Realfoodology - Understanding the Impact of Food Choices on Our Health

Episode Date: September 20, 2023

164: This weeks episode is a little different. I was recently asked to speak at a retreat in Denver, Colorado for Clearstem Skincare. I spoke all about how to navigate the grocery store, what labels mean, what you want to look for on labels, what to avoid, what brands I like. I also just gave some of my life hacks on how to decipher what you should put in your cart and what you should put back on the shelf. Special thank you to Clearstem for having me! Topics Discussed: 0:08:58 - Investing in Health and Real Food 0:11:20 - Cheaper and Healthier Fast Food Options 0:18:07 - Misleading Labels 0:33:14 - Concerns About Pesticides and Glyphosate 0:44:45 - Deli Meats and Colon Cancer Linked 0:46:53 - Food Industry Corruption and Misinformation 1:03:49 - Food Trends and Health Effects 1:11:08 - Concerns Over Butter Wrapper Controversy Sponsored By: PALEOVALLEY for 15% off go to Paleovalley.com/Realfoodology LMNT Get 8 FREE packs with any order at drinkLMNT.com/realfoodology Cured Nutrition www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% off 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 Check Out Courtney: Courtney's Instagram: @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database

Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Swan, and today's episode is a unique one. I was recently asked to speak at a retreat in Denver, Colorado for Clear Stem Skincare, and I was so flattered that they asked me to come and speak. It was such a fun retreat. It was a two-day retreat in Colorado. And I spoke all about how to navigate the grocery store, what all the different labels mean, what you want to look for on labels, what to avoid, what brands I like. I also just gave my little hacks and tips and tricks as far as how to really decipher what you should put in your cart versus what you should put back on the shelf. I loved this conversation. It was so much fun for me to be a part of this retreat and they recorded it and sent me the recording. And I was like,

why don't we release it on the podcast so you guys can hear it. So I really hope you enjoy this episode. And as always, if you're loving the podcast, if you could take a moment to rate and review it, it would mean so much to me. It doesn't take long at all and it really helps the show. I appreciate all of your support. Love you guys so much. Thanks for listening. Do you drink filtered water? Hopefully you do. And hopefully by now you know that tap water is loaded with all sorts of pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, heavy metals, fluoride, chlorine, etc. But what I'm here to talk to you about today is if you are filtering your water,

you've got to make sure that you're replenishing the electrolytes and the minerals back in your water. One of the ways that I love to do this is with Element. It's spelled L-M-N-T. And by looking at the package, you may initially feel a little bit of a shock with the amount of sodium in there. But if you go back and listen to my episode with Dr. James DeNick, who wrote a book called The Salt Fix, he talks all about how we, for the most part, are actually not getting enough salt. We forget that sodium is an imperative part of our fluid and electrolyte balance. We actually need sodium. It's imperative to have it in certain levels. And the majority of Americans are getting most

of their salt from processed packaged foods and fast foods and from eating out. So if you are not eating out a lot, which hopefully you're not, but that's a discussion for another day, most likely you're probably actually not getting enough salt. So this is one thing that I love about Element is it has a really high sodium level and then it also has potassium and magnesium in there. So it's replenishing your electrolytes. Also, I love the saltiness of it. There's a couple of different flavors that I love the most. The grapefruit is hands down my favorite. I also really love the raspberry and the watermelon. And if you're concerned about the natural flavors,

they also just have a raw unflavored as well that has no flavors in it. It just has the sodium, potassium, and magnesium in there. Element gave me a deal to share with you guys, which I love them so much for this. If you guys go to drinkelement.com slash realfoodology, that's D-R-I-N-K-L-M-N-T.com slash realfoodology, you're going to get a free sample pack after you make a purchase. So you get one packet of every flavor so you can try

all the different flavors and then see which one you like the best. So again, that is drinkelement.com slash real foodology. Element is spelled L-M-N-T. Sleep is absolutely imperative to our overall health. It controls hunger and weight loss hormones. It boosts energy levels. It's also the key to our body's rejuvenation and repair process, and it impacts countless other vital functions. So a good night's sleep will improve your wellbeing more than anything else. I would say for my health journey, sleep has really been my main focus the last couple of years more than anything else. And one of the ways that I started doing that was taking magnesium breakthrough from Bioptimizers. It contains all seven forms of magnesium. A lot of people are deficient in magnesium and magnesium really helps to calm down the nervous system, get your body ready for bed. I recently had the founder of Bioptimizers on my podcast actually,

and we did an entire sleep hygiene episode. So if you want to go back and listen to that, we talk very extensively into why sleep is so important, how to get better sleep, what supplements really help. And one of the things that we talked about was magnesium breakthrough. And I can tell you guys, I've been taking this for about a year now. I travel with it and it helps so much. I wear an Oura ring at night to track my sleep and I've seen my REM and my deep sleep go up. So this magnesium breakthrough is a total game changer. If you guys want to get Bioptimizer's magnesium breakthrough today, make sure that you go to magbreakthrough.com slash realfoodology. That's M-A-G breakthrough.com slash realfoodology and intercode realfoodology,

and you're going to get 10% off. Courtney Swan is an integrative nutritionist and a true advocate for real and nourishing foods. With a master's in nutrition and integrative health, Courtney is on a mission to revolutionize the way we eat. Through her Instagram account, Real Foodology, she sheds light on the power of real food and exposes the secrets of the food industry. She aims to educate on the dirty practices and how to eat healthy with real food. She doesn't in diets and promote promotes a real food approach to eating in this session we're going to feel empowered to read labels navigate the grocery store and make more informed informed decisions about the food we consume welcome Courtney thank you so much for that intro that's so sweet so we're going to go over one of my favorite

conversations today which is really just learning how to navigate the grocery store and really understanding like what Kaylee just said is how the food industry really tries to trick us into believing that their food-like products are healthy for us and really just how to empower you to know how to make the right decisions for your health when you're in the grocery store. Because it's incredibly confusing. We've made it so difficult in this country to eat healthy. And I believe to a certain extent it's for a reason because a lot of these corporations just, they care more about their bottom line. They care more about profit than the health of the people, unfortunately, which can sound really doom and gloom. But I always tell people, I take that

information and I find it incredibly empowering because what Keisha was just saying earlier, instead of going into this victim mindset, you can say like, okay, now that I know this, I'm empowered by the decisions that I'm making. And I can educate myself in the companies that are truly making products and foods with my health in mind. And I can give them my money and feel good about it. And I'm also supporting the brands that actually are doing right by our health. So I find it incredibly empowering. So let's see, we're going to go. I like to start out with what my guideline is as far as like shopping the grocery store. A couple of them I'm sure you've probably heard before because they're really basic things like never shop hungry.

I'm sure you've heard this all the time. But your blood sugar is dropping. The first thing you're going to reach for is that bag of cookies or the really fast energy the high sugar whatever it is so you want to make sure that you're full so that you're you're actually thinking straight and you're not just like oh like want all the cookies and all the sugar another one is shop the perimeter again you've probably heard this but it's really important to reiterate because you think about the perimeter perimeter is where all the real food is the meat the dairy the eggs the produce when you start getting into the middle of the real food is. The meat, the dairy, the eggs, the produce. When you start getting into the middle of the aisles is when you start finding all the packaged foods. And I'll go

more into this in a second about the packaged foods, like how to read a label. I'm also a realist in the sense that I'm not saying that you're never going to eat anything in a package. I just don't think that that's real for the modern times that we live in. We have packaged foods for convenience. It's about finding the products that are healthier for you that are still made with real food ingredients that are closer to their natural state versus the products that have all the artificial dyes and the preservatives and all that. Another thing that I like to talk to people a little bit about is there needs to be a reframe in the way that we're spending our money because I want to be conscious. I know, especially right now with inflation,

grocery costs are going up like crazy. It can be very expensive to eat healthy, but it doesn't have to be. It's all about a reframe. First and foremost, I know with like TikTok and Instagram, we see all these trends of people like, oh, this is the newest collagen powder and this is the protein that you need and all this stuff.

It's about getting back to the real basics. And if you're really on a budget, you don't need all that stuff. It's great if you want it, fine. if you have the budget for it. Amazing. But let's just focus on the basics of the real food. We want to be consuming less things and packages and more foods in their whole real state. And that's the first and foremost, most important thing. And then also not to mention, if you really are on a budget, it's so much more cost effective to buy all your groceries at home. even if you're buying organic. It is so much cheaper if you were to go and spend like $150, $200 on all organic produce for the week versus post-mating something two nights in a row.

