So, you’ve been told over and over that salt is bad for you and you decided to take salt out of your diet. But what if I told you that salt is needed to regulate our cells and that it can be dangerous to have low salt levels?

Now, this is not the green light to go out and eat bags of chips! There are different types of salt, and the salt you find in most processed foods and on your hot chips/fries is actually a refined food containing additives and not at all healthy.

How is table salt made?

Raw salt contains up to eighty two trace mineral and essential nutrients. The salt is then heated to 1,200 degrees and all these minerals are destroyed. What you are left with is sodium chloride. Then an anti-caking agent is added to stop it from going lumpy (because salt absorbs water from the atmosphere) and you are left with a very unhealthy product.

High intakes of sodium chloride can be linked to muscle weakness and depletion of your calcium stores, which may lead to osteoporosis. It may also cause high blood pressure and kidney stones.

Now the good news is that you can still have salt, because as I said earlier we need salt, but what salt can you have?

Firstly, ditch any white refined table salt you have and replace it with something more natural. There are so many different types of salt out there but these are the most common ones you will find either in the supermarket or in health food stores, or you can order them online (see below for link)

1. Celtic sea salt
2. Himalayan pink salt
3. Murray River (if you live in Australia, not easy to find in stores)

Secondly, salt does not contain iodine which is a mineral essential for your health (especially the Thyroid). The best sources of iodine are seaweeds like kelp, dulse and nori. Add the salt to finely chopped seaweed, or put it in your blender and mix them together, this will ensure you are getting a good supply of iodine and other essential minerals.

You can buy them already mixed from Changing Habits.

You will find dulse and kelp at your local health food store and you can buy it already chopped up.

Now, I would love to hear from you! What salt are you currently using? Leave me a comment below, or you can come and join the conversation over on my Facebook page

Want to know more about how to gain more energy, lose weight or just feel better? Then come and join in the conversation in my private Facebook group. We are all about Food, Mindset, Connection and Support. We are waiting to welcome you!

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Until next time. Happy swapping!

Beware, sugar is addictive!

When you are just starting out it can feel overwhelming to cut out sugar, and I’m not going to ask you to, but I would like to help you choose better alternatives than the white stuff you may be consuming at the moment. At the same time I want to dispel the myth that fat makes you fat, it is in fact sugar that’s the culprit. Eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

But not all sugar is created equal, some sugars are slightly better than others.

Personally I don’t eat much sugar simply because I feel better when I don’t. In saying that, if I do feel like something sweet I will usually eat a piece of fruit or make something myself.

There are natural sugars in most foods: fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy, and eaten in their natural whole form, they are OK. It’s when they are processed and separated, that they become a problem. For example when you juice a piece of fruit the juice is pure sugar in the form of fructose.

The other problem is added sugars. Sugar in the form of white sugar and syrups is added to nearly all processed foods, like biscuits, cakes, yoghurt, sauces, dressings, just to name a few. Processed foods lack the nutrients that fresh foods have which gives them flavour, so manufacturers add sugar to make them taste good. Another reason to cut back on packaged foods.

The first step to creating better health is to swap to a better quality of sugar while at the same time reducing the amount of sugar you are consuming. Cutting down your sugar will have a big impact on your weight and energy levels.

So if you have these sugars at home swap them out for better quality:

White sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar, golden syrup or artificial sweeteners – these have all been highly processed, bleached and contain no nutrients. They will actually pull nutrients, especially minerals, out of the body if you eat too much.

Substitute them with the sugars that I use at home. Please note: even though they are better options than refined white sugar, they are all still sugar so must be eaten in moderation.

1. Honey: local raw unfiltered is best.
2. Stevia: a herb and natural sweetener. I personally don’t like the taste, but a great alternative if you are trying to lose weight or diabetic.
3. Rice malt syrup: a good brand in Australia is Pure Harvest, found in health food aisle in supermarket.
4. Maple syrup: sugar from the maple tree sap and contains some nutrients. Make sure it is 100% pure not the cheaper maple flavoured syrup.
5. Molasses (black strap): thick syrup left after the sugar can has been processed and the white sugar crystals have been removed. Contains vitamins, minerals and enzymes with a strong flavour.
6. Rapadura (also known as Jaggery, Panella or muscavado): made from evaporated cane sugar and still retains some of the nutrients from the sugar cane plant. Available in sugar aisle in supermarket.
7. Coconut sugar: from the flower of the coconut tree. Available in Coles & Woolworths, sugar aisle.
8. Coconut nectar/syrup: produced from coconut palm blossoms. This is probably my favourite tasting sweetener. You can get it from your health food store or order online. It tastes like toffee!

To sum it all up.

