crops coffee and people don't realize that you could be drinking mold every day and you are blowing your bank account put that money towards your next grocery store visit and you were set so I do I went on a coffee tangent but it's very important because that's the topic I'm very passionate about love it and then if I want a flavored coffee what I do and this is a trick I recently posted about one tablespoon of

half and half for the color. It makes it very bright, you know, like that color people want. And a tablespoon or a serving of either the organic Calafia Farms creamers or the milk creamers. And you mix it together and you have a flavored coffee that is 30 to 40 calories and it tastes delicious. Oh, yum. The milk creamers are awesome. And I find I don't need that much of it because they're super flavorful. Yeah. They don't make it light, which is why I think adding a little bit of milk or half and half is perfect if you care about the color. That sounds so, I do. I like it when it's a little bit like wider. What's the most shocking ingredient you've found on a label? Contains a bioengineered ingredient. I've been at Whole Foods and I've seen corn. Corn. Corn that looks like it's corn on the cob that's from the farm. And it says from a bioengineered farm at Whole Foods.

Oh, I hate that. Whole Foods has gone down the hill and it's really sad. Target's taking over. I know. It makes me so sad. What's the most underrated clean brand? Underrated clean brand. That's fantastic. I think truly free when it comes to home cleaning products. don't think it's clean, but it also smells incredible too. Like, yes, we know brand basics. We know Molly Suds. We know these better for your brands. But no one, I think they're changing the game. I'm obsessed with their laundry detergent. It smells so good. It smells so good. I think it's just focus on slow changes. If weight loss is your goal, remember that that goes in tangent and it goes with feeling better every single day. So many people think that, you know,

they follow the people who say premier protein shakes and the bear bell's protein bar. and the gym bros and all those. And that is not the way to go if you want sustainable, healthy change. And that's something that might come with time, but that's why people like Courtney and I, I'm so happy that you guys have people like us. So we're like, I'm like having us on the back.

No, I'm so happy that you guys have free information online where we show you healthy swaps that also taste delicious or are effective and they truly work. You all know that I'm super mindful about what goes in and around my food and that includes the cookware that I use every single day. Most non-stick cookware still contains forever chemicals like Phaas,

which can leach into your food and home. And honestly, once I learned that, I knew I had to make the switch. If you don't know anything about Phaas and non-stick cookware, I highly recommend watching the film Dark Waters. It's so good. And it really explains why this is such a big deal for our health. And this is also why I love R Place cookware. Their cookware is completely toxin-free,

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When you're thinking about navigating the grocery store, 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 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, is there 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. 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-dury milks is it creates this like creaminess. And I think it helps with the, it helps with the emulsion and I think it helps make it frothier, which is why they're putting them in like oat milks and stuff like that. But at that point, just drink the. real thing. You know, 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, like, just go back to the original thing. Yeah. Yeah, completely agree. And I mean, and all the, 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, people ask me why, like 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 uh not really so um so so vegetable oils are very high in polyunsaturated fats and the problem with these is that they're so unstable and and break down so easily when exposed to chemical stress so like 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, 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, grape seed, 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 or 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, sort of they have to deodorize it and bleach 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 that it's leading to inflammation in the body. 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. Yeah. It's crazy. Literally everything, yes. Yeah. And that, yeah, 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, 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. 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 isn't sugar it's not sugar but it's going to spike your spike your blood sugar yeah um and then maybe you have a protein bar in the afternoon that has 15 grams of sugar and then dinner you have pasta with marinera sauce that has added sugar so it's the hidden it's the fact that it's hidden everywhere it just 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. They don't even know sugar would be in. So like you said, marinera 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 one. 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 only how much, but what is the form of sugar? And yeah, I want to say, too, just then you said salad dressings, condiments and sauces,

that's a big one. 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. 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 is corn syrup and it and same with agave. Yeah. And the thing is yeah, 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 spread 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 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 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 my, my 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 overconsuming them. 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. Erythratol and allulose. So with alkylose, I have actually experienced this myself. If you have too much alulose, it can cause some pretty bad gastro upset. So you've got to 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 Ruthritol. But again, this gets debated a lot too.

So I'm curious to know your thoughts on that. Yeah, yeah, Ruthritol 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, erythrititol is a sugar alcohol, but unlike a lot of the other sugar alcohols, like maltatol, sorbitol, I don't even know all of them. They're not, I feel like they're not. Yeah, I can't remember the other ones. 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 arithetal that 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 alulose. 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 and how much of it you're consuming. Because if you consume too much, it's not going to be a good thing. Yep, 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, yeah, that's a big one. That's almost a giant like 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, I think it's, is it like a hundred something?

synthetic. Yeah, I think it's like 170. We could be wrong on that number, but there's some big number, yeah. 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, you know,

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 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. It can, 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. tell you a lot about the integrity of the company and how good their ingredients are. And I will say this too. Like 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 that didn't have them and now all of a sudden they're sneaking him in and I'm exhausted by trying to avoid them all the time, you know? And so I will admit like, you know, to everyone listening that and Kyle and I, like, we're not perfect, you know? We want to share with you guys like all of the different things to look out for but does that mean that we are like rigorously avoiding every little thing i mean i think it's completely impossible in our modern world you know i mean i'm literally drinking a raspberry flavored element right now that has natural

flavors i will say though um element released uh i forgot what it was i think maybe it was a c oa 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 like, those have natural flavors. I'm like, yes, but sometimes you got to think, like, 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, it's totally okay, in my opinion. And yes, we're definitely not perfect. Like, I consume products with natural flavors all the time. I try not to, obviously. And I think, you know, 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, like that has natural flavors in it. I'm like, yeah, I know, but like in the grand scheme of that things. Yeah, I know. Like, come in a break.