And you've basically already spent $150. So it's about a reframe and also understanding that you're investing in your health first. And when you're investing in your health first. And when you're investing in your health, you're going to think clearer, you're going to look better, you're going to feel better, you're going to show up better for your job, you'll probably make more money as a result. So reframing that, that you're really putting this money into your, you're investing this money into yourself first. And also, you're paying more at the cash register, but you'll be paying way less later in doctor bills, pharmaceutical drugs, surgeries, all of that. So it's thinking about the long-term effects of it. So what is

real food? I would say if it was once alive, it's considered to be real food. So anything like a plant, an animal, that would be considered something in their whole real natural state, and it was once alive. When buying packaged foods, this is my favorite rule. And I'll show you guys an example. Actually, I'll just show you this right now. When you look at an ingredient label, first and foremost, number one red flag, if it is really long, chances are it's probably not going to be good for you. There's obviously always anomalies in the case, but generally speaking, this is a pretty safe rule to go by. But what I always like to say is if you're reading an ingredient label and you could technically buy all of these ingredients at home

or at the grocery store and make it at home, I'm not saying you have to, but if you could, then it's fair game. But you look at this Twinkies, for example, and you're looking at this going, okay, where in the grocery store am I going to find mono and diglycerides? Like where does that exist on the shelf? You're not going to find it. So this is an easy way to go, okay, this is not real food and this is not going to provide nutrients for my body

versus the hue crackers, which are like one of my favorites. You look at that, every single ingredient on there, you're like, oh, I know what that is. I know what a flaxseed is. I know what organic rosemary is. And I could buy all that in the grocery store and make it at home. So that's one of my favorite rules.

And it's a really easy way to help you decipher what is a better packaged food for you versus something that's not going to be as good for you. Another thing that I really like to reiterate, I think there's this misconception that eating healthy means that you're just going to be eating bland chicken with no spices and broccoli. Like we've all seen the like bodybuilders where they just do the meal prep and you're like, oh, that's like my literal worst nightmare. Like I could never eat like that. It doesn't mean that you have to give up your favorite foods. One of my favorite things is recreating foods that I loved from childhood and buying good whole real food ingredients and making them. I did a segment on my podcast for a while called Organic for Everyone. And my producer

and I were going to fast food restaurants. We were buying the really popular things. Like one of the ones we did was a cheesy gordita crunch, which was my favorite in college. Yes. So good. That's a super nice podcast. But exactly, like fourth meal at 3 a.m. I'm not proud of it, but like love those.

They were so good. So I figured out a way to make it with healthier ingredients. And what we did is we wanted to break down the cost and show people that fast food, even though it's marketed to us, like, yes, it is convenient. I will give them that, but it's marketed to us. It's a cheaper option. So we went and we bought cheesy gordita crunches, a meal of four. And then we bought all the ingredients that you could make like eight cheesy gordita crunches from. Everything was organic. We bought it from a super accessible grocery store. We weren't like going to Air One. It was like a Ralph's or something. And it was cheaper to buy all the ingredients. Every single

ingredient was organic. And it was cheaper than to go through the drive-thru to get Taco Bell cheesy gordita crunches. Even we were blown away by it. There were a couple of them where we were like, oh, this is, we're not going to be able to make this happen. Every single time we did McDonald's, we did Taco Bell, and it was always cheaper to buy it from, from scratch and make it at home. So it's really about like finding ingredient, like healthier ingredients and then creating your favorite foods. It doesn't mean that you can never have pizza, just buy the healthier ingredients and then creating your favorite foods. It doesn't mean that you can never have pizza. Just buy the healthier ingredients and make it at home or find a restaurant that uses really good sourced flour and organic marinara sauce. Maybe they use grass fed meats. Like there's more restaurants that are doing this now. So it doesn't mean that you have

to give up your burgers or whatever it is that you love. And then another, oh, there we go. I'll go more into this later just because I can show you guys photos down the line but another big way that these companies deceive us is a thing called greenwashing and you'll notice that on the front of a package they'll generally depict a photo of chickens grazing in the pastures or cows or whatever it is and it it looks like this really beautiful farmscape. And then you look on the back and you look at the ingredients and it's like pea protein, canola oil, and all these preservatives. And I like to remind people that on the front of the package, that is just an advertisement for the product. You always, always, always want to turn around and read the

actual ingredient label because that's what's actually going to tell you what's happening. The front of the package is just going to say like no added sugar and we're natural and clean and all this stuff. And none of those terms are regulated. The only term that's actually regulated is USDA organic. Otherwise a company can literally say whatever they want. They can say it's low fat, it's sugar-free,

no artificial colors and flavorings or whatever it is. And then you read the back and you're like, they're totally lying or they're like stretching the truth. My favorite, I did a video about this recently. A lot more people are on the seed oil thing now. Like we're being more conscious of that. And mayo is made with canola oil. So I'm seeing companies now where they write avocado mayo on the front and then, or sorry, olive oil is the one I saw. It was Kraft. It said olive oil mayo. And you turn it around and the second ingredient is olive oil. And then it's canola oil and I think soybean oil.

And I was like, this is crazy. So yeah, technically it has olive oil in there, but they also add the other oils in there that you're trying to avoid. So it's so important that you read the ingredients and actually see what's happening. Quick raise of hands. How many people have felt so disheartened by you're going through the grocery store and you think you're buying all these healthy things. And then you see in a podcast or see an Instagram, that's like one of the worst things for you. And then you actually look at the ingredients and you're like, what? And you turn around the front and you're like, but this looks so healthy. We were talking about

this yesterday, but we love playing detective again. It's all about taking the power back and not putting the power in these companies to try and trick us and market towards certain people that we get to play detective of like going through the grocery store being like, what companies are trying to trick me? Like, see what looks healthy, then flip it around and actually read the ingredients. Like, are they being true to what they say? Are they trying to put olive oil on the front when they just want to market that, but really they're cutting it with canola oil. And so again, informed consent, just taking that power back of just being educated about what you're putting in your cart, no matter what decision you end up deciding, but it's a decision that you want to make, not the one that you feel tricked to make.

Yes, yes. And that's such a good point. And that's what, just to piggyback on that a little bit, a lot of the conversation that I like to have is I just want people to understand that this is happening so that they are making conscious decisions for their health because there are so many people in this country that are trying, I think the majority of us, we are actively trying to make good, healthy decisions for ourselves, for our family, and we're being tricked and we think that we're making good decisions and we may not always be making those good decisions because we are being misled. And so that's where I really like to inform people, but then also remind you that no one's ever going to be perfect. I go out to dinner with my friends and I eat the

chips that I'm sure are fried in the canola oil, but it's because I know that the majority of the time, the foods that I am bringing into my home, and that's where you can really control it, are clean. I buy organic whenever possible. I buy the brands that I know and trust that use the real food ingredients. That way when I am out, I'm not stressing about it and freaking out because stress is also really bad for your health as well. And you also want to be able to enjoy your life. Life is really short. You want to have fun with your friends. It's healthy to go out and have fun with your friends. You need to find that balance. And if you are majority making these really good decisions for yourself, your body's resilient and it can handle a certain amount. It's just,

we're at the point where we're being infiltrated by so many things from so many different areas that so many people are also unaware of. And so if we can cut down those things that we're being exposed to, then we can live our lives and not have to worry about it so much. Oh man, I keep losing this. I know, it just comes back on. I think it's just going to come back. Yay. Okay, we got it. He just likes taking a nap. Okay. So I also like to break down ingredient labels because once again, this is where we can be a little bit misled. On the left here, this is what cage-free actually means. So you think about, you read the label and you think, oh my God, cage-free, that sounds like amazing.

They're not in cages. So they're not in cages, but they're stuffed so intensely in these warehouses. The majority of them get really sick. They're often put on antibiotics prophylactically, meaning just to be preventative because they are in such unhealthy environments. They're not seeing the, they're not seeing sunlight. So they're not getting exposed to vitamin D as nature intended versus on the right here, pasture raise is really what you want to look for because what that means is these hens

are foraging throughout the day. They're eating bugs as nature intended. They're getting vitamin D from the sun. So that's going to in turn create a healthier chicken for you and healthier eggs as well. And then another one I like to talk about is free range. So free range is very tricky as well because often the warehouses look like that, but by the USDA regulations, there's not a minimum space requirement for the outdoor space. So it just means that they have to have a door, but often these warehouses are about that big and they have a door about that little. And you imagine that the majority of these hens never even know that that door exists and there's not even enough room for all of them to go outside. So the majority of them do not actually end up outside anyways. And this is

another way that we're tricked with labeling. And this is, you can go, I literally pulled this from the USDA website. So this is the regulations can go, I literally pulled this from the USDA website. So this is the regulations for the free-range eggs, which is crazy. You got that from the USDA website? Yikes. It's nuts. Yeah, at least you're being honest. I know, but it's crazy.

