Basic Foods Shopping Guide

"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food"

- Hippocrates

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Note: These food suggestions are for the general population. Seek the advice of your practitioner for specific dietary needs and health challenges.

Choose alkaline foods over acidic foods. The most common acid causing foods and drinks are sugars, red meats, breads, processed and artificially flavored foods and drinks.

Green vegetables: 60-70% raw vegetables is ideal if tolerated, lightly steamed, or juiced green vegetables is ideal. Remember some of the unpopular greens such as mustard greens, collard greens, green chard, rainbow chard, dandelion greens, arugula, parsley, cilantro, celery, bok choy, sprouts.

Fruits: Choose fruits lower in fructose such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, berries, pineapple, papaya, kiwi, avocados, and other fruits which are also a good source of anti-oxidants and enzymes. Eat organic as much as possible.

Nuts, Seeds: Raw walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, almonds, macadamia, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts for snacks if you have no allergies to these nuts. Also nut butters such as almond butter or sun-butter, and other nut butters made from these healthier nuts.

Minimize pistachios and cashews. Avoid peanuts which have higher levels of fungi and mycotoxins, and which become allergenic to more people.

Grains and Beans: Amaranth, millet, organic oats, black beans, yellow or orange lentils, colored rice such as red rice, purple rice, black rice, wild rice, and brown rice; minimize quinoa and chickpeas. Do your best to avoid wheat and glutens.

Potatoes: Red, yellow, and purple potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes are a healthier choice than white potatoes.

Dairy: Non-dairy milk, homemade almond or other nut-milks, hemp milk, coconut milk are acceptable alternatives to animal dairy. If you tolerate milk, organic grass-fed heavy whipping cream reduces to fewer grams of sugar than whole milk. Occasional organic, grass-fed milk or goat milk is acceptable if there is no lactose intolerance. A2 milk might be an alternative for people with lactose sensitivities.

Organic soft poached eggs, soft sunny-side up, or soft-boiled eggs are recommended over scrambled or fried eggs.

Organic cheeses or hard cheeses from non-gmo fed animals such as imported irish cheeses, kerry gold, manchego sheep cheese or other imported raw hard cheeses from non-gmo fed animals. Alternative cheeses such as vegan gourmet cheese, rice cheeses are somewhat acceptable if they are free of chemical preservatives.

Organic butter, imported Irish butter or other European butter, kerry gold, or grass-fed butter are a better choice.

Seafood: Salmon, Copper River Salmon, halibut, bass, black cod/sablefish, rainbow trout, orange roughy, sardines, anchovies from cold water Atlantic, Icelandic or Norwegian waters are most beneficial. Wild caught fish contain fewer pesticides than most farm-raised fish. Small fish such as sardines from Norwegian waters carry less toxic metals and contaminants.

Avoid or minimize consuming tuna and large fish because research has indicated that they contain much higher levels of mercury than small fish.

Healthy oils: Olive oil may be used for salad dressings or consumed as a dietary oil and best consumed unheated (Fresh pressed olive oil, Solspring extra virgin biodynamic olive oil, Texas hill country olive oil, Spectrum organic extra virgin olive oil); MCT oil, coconut oil (raw, unrefined, organic), cod liver oil, walnut oil, flax oil, almond oil, saffron (red flower) oil, avocado oil, macadamia nut oils. Supplement with Nordic Naturals omegas on occasion.

For high heat or all-temperature cooking: Avocado, sunflower or grapeseed oil, ghee. For moderate heat cooking: Organic butter or grass-fed imported butter, unroasted sunflower oil, unroasted sesame oil, and safflower oil may be used. Palm kernel oil may be used occasionally. Coconut oil or olive oil should only be used for cooking on very low heat if at all.

AVOID canola oil as a vegetable oil because it is acquired from GMO rapeseed. Oil sprays contain chemicals that inhibit the endocrine glands. Read the ingredients.

Meats: It is better for some to consume a higher percentage of greens and plant sourced foods along with the healthy fats from nuts, healthy oils, and avocados, especially if you have certain health challenges. Choose healthy fish, turkey, quail, chicken, game meats, over red meat such as beef. Healthier choice meats are wild game, grass fed meats, quail or turkey, or hormone-free, pasture raised chicken. If you choose to eat red meat, it is better eaten in smaller portions. If your diet is primarily meats, choose these healthier meat options.

Sweeteners: 100% whole leaf stevia that is unprocessed is ideal. Consider other natural sweeteners such as monk fruit, lo han fruit, small amounts of raw un-processed natural honey, xylitol from birch tree, and organic maple syrup. Organic cane sugar, monk fruit, or brown sugar for baking may be used on occasions.

Water: If you purchase bottled water, my favorite bottled waters are Icelandic, Rainfresh, Poland Spring Origin, Italian Still, Pellegrino, Central Market sparkling. Quality water filters may be purchased from Epic pure or nano filters, Clearly filtered water filters, Aquasana, or Mercola.