• Reduce the amount of sugar you are eating. Too much sugar is not good for you, it’s a treat no matter which sugar you choose.
• Eat fruit in its whole form.
• Eat sugar that has as little processing as possible and still retains some nutrients.
• To reduce sugar cravings eat more protein and healthy fats.
• Stay away from artificial sweeteners.

Note: STAY AWAY FROM ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS CONTAINING ASPARTAME. These are all made from chemicals and are neuro-toxins, which means they affect your brain. Just avoid them at all cost, for your health’s sake. If you use them now you can easily swap them for Stevia which you can find in your local health food store.

If you would like to read more information about artificial sweeteners here are a couple of great articles by Dr Mercola

http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/23/artificial-sweeteners-confuse-body.aspx

Want to know more about how to gain more energy, lose weight or just feel better? Then come and join in the conversation in my private Facebook group. We are all about Food, Mindset, Connection and Support. We are waiting to welcome you!

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Until next time. Happy swapping!

I think it safe to say that nearly all mums struggle making school lunches.

Why?

Some reasons are:

• Time – working mums don’t feel they have time to plan lunches.
• Uncertainty – what is, or isn’t, healthy?
• Fussy eaters – some kids are very choosy, especially when it comes to school lunches, so what to pack?

If you have experienced any (or all) of the above, I know how you feel. I used to struggle with lunches until I decided I would figure out how to make it easy for myself and get the kids to eat the lunch at the same time.

The aims are to pack foods that will give them energy and to reduce the reliance on packaged products. So pack foods that are high in protein and healthy fat as these will keep them fuller for longer while helping to keep the brain alert. It’s also important to pack some healthy wholegrains for energy, see my article on bread here.

This is what I do

1. Get kids involved, and ask them what they will actually eat and get them to write a list. (with your guidance). This means they are more likely to eat what you prepare. Take into consideration the weather and how much time they have at each break.
2. Plan and prepare in advance. Choose an afternoon where you bake a treat/snack and plan what you are going to give them. Cut it up and freeze it. (Here’s my muesli slice recipe)
3. Use real wholefoods instead of packaged/processed food: veges, fruit, protein (meats, fish), good quality fats like avocado, and wholegrains.
4. Don’t pack too much food and expect them to eat it. There is a tendency to over pack lunches, just in case they are hungry, and in my experience this is rarely the case. (If your kids are consistently coming home hungry pack one more thing, or increase the proportion of protein, fat or wholegrains.)
5. Keep it simple, don’t spend hours getting it ready.

Following my process will make life easier for you, but to make it extra simple, here are some tips to success:

• Give them a good breakfast! After a filling breakfast they will not be craving the sugar hit in their lunchbox, so breakfast is super important. You can read my blog post on Healthy Breakfasts here.
• Use easy to open containers and present food in an appetising and interesting way.
• Chop up or grate vegetables all at once and store in the fridge for the first 3 days then do it again for the following 2 days. Keep chopped veges wrapped in a damp cloth or paper towel to keep fresh.
• Have a 2 week rotating menu, so you are not packing the same thing every day or every week.
• Pack a main dish, for example a tuna/chicken/meat and salad spelt wrap, or frittata, chicken drumsticks/breast, sushi, chopped up left over sausages, burgers, or patties etc.
• If you are packing sandwiches, make them easy to eat by cutting them up and not over filling them. Use good quality bread or wraps. See my blog post on healthy breads here.
• Pack fresh fruit instead of dried fruit. Dried fruit is a concentrated form of sugar, so keep it to a minimum.
• Use fruit that is cut up or whole berries, grapes, cherries, or small plums.
• Kids generally don’t want to take a lot of time to eat, so pack foods that are easy to pick up and eat. Avoid whole pieces of fruit like apples because they take too long to eat and always get half eaten.
• Pack food in an insulated cool bag with one or two ice bricks (depending on time of year, you may need 2 in summer), especially if you are sending yogurt, dips, or meat.
• Pack a homemade treat for them instead of packets of biscuits or other packaged products that are filled with additives, preservatives and colours that can affect their behaviour and concentration. It doesn’t take long and you can get them to help you. Choose just one recipe and give it a go, either a cake, slice/muesli bar or biscuits.
• If you are packing lunch for yourself, you can incorporate a lot more salad ingredients.

Now, I would love to hear from you! Do you have any tips for school lunches? Leave me a comment below, or you can come and join the conversation over on my Facebook page

Want to know more about how to gain more energy, lose weight or just feel better? Then come and join in the conversation in my private Facebook group. We are all about Food, Mindset, Connection and Support. We are waiting to welcome you!

Did you enjoy this post? Please share it with a friend.

Until next time. Happy swapping!