And so, and again, this would be considered a form of greenwashing because you think, oh, free-range, they're free in a range. No, they're not. No, they're not. They're not. This is what you want to look for, pasture-raised. Thank God there's more and more companies that are doing this. I've seen pasture-raised organic eggs, a huge like 18 pack at Costco for like $10. So it's becoming more accessible and I've been seeing it in more places. I think I've even seen it at Trader Joe's. I believe I've seen pasture-raised at Target. So it's becoming more accessible and I've been seeing it in more places. I think I've even seen it at Trader Joe's. I believe I've seen pasture as a target. So it's becoming more accessible, thankfully. But again, this goes back to putting your money and your health into the companies that are actually doing right, not only by us, but by the animals too. Because you think

about this is how nature intended them to live. And so they're going to be a healthier, happier pen. In the beginning, when I, I just want to pause for a second. In the beginning, when I started making all these tiny little shifts years ago, I used to have a note section in my phone to remind myself. Because at first, I was like, wait, was it cage-free or pasteurized? I kept confusing myself. So I made a note section in my phone for a grocery list when I go to the grocery store. Sticking to real foods, it was a very similar order every single week.

But now what I'm so excited about is there's so many companies that have more accessible, both pasture raised, and then we're going to about to dive into grass fed in a second, but wild pastures is a great brand and it ships anywhere in the U.S. They pack it on dry ice and ship it out to you. Force of nature is a really great one. You can get that shipped to you. And I literally, I almost freaked out when California had the hurricane and it was like we could lose power because I have my whole freezer is like all frozen meat and I was like text my boyfriend like go get ice that meat cannot go bad but I'll wait because force of nature every once in a while I'll have like 20% discounts and I will just purchase so much meat and keep it in my freezer so it's always there because it thaws out in like

two hours I like thaw it out around lunch and it's ready for dinner. Thrive Market's also a really good one for not only the brands we're gonna continue to talk about in this presentation, but also they've added wild caught fish, free range, grass fed, all the things. So there's a lot of brands that are finally making things accessible to the whole US

because they'll ship things on dry ice to everyone and you can get discounts, you can get get affiliate codes I know Courtney has a lot we're gonna send out to all of you an email recap of everyone who's presented in different ways to access them and everything they've talked about so any of the links that Courtney has awesome codes for we'll get that sent out to everyone so you can just you have your whole new grocery list after this but the accessibility I feel like is key and so happy about all the brands that are making it easier for everyone and to buy in bulk yeah that's my favorite I know but yeah that's a good point Thrive Market is great also Costco I don't know if people know this but Costco is one of the largest I think it might be the

largest grocery store with the most amount of organic food they have a ton of organic food you can instacart Costco now where you don't even have to be a member or deal with the overwhelm of going in. Cause sometimes I like mentally, I'm like, I can't do Costco today. So you can Instacart from Costco. Also for me and my boyfriend, it's like a lot of food at once. But if you have a bigger family or yeah. Also this PDF, either you can ask me for it later. I'm happy to send it to you if you want to have it for notes, or we can also just send it out. We can mail it out to everyone. Yeah. Okay. So another one that I really love to talk about is from a labeling standpoint is factory farm versus grass-fed. If it does not

say grass-fed on there, you have to assume that it was factory farmed. And unfortunately, very similarly to what we just saw with the hens, This is what we call these CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations. And essentially this is the difference. So on the left here, the factory farmed. First and foremost, I was vegetarian for five years simply because this was so heartbreaking to me when I first found out that this is how we treat the majority of our cows in this country.

It's absolutely heartbreaking. They're not meant to be living in pens like this. Also, we're feeding them things like grains, soy, and corn. It's often genetically modified. Their stomachs were designed to digest grass. So you think about, they're already eating a diet that's not species appropriate. And so they're really sick. They're often also shot up with growth hormones because these companies want to fatten them up as quickly as possible because the longer they have them on these feedlots, the more that it costs them money. So they fatten them up really

quickly so that they can send them off to be processed. So it's incredibly heartbreaking. And also you think about it from a health standpoint, we're eating sick animals. Like that's not great for us either. So there's a difference between there's organic labeling and then there's also grass-fed. And you can find just grass-fed, you can also find organic grass-fed, or you can also just find organic. And this is where it gets a little bit tricky. If you can, I always tell people try to find the organic grass-fed as much as possible. If not, I would say the second best is just to go for the grass-fed because at least they're grazing in pastures, they're eating a more species-appropriate diet, they're happy, they happy they're getting again vitamin d from the sunlight but organic is for beef it's one of

the most standardized and regulated labels so when beef says the usd organic seal it means all of this so they were fed a 100 organic feed and they forage so if they're not grass-fed they're still given corn and soy the grains unless if stated. Sometimes it'll state on the package, but they're at least getting an organic feed, which is a little bit better. They have to be raised on certified organic land, which is really important because the non-organic land is being sprayed to high hell with pesticides and herbicides, which I'll go into as well. And then all of this. So there's more animal health and welfare standards. And again, this is going to be a healthier meat for us as well. Something that I didn't have a slide on actually, but I talked about this yesterday too.

Another thing that I'm really, really passionate about, and I've done a bunch of podcast episodes that really dive deeper into this, but I want to give you a little look into it. Regenerative farming is something that's happening more and more. And actually Kaylee just mentioned Force of Nature. I've personally been to their ranch in Texas. It's outside of Austin. And they got this, when they first bought this land, it was completely dead. All of the grasses were dead. There was like no life to be seen on the land for the most part. And they were able to bring back life to this land by doing regenerative farming practices. And basically what that means is we're working with nature instead of against nature. Right now, the way that we are doing our farming practices, the conventional practice is to spray really heavily

with pesticides and herbicides. Not only is this very detrimental for our health, we're literally consuming these foods that are being sprayed with these toxic chemicals. It's also destroying the soil. And you have to think about our food is only as healthy for us as the soil is because our plants get all of the nutrients for our food from the soil. And if we're killing off the ecosystem of the soil by spraying it really heavily with pesticides, we're destroying the soil. Not to mention when we practice more regenerative farming, where we're actually working with nature, we're not killing everything off with all the pesticides and herbicides. An interaction happens where carbon is pulled out of the atmosphere and brought back into the soil because carbon is actually food for the soil.

And what are we dealing with right now? There's massive amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. So that's what's so cool about regenerative farming is that it fixes all of the biggest issues that we're dealing with right now, which is an animal welfare issue, which I just talked about, the health of the people because we're not spraying everything aggressively with pesticides and herbicides.

Our food have more nutrients, minerals, and vitamins in them when the soil is healthier. And then not to mention, this practice is pulling carbon out of the atmosphere, which is exactly what we need to be doing right now. so I go way more into depth about this on my podcast if you guys want to go check out episodes if you're more interested in that but this is again also why I'm very passionate about mentioned earlier that I was vegetarian for five years this is just my story personally I got very very very sick and by the end of it I remember I was sobbing in my

nutritionist's office when she was telling me, you have to eat meat. Like you just have to, like, I don't know what else to tell you. You've been doing this for five years and how long are you going to keep doing this to yourself? And when I discovered grass fed, pasture raised, all of this, I felt better putting my money into products that at least I knew that the animals were being taken care of while they were here. And I had to really make my peace with that. But there's this big push right now for plant-based burgers and plant-based foods saying that they're better for the environment. This could not be further from the truth because all those plant-based burgers are being planted in

these monocrop fields that are completely destroying our planet. So they're actually hindering our progress that we're trying to do as far as with regenerative planet. So they're actually hindering our progress that we're trying to do as far as with regenerative farming. So I like to talk about that as well. Do you have a podcast episode on regenerative farming at all? I have like five of them now. I just had one come out like two weeks ago with Gabe Brown. If you guys are, if anyone's aware of him, he's a farmer that was on, there's a documentary called Kiss the Ground. It's really amazing on Netflix. It's so good. If you want a really heartwarming feeling to see what these farmers are doing and how they're trying to truly regenerate our earth and bring back more nutrients into our food, it's

truly incredible what these people are dedicating their lives to because regenerative farming is not a quick fix. It takes time because you have to bring in all the animals, you have to reshape some of the land so the rain can drain certain ways. I'm not the best person to explain it, but listen to Courtney's episodes on this. And I highly suggest you watch that doc. It's just, it's such a good feeling. It's like, wow, these people are doing so good for the world. And just gives you, it gives you more faith in the food system that there are people out there that are really advocating and really trying to make a difference and bring nutrients and healthy food back into our diets. I know it is. It's really, it's heartwarming. And if you guys remember, there was a farmer on that documentary,

his name's Gabe Brown, and he was the one that talked about for three years in a row, he lost 100% of his crops. And he was basically facing bankruptcy and he discovered regenerative farming and was able to fully bring back all of his crops and now he does everything from a regenerative standpoint and he talks a lot about it in documentaries, podcasts, anyway, so he was recently on my podcast if you guys wanna hear about his whole story because it's really, really inspiring.