But, you know, 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. 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 the... that real strawberry or whatever,

that whatever it was giving that flavor and turn it into natural flavors. Yeah, it really, it's a bummer. Because like I said, I mean, avoiding them in the past was super simple because I wasn't eating, you know, Oreos and all of the, like, highly processed foods that a lot of people are, you know,

they're really popular and that you find natural flavors in, but now they're starting to sneak into all these, like, cleaner brands. It's really frustrating. It's hard. You know, it's becoming harder and harder to navigate. I mean, 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 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 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, you know, 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 fructress 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. 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, asylphame, potassium, aspartame, those sorts of things, which really we, 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, like which... 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. If you see the term fat-free, light, diet, anything like that,

that is code for chemical shitstorm. 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, 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, doesn't mean it's healthy. And people ask me all the time, is it just because the product is gluten-free, it 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, I say a sulfane potassium, but I've heard people say, I've heard people say acesulfame potassium. So I don't know. I think you can do.

Yeah, I say a sulfane potassium. just because it's easier. Yeah, I just say Ace 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 confusion for people because then there are things like

Osai where they don't know how to pronounce that, but assayee is actually like a really healthy berry. So the way I get around that and make it easy. for people is I say if you look at an ingredient list, you're at the grocery store, you, you know, 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, if you look at this and you're like, oh, okay, yeah, it's like, you know, 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, you know, while you and I are a huge advocate, for whole real foods. And I want to get into this. We're going to get into like meat and dairy and all that stuff. You know, we live in modern times and we're also buying processed foods to a certain extent,

meaning like foods in boxes, but there is a way to navigate these processed foods that are healthier for you. And you're not buying these, you know, over, what is, Sean Stevenson calls them hyper-processed foods, which is a difference between just like processed food is like, you know, or a cracker, a simple cracker, but a hyper-processed food is like, like you look at a Dorito and you're like, what even, what ingredients would even be put in this to be made into a Dorita? Like, that would be a hyper-processed food.

Like, how did they get to a Dorito from like, 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, yeah, that's so true. If you look at something, 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-per-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. So 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 have messaged you about this, but I watched the documentary. Sacred cow. Yes.

Diana Rogers. I knew it. Yeah. Yeah, they talk about this. There are studies done. Yeah. 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 may, as you know, they spend, I think it's 70 to 80% of their life eating grass. and then it's that last, those last few months of their life where they're finished on grains. To fat them up. Take into a feed lot. 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 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 want to 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 I, 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 feedlot, fed grain and corn. And I don't say this to scare people away from eating the conventional meat.

I still believe everything that we said. but if you can get grass fed, grass finish, 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, 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, you know, the more much, that we spend on this, the more that the public is going to be able to drive more access to grass-fed meat and make it cheaper and make this become more than 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. But, you know, 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. So, and then, so just because a product says grass-fed or pasture-raised even, still talking meat here, they can still be finished on grains. So 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 and 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 pasturays, but it's confusing because they have non-GMO. And then they also have just the regular pasture raise. And then they have the organic pasture raised. And I can speak very well to this because they actually flew me out a couple years ago and I visited their farms.

Oh, wow. 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 raise. So they grazed during the day on grass and whatnot. But they're also supplemented with grain and corn feed. And because this is the, the, the,

not the non-GMO varietal, they're given GMO corn feed. Then the non-GMO pasture-raised is 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. Whole other podcast.

Yeah, it's like, we're going to be here for two hours. Yeah. Yeah, so, and, you know, 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. Yeah, it's terrible. Even if you're buying free range and cage-free, you should Google this because it's on the USDA website. Like 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 being. 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, you know, like 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 raise 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 happier hen is going to create a happier, or sorry, a healthier egg for you. Yeah, 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.

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've 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 start putting our money there. You know, 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. Yep. Normally, you'll have to find this from a local farm or a local farmer's market or something like that. I'm a drug dealer from the street. I mean, it's literally, it's illegal in, or 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, there's a weird law here that I don't actually know, 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, 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 that's, 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 know, I don't even know why this is a thing, but I've seen. raw cheese in store before. Like Organic Valley has raw cheese, which is in pretty much every, most stores at least 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 ethically ethical and humane, these 100% grass-fed cows as opposed to conventionally raise 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. 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, you know, 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 Amon, I don't know if 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 everything, 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 bring just fine. Yeah, exactly.

That's why they think that, yeah, a lot of people are having issues of milk. It's not the milk itself. It's what we have done to it. Yep, exactly. Yeah. And then we, 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 we always had A2 cows and 8A2A2 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're, 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, like I just tried A2 dairy for the first time. I didn't have any problems. So I think there's definitely something to be said about that. Yeah. 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. Like, 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.

But it's spelled that way. 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 like 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, you know, 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. At the end of the day, you know, you and I both started this with the intent of just wanting, to help people better their lives, you know, better the quality of their life. And we know how incredibly important it is to nourish your body with the right foods. And we know how, I mean, 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. Thank you so much for listening to the Real Foodology podcast. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson. The theme song

is by Georgie. You can watch the full video version of this podcast inside the Spotify app or on YouTube. As always, you can leave us a voicemail by clicking the link in our bio. And if you like this episode, please rate and review on your podcast app. For more shows by my team, go to wellnessloud.com. See you next time. 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. Real Canadian Superstore has everything you need this back-to-school season. Save on lunchbox savers like Ziggy's sliced deli-meat products for always 375 and get life brand pure Vita shampoo or conditioner for $8 each. At Real Canadian Superstore, when you're ready, we're ready with a whole world and more.