Snacks, let's talk about snacks. Everyone loves snacks and I feel like it's hard to find a good snack that actually fills you up and that you really crave and like to eat I am obsessed with the grass-fed beef sticks from paleo valley if you guys follow me on instagram you probably saw recently that I went I literally went to this show downtown and my girlfriends were making fun of me because when I met up with them, I literally had a Paleo Valley beef stick sticking out of my pocket. My friend goes, are you packing meat in there? I was. I always have a Paleo Valley stick with me either in my purse or I always shove a bunch of

them in my car and just leave them in there for emergencies, for snack emergencies. I'm always bringing them places on hikes, you name it. I always have them on me because they're such a great snack. It's a great source of protein. They taste really good. They come from 100% grass-fed beef and they're really high quality. It's only organic spices in there. You're not going to find any other fillers. And you know what I love so much? Their beef comes from 100% grass-fed cows raised entirely on natural grass pastures by family farmers right here in the US. And they also are committed to supporting regenerative farms, which is

really important. If you guys are not into beef, if beef is not really your thing, they also have pasture-raised turkey sticks, and they also have pasture-raised pork sticks. So they have a variety of different flavors and all different kinds of meats to serve your meat desires. And if you guys go to paleovalley.com slash realfoodology, you're going to save 20%. Make sure you go to paleovalley.com slash realfoodology, you're going to save 20%. Make sure you go to paleovalley.com slash realfoodology. You're going to save some money. Also, check out everything else they have on that website. They have superfood bars. They have organic super greens. They also have bone broth protein. They have grass-fed whey protein. They have essential electrolytes. They also have a superfood golden milk, which is going to be really good going into fall. So make sure you guys check

it out, use the code realfoodology and you're going to save some money. Do you struggle with anxiety like I do? I have been pretty open about my journey and my struggles with anxiety throughout the years. And therapy is one of the things that has really helped me out a lot. EMDR therapy specifically has helped me through a lot of my traumas that I went through. But another thing that has really helped me throughout the years with my anxiety journey, if you will, is CBD. I really like Cured Nutrition's CBD. I love that you can go to their website and you can actually see their third-party testing

that they do from their lab. So you can actually go to the website, see how much CBD is in all of their products, and they update it all the time. You can hear more about this in depth in my episode that I had with the founder of Cured Nutrition. And my favorite ones, I would say, I really like the CBN Night Caps. And then I also like the Zen CBD Caps as well. They also have a calm oil, which is really great and a topical. So if you're dealing with any sort of injuries or maybe muscle soreness, they have a topical that you can put on. They also came out more

recently with some Serenity gummies, which is like low THC relaxation gummies, which are really great. And if you follow me on Instagram, you know that my dog, Turkey loves their CBD dog treats. He like freaks out every single time I opened the pantry. He follows me in, he immediately goes for the bag and he starts begging for them. And they're great. They're really high quality ingredients, all organic, have really high quality CBD. My boyfriend just got a golden retriever puppy more recently. And we have been giving the dog treats to both of our dogs when we go for road trips and it's been really helpful and the dogs love them they taste really great so if you want to try any of the products that I talked about

today or anything on the cured nutrition website make sure that you go to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology that's c-u-r-e-D nutrition.com slash realfoodology. And you can also use code realfoodology and it's going to save you 20%. So I mentioned earlier about the pesticides. This is why I always tell people organic whenever possible. This is so incredibly important. We're seeing rising rates of cancer, autoimmune, thyroid issues, gut issues. And a lot of these are most likely connected to the chemicals that we're spraying on our food. Specifically, there's one glyphosate that I'm really concerned about. It's also known as Roundup.

You probably have seen it in your parents' garage. Maybe you have it. But that one in particular is very concerning because it's getting sprayed on our food. I forgot what it's called when they desiccate the wheat and then they spray it on the wheat to dry it out and then they ship it out. So wheat particularly is really known for having really high levels of glyphosate. Oats are also really known for having high levels of glyphosate. But when you buy organic, you are certified that it's not being sprayed with glyphosate. It's also a really big concern because the World Health Organization was back in, I think this was like 2018, they were sounding the alarm saying that

it's a probable human carcinogen, meaning that we pretty much know that it causes cancer. It also acts like an antibiotic, not only for the pesticides or sorry, for the plants, but also in our guts. So that's meaning that it's killing off not only the bad bacteria, but also the good bacteria in our guts that we need for our immune systems, for digestion, for our mood, for everything. And so it's a really big concern. So if someone is on a budget, I always say check out the Environmental Working Group has something called the Dirty Dozen. And they release this every year with updated results, basically showing the foods that you want to avoid most conventionally bought. So if you're really out of budget and you're super concerned about buying everything in organic,

I would check out the EWG Dirty Dozen and they'll tell you the ones that have the most pesticide residue. And then there's the Clean 15. And these are the foods that are, they're like, okay, if you really can't buy everything organic, these are safer to buy because they're going to have less pesticide residue on it. And they re-release them every year based on the results they've tested. So does anyone have any questions? Okay, cool. Okay, so top ingredients to look for on a label. Canola oil.

And this, I would also say, goes under the umbrella of seed oils in general. Safflower, sunflower, cottonseed. Vegetable oil is just basically canola oil. Soybean oil, sunflower, cottonseed, vegetable oil is just basically canola oil, soybean oil, grapeseed, and rice brand. I think, did I say sunflower oil? One of the biggest reasons that these are so concerning is because they are in everything now. Everything. Like I was at a farmer's market on Sunday and I was so upset that they were, the only milk they had was oat milk. There is rapeseed oil, which is also known as canola oil, in oat milk now.

We're finding it in everything. We're finding it in soups. We're finding it in sauces. If you eat out, you are pretty much 100% guaranteed that your food is cooked in either canola or soybean. There was a recent study that came out that shows that soybean actually changes certain things in our brain. It also reduces oxytocin, which is the love hormone. So that's incredibly concerning. Yeah. And then we wonder why we feel like, I know, it's really sad. And yeah, so we're being exposed to them on such high levels now that was, they've only been introduced into our food system in the last like probably 50 or 60 years. And you think about before that, I'll go into this more later, but since the existence of humanity, we've been using

more like butter and tallow and olive oil. Another really important thing to note about the seed oils is that these are really hard to make without really intensive machinery. They go through a crazy processing, which is why we've only introduced them into our food system more recently, because our ancestors were not, they didn't have machines to like get all this oil out of a tiny little sunflower seeds. You have to think about like, they really have to go through a crazy processing. Whereas like olives, you just put a bunch of olives in a bucket and people can stand on them and press the oil out. So that's another way of thinking about like a more natural oil that we should be consuming.

And just so you guys know, I'm going to go over all the things that are good for you after this, like the cooking oils you want to use. We're not just going to drop all the awful things on you and then just like leave you hanging with that. Also, this is a really great list. Another like back to the notes section of your phone. Something I love about Courtney is, again, back to the the balance back to the realness of everything just inform consent about the foods that we're eating and just making the best decisions with what we have at the time I think it's important to note to not get too caught up in this not get too caught up in the stress of this and just be like oh my gosh everything I'm eating is toxic and what am I going to eat anymore and coming back to the basics and the top

ingredients to avoid right here. I think it's good as you're playing detective with packaged foods, just like keeping an eye out for some of these things and making the best choice that you possibly can with it. And, you know, sometimes you can find things that have none of these. And then that's when you can relax. If you're just snacking on chips at a friend's house and you're like, okay, might have some canola oil in it. That's fine. But as you're just snacking on chips at a friend's house and you're like okay might have some canola oil in it that's fine but as you're shopping for yourself it's just a good added list to be able to switch around and guys this really saves you money it helps you not buy as many snacks because like in reality like we don't need it we we like snacking we don't need to snack it's just more something that just we want to do throughout the day. Then we snack more and then we have to snack even more after that. So it helps you actually avoid not buying snacks.

I rarely have snacks in my house anymore, which is actually a really good thing because I am a snacker. And if it's sitting out, I will eat it. So it helps me, one, it helps me like just eat my three meals a day and not go crazy. But two, just saves money. I'm not rolling out of the grocery store with like all these packaged goods and I'm just sticking to more of the real foods now. So it's, it's really helpful in all areas. Yeah. Yeah. That's very true. And also at first, a lot of this will feel really overwhelming, but then you'll find the brands that you know, and you trust, and then

you can relax into it more and it just becomes more like natural to you. And also you'll start to really be able to recognize pretty like immediately when a product is not going to be good for you. Like I showed the Twinkies earlier. Basically, anytime I pull something up and I see an ingredient list this long, I'm like, I'm not even going to eat it. I don't even bother eating it. It's just like a quick no. Yeah, exactly. Like I already know this is going to be bad. So like it saves you time and you get used to it.

Corn syrup is a really, another really big one. We're seeing such a rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease right now, which is absolutely terrifying. Because if you look back about 50 years, it basically did not exist. The only time that we ever saw fatty liver disease was in alcoholics. And we're seeing a massive rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was in alcoholics. And we're seeing a massive rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. And one of the drivers that experts believe is corn syrup. It is really high in fructose. Our body's preferred source of energy is glucose. And when we are overloading on fructose, the body doesn't know what to do with all of that. So corn syrup is a really big one that you want to

make sure that you're avoiding. Refined sugar, again, it goes through such a refining process that by the end of it, it's really almost non-recognizable to the body. And they bleach it and they do all these other processes to it. And again, I'll show you guys the sugars that are more approved and more in their natural state. A lot of this is really thinking about getting back to the basics of food being in its most natural state as possible. And I try to tell people too, like something that has always really helped me as a barometer of like what's good and what's bad. I like to look at the foods that stand the test of time. What are the foods that humans have been eating literally forever until we started processing everything? That's very basic stuff like produce, eggs, meat, butter, beef tallow, things like that.

They stand the test of time because we've been eating them for a very, very long time. And what we're getting into trouble with is it's not necessarily the food, it's what has been done to the food. What's been sprayed on it? How has it been processed? What are the preservatives that have been added into it afterwards? So that's a really, for me, that's been my guiding place of what is considered to be real and good for you. TBHQ is another one that's a preservative that has a tricky path to being linked possibly to colon cancer, also just to stomach upset in general. And you find it in a lot of packaged foods like Pop-Tarts, Cheez-Its, stuff like that. Artificial flavors, and I would also

say natural flavoring as well, you want to be careful about. Artificial flavoring, I think that kind of is obvious in of itself. Natural flavors are a little bit trickier because it's an umbrella term for so many different ingredients that you don't actually know what's in there. And I like to tell people there's always, there's so much nuance in all of this. Just because a company is using natural flavors does not necessarily mean that it's bad. So I encourage people, if there's a product that you really love and you're like, oh, man, they use all organic ingredients and this looks great, but it has natural flavors, I encourage people to email them and be like, hey, can you tell me what's in your natural flavors? Is it organic? Are you using X, Y, and Z? Because basically the problem is we just don't know what's in your natural flavors. Is it organic? Are you using X, Y, and Z? Because the problem that, basically the problem is, is we just don't know what's in there. And so a lot of people

are sounding the alarms in natural flavors because there are a lot of companies that are using really nasty ingredients. There's one that's approved as natural ingredients that comes from beaveriness. So there, it can be like, this is a real thing. Yeah. So you just don't know. And so that's where people are sounding the alarm right now is they're like, what is in this? And people have emailed companies before and found out that it had gluten in it and other allergies that they're not required to disclose. So if you have a food allergy, that could also be a concern. So it's just something to be on your radar.

Food dyes. This one makes me so mad because one, we't need them there's no nutritional value to them why do we care what color our food is it's all going to the same place who cares and not to mention food dyes are one of the ingredients that are banned in so many other countries but for some reason we're not banning them here they found in the uk that there's a direct link to hyperactivity in children where do you think the majority of the food dyes are? It's all in the kids' food. They're dyeing the yogurts and their pancake syrup and the cereals and all this stuff.

And then we're wondering why kids are bouncing off the walls in school. So this is a really big one. And not to mention, a lot of these foods that, or a lot of these ingredients are banned in various other countries, which means that our food is not legally allowed to be sold in other countries because they ban these ingredients. And what happens is,

I believe Kraft has since changed this because Bonnie Hari, the food babe, really put a lot of heat on them like years ago. But what she discovered was in the US, they were putting food dyes and other junk in the Kraft macaroni and cheese. And then they reformulated it for the UK. And in the UK, they were coloring it with turmeric and paprika.

They were using real food ingredients. And what makes me so mad about that is that we know that they can do it, but they know that they can get away with the cheaper ones here because we don't ban them. So that's another thing to look out for. Preservatives, I feel like most people probably know about this, like TBHQ, for example, is a preservative. There's another one called BHT. Just in general, I try to get people to think about it like this. You want your food to go bad. If your food is going to be shelf

stable for five years, unless if we're living under the ground and like we're being bombed or something, we don't want that. That is horrifying horrifying you want your food to go bad the only purpose that preservatives serve to a certain extent is so that companies can leave their foods on the shelf for as long as possible so that they can make more money we have refrigerators for a reason and again you want to be going to the grocery store more you want to be buying whole real foods that were once alive because we're alive. We want to be eating live foods, not dead foods. So sodium nitrates is another one. There was a study that came out of France a couple years ago.

They found a direct link with nitrates, specifically in deli meats, to colon cancer. And so this is a really big one. I tell people you don't need to completely avoid deli meats or sausages and your charcuterie meats, but when you're buying them, make sure that you're buying the ones that say nitrate-free. So that's really important. Hydrogenated oils is another really big one. You're not going to see these as much now because a couple of years ago we banned partially hydrogenated oils from the food because we found that the way that we're manipulating these oils creates trans fats and trans fats wreak havoc on the cardiovascular system. They are so bad for us, but you will still

see fully hydrogenated oils and like skippy peanut butter and some other like random ingredients. But for the most part, they've started really phasing them out. But I tell people even fully hydrogenated oils, I wouldn't mess with it. It's still an unnatural fat that I don't think that we were meant to be eating. And then artificial sweeteners. So if you guys follow me on Instagram, I've been going hard in the paint on these lately. Because I feel very passionately about this. Because I knew my mom, my mom has always been very into health. And when I was a kid, my mom was like, do not touch those.

Do not touch those. There are links to cancer. They're very concerning. And more recently, for some reason, in the last like month, they've come out with a study on sucralose, which is Splenda. And they found that Splenda is a genotoxin, meaning that it damages our DNA. And it's also being linked to IBS and other like gut issues. So if anyone's dealing with like leaky gut syndrome, that could be a really big trigger for it. And then aspartame is another one, which is found in like Diet Coke and all the diet sodas. The World Health Organization is gearing up to call it a probable human carcinogen, meaning that there's probably a connection to cancer.

And if you dig into the past of aspartame, there was a scientist who was researching it back in, I believe it was the 80s. He was trying to keep it from being approved for the food because he saw the link to cancer and to tumors in the 80s. But this is what happens. There's so much corruption and there's so much money in these big food corporations. And even now, this is driving me so nuts. I've been seeing all these talk shows and I've been seeing all these headlines and these talk shows that are on these networks, their biggest funders, Coca-Cola, pharmaceutical companies, and then the talk show hosts go on and they say, oh, you need to drink like 20 of those a day for it to be an issue. I'm sorry, but if there's any sort of link to cancer, I don't want to be putting that in my body at all. Because also,

do you know how many times we've gotten things wrong? You know how many times we've gotten like studies wrong and later, like 20 years later, we're like, oh God, we were wrong about that. So what if we're wrong about that? What if it is just one a day? Not to mention they found that it was bioaccumulative, meaning that it accumulates in the body over time. Body's not just flushing it out. So artificial sweeteners, really big no-no. And they're in everything, like Celsius drinks, all the diet stuff. I have a joke that

anytime if you pick up or you see a label that says like diet or light, I'm like, it just, it means chemical shit storm. Like put it back. It's going to be a bunch of artificial sweeteners

and dyes and bullshit. I think it's good to, to help ourselves just like snap out of sometimes the reality we get caught up in because it's like we're on TikTok, we're on Instagram. We're so inundated with products all the time and seeing things in the grocery stores are more packed than ever. So we're so into this. And then the companies that use the ingredients, they have the most money to be able to dump into whatever marketing, which're going to talk about now whatever marketing they want to give you and there's no regulation

around marketing like we were saying earlier they can use natural they can even use clean like clean isn't even regulated like what does clean mean like it means a little something different to everyone they can really put whatever they want they can put different coloring on things these are great slides but because they can really shift anything they want. So it's important to just like snap out back to the basics. And then also like when we're looking at those ingredients, just be like my body doesn't want those. Like that's not real food and just snapping out of it because we can just get so caught up.

And especially like the fun trendy products that have like the pretty coloring and everyone's talking about using them and they're just like cool to use or whatever they are it really is just back to the basics yeah exactly all the time basics and seeing how they can they can trick us which is like it again turn it into a game it's all about like this like the theme of the day is like shifting the perspective on everything and so it's just like who's trying to trick me now like I'm way smarter than being susceptible to this marketing yeah and again what they talked about earlier it's not don't let yourself go into this victim of like everything is messed up and oh I can't find anything healthy or whatever there are so many companies and people that are really working hard to change this and

there are brands that are creating healthier for you products and also the way that I see it and I think this has really saved me a lot because I feel like I'll get messages from people all the time they're like it's so doom and gloom like how do you deal with this on a day-to-day basis because in my mind I find all of this so incredibly powering so if you reframe this and you are empowered by knowing this information because we forget knowledge is power you know this and you can do by knowing this information because we forget knowledge is power. You know this and you can do better. And also I like to say this too. If there are things that you didn't know and maybe there's a product that you're like, oh man, like you go home and you read the ingredient label and you're like, I've been consuming this and it's so bad for me. Don't go into that spiral of shame. It's okay. We are all doing the best that we can with the

knowledge that we have at the time. And then once we learn better, we do better and that's okay. We're all in different journeys of this and we all have our like awakening moments, if you will. And that's okay. Like have kindness and compassion for yourself in the place that you're at in this part of the journey, because we all have to learn at some point and we all get there some way. Like I said, I was in college eating Taco Bell and drinking diet Dr. Pepper like who else was there yeah yeah so like we all have our place on our journey when we figure this out and when we learn better we do better and we can be really empowered by it and I think part of me feels like with my personality I was equipped for this role

because there's this rebellious side of me that's like yeah f the system like they're trying to make me sick and like watch me like not allow them to make me sick so like reframe it because you really do have the power because this is one thing there's a lot of things in life that we do not have control over this is one thing that you 100% have control over you can make better decisions for yourself. Like what is this Coke? Like are the ingredients actually different at all, this Coke? Or is it just a green label that has the word life on it like in a farm? I know. It's so funny. Okay.

So I don't know. I don't think they ever released this in the U.S. But I remember when I was traveling a lot in Europe, they were trying to make this a thing. It was like a Stevia sweetened Coke. I don't even know if it still exists. but this is a perfect example of what we call greenwashing. Look at this photo. They're like, oh, it's a Coke in like a grass pasture. Like what? But it's like trying to trick your brain into thinking like, oh, green, like this is healthy. Yeah. And so again, like that's why you always want to make sure you read the ingredient labels.

Even with the Cascadian Farm Organics, some of the stuff I think they make are pretty decent again they're depicting this like oh it comes from a farm and it's like okay at the end of the day it's still cereal that's been processed like it's not like you're not picking the cereal out of the ground like it's not so that would be another example of green washing and then the same with over here so this says I can't remember I think it says it's like free range on there. So they're depicting these hens grazing on pastures and they're not pasture raised eggs. So they're definitely crammed into a warehouse. So can you imagine if they had a picture of like caged hens on the eggs? Like what if that was, what if that was a law? I know. Because like technically, this is my personal opinion,

I feel like that should be illegal because it's misleading marketing. And there's a lot of things that are against the law in other areas that if it's misleading, like random example, business trademark law, like we can't have a similar name of a product to another brand because it could be misleading and someone could get mixed up between our brand and another brand. So like that's actually illegal to do that. You can take someone to court for misleading for a product name. So like I hear like just from a consumer standpoint, like I don't understand how that's not illegal to like mislead someone like that. I know, it's wild.

But there's, as we've seen this entire conversation, is that there is a lot of deception happening. And unfortunately, I think, I like to think that it's not all because like, I don't think these companies are like actively trying to harm us. But what I do think is that when we started processing our food

and putting all these ingredients in our food, at the time it was done with good intention. We were preserving because we were, it started in like, I think it was World War II where we were trying to preserve our food and we wanted to make sure that no one was in famine. And it all started with good intention. We were preserving because we were, it started in like, I think it was World War II, where we were trying to preserve our food and we wanted to make sure that no one was in famine. And it all started with good intention. But now that we know better, it's like the ship has been, so it's like so far out in the sea, we can't turn it around without people like really demanding something better for our food. Because now we know, but they make so much money at this point.

They're basically like just banking on people being in the dark and being super confused so that they continue to buy their products and these companies make money. So I don't think it's super nefarious, but I do think that like now that we know the impact that it's having, nine out of the 10 leading causes of death in this country can be prevented by diet and lifestyle. Nine out of 10, that's crazy. And then you look at all this crap that we're being fed

and then so many people trying to make better decisions for their health and just not knowing all of this. So that's why it's incredibly important to have this knowledge. Okay, so now is to the more happy and light part. We're done. So I just figured I would show you guys some of my favorite brands and also talk about. So these are my favorite things to cook with.

I forgot. I wish I'd added beef tallow on there. Beef tallow is amazing. And I find it like the farmer's market. There's also some places that are selling it at certain grocery stores now. One thing I do want to note, and this is happening in both olive oil and avocado oil, you want to make sure that you're buying from a good brand that's sourcing 100% avocado oil and olive oil, because they're cutting them now with like soybean oil, canola oil. And this is a real thing. It sounds like a

conspiracy. And it's so crazy that it's even legal. I remember 60 Minutes did a thing on this and they were calling it the olive oil mafia. Like this was like 10 years ago, which is crazy. So you just, again, this is one of those things, like I said earlier, you find your brand that you know and you love and you trust and you just keep buying it. So like initially it'll feel like a big uphill battle, but you find the brand. I like Bragg and I know that they're 100% extra virgin olive oil and they don't cut it with things. And then same with Chosen. So there was a study that just came out and they third-party tested all the different avocado, or not all of them, but a majority of avocado oils on the market chosen. And there was one other one that I can't remember the brand right now. They were the only

two that came back as 100% all avocado oil. The rest of them were being cut with other seed oils. Again, another way that these companies cut costs. I love that you said this yesterday. We also have to think about it like this. A lot of these companies are trying their best. The margin between their costs versus like how much they're selling it for is so thin, especially now with inflation. I don't think a lot of these companies are, I don't think any of them are actively like, oh, we want to make people sick, but they're trying to cut costs where they can. And so unfortunately, cutting costs means cutting your olive oil, your avocado oil, canola oil. And so there's things that we just need to be aware of that that's happening.

And then again, put your money and your resources into the brands that are doing right by us, like Chosen, for example. So the business of food, what Courtney was saying, and I think this is so powerful for people to understand. And again, back to these smaller brands that are really trying to do better. Let's just say, for example, like the avocado brand, let's say that it costs them all in like six dollars to make that a container of the avocado oil. That's the packaging. Those things are heavy, too. That's all the shipping that's paying all their employees. That's all their machinery that's sourcing the avocados, which is six or $7 all in and they're doing the best they can at that. Well, then they're selling to the grocery store and the grocery store wants 50% of that. So it costs $7 for them to make. They're essentially

charging, let's say, let's say they're charging, let's double that. So let's say they're charging $14 for that in the grocery store. Well, the grocery store wants to buy it for $7. It costed them $7 to make it. So these brands are losing money by selling in retail. A lot of these, a lot of brands don't make money for the first five to seven years. They're, that's why they have to go fundraise money. And then they're burning their capital because they're trying to do better. And so like we talked a little bit yesterday about how we can support these brands that are trying to do better because a lot of them don't want to switch to the negative ingredients. They really, really don't want to, but it comes down to, are they going to lose their company or are they going to switch?

And some people might say, well, if you're, you might as well just let go of your company if you're going to switch the horrible ingredients, but they have families on their payroll. They have a family to take care of. They have employees. Their employees have families. They don't want their employees to go broke. These people care. And so a lot of them are making these cuts and switches because they don't have enough money. So the way we can support these different brands is one, sharing about them. Whether you're in the grocery store, whether you buy it in the grocery store or not, if you're sharing any of that content, recommending it to brands,

bringing it over friends and family, house, like when you're having different cookouts and different just dinners together. You can also buy off their website because they make more money that way than buying it in the store. So for instance, Chosen Foods, I know you can like buy in bulk on their website.

And a lot of them have high minimum orders. And that's because it's so expensive for them to ship food products. But they'll make more money if you buy it from their website versus the retail where they lose over half their profit. So there's a lot of ways that we can just support these brands that are really, really trying to change the way we eat and make it better. I want to take a second to talk about some of my favorite Organifi products and why I love them. When I first started getting into health, I was an avid juicer. I was buying

fresh veggies every couple of days and wearing out my juicer and also wearing out myself by trying to constantly juice vegetable juices because I wanted to flood my body with all of the nutrients, the phytonutrients that you get from green juices. But after a while, I was like, I cannot keep doing this every day and also maintain my job, maintain my social life and everything else. But I really wanted to make sure that I had a good high quality green juice that was organic. And I knew that I could trust came from a good source. So when I discovered Organifi, I was so happy. They not only have a green juice, but they also have a red juice. And I really like to mix them together

because it really helps with the flavor profile. And you're not only getting all of the green phytonutrients from the green juice, but you're also getting all the antioxidants from the red juice. So it's like a win-win situation. I also really love their chocolate gold. It's their low sugar, hot chocolate mix.

And it's loaded with ingredients like lemon balm, turkey tail, magnesium chloride, and reishi. There's also turmeric in there as well. So it really helps to calm down your nervous system before bed. And it really makes me sleepy. It also helps the digestion because you have the turmeric in there, you have cinnamon, you have ginger, black pepper. So it's helping with digestion and inflammation. I'm a really big fan of this. You can also put it in your coffee in the morning and it helps to balance out the jitters that you might get from your morning coffee. And then another product that I'm really loving and taking every single day is their liver reset. Modern living is incredibly taxing on our liver. Like just existing is hard on our liver because

we are constantly being inundated with pesticides, heavy metals, environmental toxins, not to mention if we drink alcohol, that's also going to put a strain on our liver. So I think it's incredibly important that we take something every single day to support our liver health. This product has triphala in it. It also has dandelion, milk thistle, and artichoke extract, which all have been scientifically backed and proven to provide protection for the liver. And then of course, the most important part about Organifi products is that they are all organic and they go a step further by guaranteeing that they are glyphosate residue free. Glyphosate is a known herbicide that is sprayed on a lot of our crops these days. It's also sneaking into organic foods

and it is a known carcinogen. So it's incredibly important to make sure that we limit our exposure as much as possible to glyphosate. If you guys want to try any of the Organifi products and get 20% off, go to Organifi.com slash Real Foodology. You're going to see all of my favorite products in that store, and you're also going to get 20% off. That's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I dot com slash realfoodology. I'm a huge fan of butter. And this again goes back to what foods stand the test of time. We've been eating butter for so long. And what happens when we vilify these foods and then we replace them? This is a really famous example when everyone was told to eat margarine instead of butter. And then it led to a crazy amount of heart attacks because margarine is terrible for your heart. I can't believe when we had that like all growing

up that's all we had in the fridge was margarine growing up and now like I forget what how old I was yeah oh my gosh I would spray that on toast all the time I can't remember how old I was when I was like 10 years old I actually learned the ingredients that were in it I was when I was like, today years old, I actually learned the ingredients that were in it. I was like, I can't believe, but that was like the thing. It was so bad to eat butter for so long. I know. It's crazy. It's the best. It's like all I cook in is like butter and avocado oil. Me too. I love butter. It's so good. Everything tastes better too. Healthy fats. We love it. Yes, exactly. And again, to the labels, if you can find pasture raised, it means that it's coming from the cows that were pasture raised and organic. So they're

not being fed the organic feed or the GMO feed. It's incredibly important. So, again, I've said this a couple times, but I think it's really important to repeat this because I know sometimes people can get really overwhelmed and they think, like, oh, my God. So, wait, what are all the rules? Just coming back to the very, very, very basics of any time there like a new like trend, for example, like let's say like plant-based burgers. I immediately was like, okay, let's take a step back here. We've been eating beef forever and the same thing with the margarine. So we're always going to have

those new trends of like, oh, this new thing, it's healthier and better for you. They just, the USDA just approved lab grown chicken like a couple of weeks ago. It's like the new thing. So like plant-based meat was like the new thing. And then now we all know what's in plant-based meat. I think we all get that now. Not gross. It's literally dog food is healthier. It actually, if you like look at the ingredients of dog food and then like look at the ingredients

of plant-based meats, it's like, it's quite frightening. It's healthier. But yeah, the new thing is lab grown. That's like the new plant-based meat. It's like, quote, real meat, but it's not real meat. It's like that's, you're gonna see that as the next wave of food trends. And what's so terrifying about that,

that I don't think a lot of people fully understand, it takes about 17 years for the data to catch up. So what we know right now, we basically have been accumulating data for the last like 17 years, and it doesn't even become like public common knowledge for like 20 years. So you think about things like that, like lab grown meat and any anyone that tells you like, oh, we know for a fact that's healthy for you, and there's going to be no detrimental health effects. Literally, no one knows that you can't predict the future, we are not going to see the health effects of

certain things like that for at least 20 years. So it's something to think about when you're trying to make decisions and maybe you're a little bit confused. Like, oh, I just saw this new thing. Take a step back and think about it from that standpoint of like, what are the foods that have been standing the test of time? I love salt. Salt has been very vilified. We love salt. Salt has been very vilified. We love salt. The majority of sodium that people are getting in their diets are from fast food, eating out, processed packaged foods.

So chances are, if you are cooking the majority of your meals at home, you actually probably don't eat enough salt, which we don't hear about enough. And we forget that salt is a really important electrolyte. It's incredibly important. Sodium is incredibly important for the balance of our electrolytes in our body, like the potassium and magnesium. It all plays a role. And so if you're not consuming enough salt, it can have a detrimental effect on you. These are my favorite ones. I love the, again, it goes back to least process as possible. I love real salt. That one's my absolute favorite. And then Celtic sea salt is another great one. And then sweeteners. So Emily had an amazing conversation yesterday about stevia and monk fruit that you guys will hear about later. So maybe changing my stance a little bit on that. And so it's very interesting to hear her perspective on it. Generally speaking, I really like monk fruit. I don't use it that often. I put a little

bit in my coffee. I always tell people if you are going to consume monk fruit or stevia, again, read the label on the back. You want to make sure that it's in its most purest form because they're cutting it with a lot of things. Like monk fruit gets cut with erythritol a lot, which is a sugar alcohol. Stevia gets cut with dextrose a lot, which is a corn sweetener. And so you want to make sure that if you are consuming those sweeteners, that they come from the real whole source. So like stevia, for example, is a plant. So if you get 100% stevia, I'm okay with it. And then Emily will build more on that later. This is why I love everyone has such different views and opinions because our goal

is to not shift you guys in one direction. It's just to give you the information and then you guys get to make your own decisions, your own body. No, I mean, what you said yesterday really changed my mind about it too. So honey is another amazing one. Again, we have been consuming honey forever. It stands the test of time. One thing that is important that someone actually pointed out yesterday is that a lot of honey is being cut with like corn syrup, cane sugar. So you want to make sure that you're getting a really good raw honey. I love Manuka honey. It's amazing. It's very expensive though. So I think the meat in the halfway middle is Beekeepers Naturals. I know the founder of this company personally. She's a really dear friend. She's amazing. The lengths that she goes to create a high quality honey is

insane. She only, i thought this was so cool she i had an episode with her on my podcast and i'd never thought about this before but you think about when bees go and pollinate you can't cage them right they're gonna fly where they're gonna fly so where all of her bees live she has made sure that it's so far north in canada that they're none of them can even touch anything that's been sprayed with pesticides because the scope of where they fly between the hive and the expansiveness that they have to fly, she basically can guarantee that they're not pollinating on anything that's not organic, which is amazing. Because another thing we have to worry about is glyphosate in honey, because if they're pollinating on plants that have been sprayed really heavily with pesticides

like glyphosate, not to mention, I always mess up this word. So if anyone knows how to pronounce it, the neonicotides, I believe is what it's called. Anyone know? I don't know. Okay. So don't fully quote me on that. I believe that's how you pronounce it. This one specifically has been linked to bee die-off, which is a really big concern as well, because without our bees, we will not have like 80% of our produce. We need our bees for our food. And so again, once again, by supporting organic foods, we are also supporting the lives of bees because these really heavy toxic chemicals are actually

killing off the bees right now. And then other ones that I really like are coconut sugar and maple syrup. The reason I say use more sparingly is only because in general, we just want to be mindful of how much sugar we're consuming on a day-to-day basis. So it's not necessarily to vilify these particular sweeteners, but it's still to remember that even if you still see whatever it is in packaged as maple syrup, if that thing has like 30 grams of sugar in there, that's a lot of sugar. Or for example, like 40 grams of sugar, so divide it by four, that's 10 packets of sugar in that. And we're finding sugar in everything now. It's in salad dressings. It's in sauces. It's in soups. It's in our nut milks. It's in our peanut butter.

So my favorite little trick around this is I save my sugar for things that count, like these Toto cookies. I'm like, I would definitely be having one of those. I save my sugar for the Toto cookies all the time. Yes. Like where you can actually enjoy it, the things that you love. Again, it's not about, we want to live and love our life and be enjoying the foods that we're eating. But if you buy the salad dressing without the sugar, I promise you're not going to notice it. So save it for where it counts. And then these are my favorite salad dressings because I have gone, I can't tell you guys how many hours I've spent in the grocery store trying to find salad dressings that don't

have canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil. These are the only three that I've found on like a national level. So Primal Kitchen uses avocado oil. Side Dish is from the Defined Dish. This is a newer line she just released. I love them. They taste so good, and they're made with olive oil. And then Noble Maid is another amazing brand. They do a whole line of, like, marinades and sauces, and they also use avocado oil. My kitchen is stocked with Noble Maid. It's so good.

They make a barbecue sauce, like, anything and everything. Buffalo sauce. The best sauces and dressings. Yeah, so those are my favorites. So these are, my hope was to vet some of these brands for you guys so it takes a little bit of the load off of you of like what, what you want to swap out. Oh, and then these are some sauces that I found that I really like. Primal Kitchen, Rouse is amazing. Noble Maiden, Yai's Thai. These are brands that prioritize whole real food ingredients

and they don't use all the added fillers and preservatives and all the other crap in there. And then, oh, these are accounts that I really like to follow for inspo for cooking. A lot of what I talked about today was prioritizing eating more at home, eating more whole real foods. And I know a really big struggle for a lot of people, sometimes myself included,

is literally just finding the inspiration for meals to cook. And what I like about these accounts is the majority of the recipes that I find, they're really easy. You're not going to be like Martha Stewarting in the kitchen for two hours, like making everything from scratch. They make it really easy. They prioritize whole real foods and everything that I've made from all these accounts are really amazing. So I just wanted to give you guys kind of some inspo for cooking and where you can find good recipes.

And I think that's it. Yeah, so if anyone has any questions. Does anyone have any questions? I saw recently going around on Instagram, a bunch of things about like butter wrappers, like Kerrygold having Pifas and like the wrappers. I know. Like what's your thought on that? Do you think it's something to be concerned about? Or do you think it's just, I don't know.

I do. I'll be perfectly honest with you guys. I'm human like everyone else. Big shocker, I know. But like people come to me all the time. They're like, oh, my God, we found the PFAS in this and we found that. And like there's just the way I see it is like, yes, it is a really big concern. And once we know that, like, OK, stop buying it. But also like the majority of those rappers, I think probably every single one of them have it. And so it's one of those things again, where you really need to prioritize the things not only that are important to you, but that are also accessible and that you're able to do. Because at a certain point, like you're going to drive yourself absolutely insane. Like you're going to go to the grocery store with like a booklet basically being like, okay, I can't get this butter and I can't like, because of the wrapper and everything. So the way that I view it is like, I'm doing the best I can. And I'm trying to buy all the brands that I know that are making healthier for you products. And then the rest

of it, I'm just like, you know what? Like there's only so much we can do. And, and something too, that's really helpful is that a lot of this conversation is about minimizing your exposure and then knowing that just living in modern times we are going to be exposed to things like PFAs which are forever chemicals if people don't know what that is it's it's basically a chemical that's found in like non-stick stuff so like teflon non-stick cookware it's also found in anything that's waterproof like a waterproof jacket They're finding it in workout clothes like Lululemon because it's in like certain material. And they're called forever chemicals because they don't break down readily in the environment. So they're around for a long time. And we're seeing health effects in our bodies. They're hormone disruptors,

can lead to cancer, thyroid issues. They are a big deal. So I'm not trying to minimize it, but just knowing that we're doing the best that we can. And I think the majority of the rappers probably have PFAs in them. So a way around it is maybe going to the farmer's market and directly getting your butter from your farmer, if you can, if that's accessible. And then knowing that there's other things you can do. Get lymphatic drainage massages if you can afford it. Sweat, workout, literally just work out every day so that you're prioritizing, you're supporting your body's detoxification pathways

as much as possible to get everything out because our bodies are also resilient. It's just the problem is we're getting exposed to so many things all the time that we need to also make sure that we're getting them out. That's good thank you bless you any else have any questions yes what are your thoughts on i think it's like gar gums and some of the different ones like even the layered superfood creamer i know i buy that

we had it in the kitchen i've heard different There's so many different words too on what those are. What are your thoughts on some of those? Yeah, I'm mixed on them to be perfectly honest. So when I was in school, I went to school for nutrition. We learned about like, so guar gum, for example, comes from, I forgot what it is exactly, like it's from a tree. And what we found, at least in school, what I read is that it's in small amounts. It's not so bad for us. The main problem is that we're seeing them in so many things that, again, the accumulation, a lot of this too is like consistency and what you're being exposed to on a day-to-day basis and how much of it you're consuming.

Generally speaking, when you're buying a processed food, it's going to probably have a gum or something in there. I think it's a really problematic one if someone has really is actively dealing with like IBS, Crohn's or something like that. Or if you notice that they affect you. Like I have a girlfriend who's like anytime I have a bite of it, I know immediately I feel the effects. They really bother me. I don't think that I wouldn't go as far as saying they're healthy for you, but if it's like a little bit in your nut milk and that's all you're having every once in

a while, I'm not super worried about them. I think it's more about like if it's in everything that you're consuming and it's bioaccumulating. Questions. Okay. I have a question before we wrap up. So I know we've both gone through periods of time where our life in our life where we came, became hyper fixated on being so healthy and not having any talks, any gums, any, you name it. And at least for me, I was very inflamed during that time. And I was more anxious during that time. And I feel like I just wasn't living life as much because I was so hyper fixated. I didn't want to eat out at restaurants. And now I snack, I eat out at restaurants. I'm like the 80-20 rule and I've never felt better. When did that shift happen for you? Like what took, because it took me a while. It wasn't just like I woke up one day and

I was relaxed about it. How did that shift happen for you from being hyper fixated on having nothing that wasn't real food in your diet to living life a little bit more and being more relaxed and okay when those things come in? Yeah. So when I went back to school for nutrition was when I was really starting to learn all this because I was learning in school. And then I also started finding the works of like Dr. Mark Hyman and Bonnie Hari and Michael Pollan. And I felt like I was getting all this information at once. And I was so hyper fixated on eating out. Like you said, I was to the point then where like, if friends invited me out to dinner, I would eat dinner before because I wanted to make sure that it was organic. It didn't have any added things in it and there weren't seed oils and all this stuff. And I was so hyper fixated on that. And then I would show up late and just hang out with my friends. But I had this like, to be honest, I don't even know when it happened.

I know the time period happened, but I don't really know why it happened. I think I just realized I woke up one day and I was like, this is not a way to live. Actually, no, you know what? No, I do remember kind of a turning point. In one of my classes that I took, there was a class focused around the mind-body connection and how one community is so incredibly important for us and also really, really healthy. And there have been studies that have been done that people eating in community can eat like crappy foods. For example, like if you go to

McDonald's and but you're like laughing and you're having an amazing time and you're really just feeling like you're in community and connection with your friends or your family, whoever it is, that food has a different effect on your body than if you were to eat it alone. And I remember reading that there was a there have been a lot of studies that have been done about that. And that's when I really started to shift where I was like, wait, I'm sitting at home alone eating this sad meal while my friends are like out eating and I'm missing that opportunity to connect with my friends or connect with my family or whatever it is. And that's when I really had an aha moment and had to sit with myself and be like, okay,

this is also not healthy because it was creating a lot of stress for myself because I remember going out being like, oh my God, are these chips in canola oil? I'm like just stressing so much about it that I wasn't enjoying my surroundings and enjoying my time with my friends. And life is really, really, really short, you guys. And it goes by really fast. And what do we have if we don't have connections with our family and our friends? That's a really, really important part of it. And so you need to find your own balance and what you feel good about. And for me, that balance looks like wherever I can control it and I have the decisions, like if I'm eating out and I'm in control of where I'm going to eat, if I'm planning the dinner, I like to plan places that I know are cooking with better oils and they're using grass fed meats. But if someone invites me to dinner or my boyfriend wants to go

to a new restaurant or whatever, I'm like, let's go. That sounds great. And you just, you control the things that you can, like the things that you're buying in your home and when you have the control and otherwise just live your life, live your life and enjoy it. 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 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, skin care, 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.