Are you ready to get healthy, reduce blood sugar, boost your immune system, lose weight and clean out the kitchen clutter all at the same time? Then you are in the right spot my friend. In this article, you will find all the tools you need to give your kitchen a complete healthy makeover and detox from all of the foods that don’t support your overall health. Let’s get started and create a kitchen that supports your health and helps you “Live life healthy and happy!”. Together we will,

• • Remove foods that create blood sugar and other metabolic imbalances,
  • Remove foods that inhibit your body’s natural immune system,
  • Remove foods that damage the gut and block nutrient absorption,
  • Restock your kitchen with healthy delicious foods, AND
  • Rebuild your health so you feel great!

Set aside time to go through your pantry, kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. This can be done all in one day or you can break it up and do just the refrigerator one day and then the pantry and cabinets on another day. It’s up to you. You will need a few boxes or bags for the food you will be getting rid of. This is also a great time to wipe down the insides of your cabinets and the inside of your refrigerator so that they are nice and clean when you restock with healthy foods.

Place 3 boxes or bags on your kitchen counter. With a marker or pen, label the boxes

Box 1 – Foods to Keep

Box 2 – Foods to Donate

Box 3 – Foods to Throw Out

Box 1 will be for only the healthiest and freshest foods that you will be keeping. The 10-Step Guide below will help you determine which foods will make the cut for Box 1.

Box 2 will be for any foods that don’t pass the 10-step guide, are non-perishable, are unopened and have not expired. These foods can be donated to a church, food bank or shelter to serve others in need. Any perishable foods are unable to be donated and will have to go into Box 3.

Box 3 will be for unhealthy foods that have already been opened an cannot be donated. You will also use this box for any healthy foods that have expired or have gone bad. Box 3 will be thrown out and discarded.

Begin by pulling out each item one at a time. Look to see if it appears visually to have spoiled or is on the verge of spoiling. These foods go into box 3 to throw away. Then check the expiration date. Any foods that have expired will also go into box 3 to be thrown out, even if they are unopened. Next, we will determine if the food is going into Box 1 foods to keep, Box 2 to donate or Box 3 to throw out. Not sure how to tell the good from the bad when it comes to healthy food? Don’t worry, I’ve gotcha covered! Read on and use the following 10 step guide to determine which foods will go and which foods will stay.

The 10 Step Guide To Detox Your Kitchen

1. Focus on foods without labels – These are foods that do not come in a bag, bottle or box. These are single ingredient foods that are grown in nature and have little or no processing. They are your go-to foods and should be the core of your diet. They include meats, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits, whole milk, heavy cream, cheese, nuts and seeds. It will also include healthy single ingredient fats like butter, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil. Most of these foods will come from the dairy, produce or meat departments of the grocery store. Better yet if they are sourced directly from the garden or your local farmer’s market.
2. If a food has a label, it should have not more than 3 to 5 ingredients – There are some packaged foods that are perfectly good. These foods can add interest to your meals and convenience. Foods like peanut butter should have 2 ingredients, peanuts and salt. Foods like canned tuna or sardines, roasted peppers, pepperoncinis, canned tomatoes or olives are all perfectly fine foods as long as the ingredients are few and you can pronounce all of them!
3. Avoid all foods that have added sugar – Sugar in its natural form, like in fruit or a touch of honey, are fine for most people. However, many packaged foods are thought to be healthy yet contain volumes of added sugar. These foods should be avoided even if they claim to be healthy. Foods such as “sports beverages” or “energy bars” are loaded with sugar. Even most flavored yogurts contain as much as 5 teaspoons of sugar in a six-ounce serving. Sugar comes in many forms including fructose, sucrose and lactose. Any word that ends in “-ose” is sugar. Five grams of sugar is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon, so if your raisin bran has 20 grams of sugar per serving, you are getting about 4 teaspoons of sugar with every bowl.

On a side note, while refined grains and flour are not technically sugar, they act just like sugar in the body so are best limited or avoided altogether. If you have diabetes or insulin resistance these foods are considered kryptonite foods and should not be consumed.

4. Throw out ALL foods with high-fructose corn syrup on the label. Did you notice high-fructose ends in “-ose”? Yes, it is sugar but it deserves a special mention because it is extremely damaging to the liver and contributes to fatty liver disease. It is directly linked with diabetes and can contribute to heart disease. High-fructose corn syrup, abbreviated as HFC, goes straight to the liver and is converted to triglycerides, elevating triglyceride levels in the blood stream, potentially increasing cholesterol and kicking fat storage into high-gear. It is one of the most highly processed sweeteners on the market and sometimes can contain mercury as a biproduct of the manufacturing process. It is a cheap and highly addictive sweetener. If HFC is on the label, throw it out!
5. Throw out all foods that contain “hydrogenated” on the label. – These products contain dangerous trans fats when they are converted from vegetable oils into margarine and shortening. Trans fats block our metabolism, create inflammation and can inhibit our immune system at a cellular level. Only use healthy fats including real butter, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oils.
6. Throw out highly refined cooking oils – Oils such as corn oil, canola oil, vegetable oil and soybean oil. These oils and foods fried in them are toxic and undergo extensive chemical processing. Canola oil for example smells so bad that it has to be chemically deodorized to get humans to eat it!
7. Throw out all foods with ingredients you cannot recognize or pronounce. These items are not real food and do not support real health.
8. Throw out foods that included preservatives, additives and dyes. Even foods that claim to have “natural flavor enhancers” are unhealthy. Real food that is grown naturally does not need to be enhanced to taste good.
9. Eliminate all foods with artificial sweeteners – Artificial sweeteners are also highly processed. They can induce hunger, create gas and bloating, lower your metabolism and create an insulin response in some people.
10. Throw out homogenized, low-fat and non-fat dairy products – These dairy products are unnatural and highly processed. Homogenization is a process of forcing milk through small holes under high pressure to break up the fat globules and prevent the cream from separating. Large milk-fat globules that naturally occur in milk bind with vitamins A & D carrying them to the gut where they are released for use by the body. Homogenized milk molecules are quite different. They are very small and have less ability to attach to nutrients. Their small size makes it possible for them to pass out of the digestive tract and directly into the blood stream before the nutrients can be digested. Undigested nutrients in the blood stream inhibits the immune system and can contribute to autoimmune disease.

Lastly, restock your kitchen with only foods that are grown naturally and are as close to their original source as Mother Nature intended. Take the items that are in Box 1 – Foods to Keep and place them back into your refrigerator or pantry. I like to organize foods by type for example beverages in one area and veggies in another. I typically have 2 or 3 different types of protein that I plan to cook this week like a package of chicken thighs, some hamburger and maybe some lamb chops or fresh salmon. I keep these meats in a metal bowl or glass baking dish in the refrigerator just in case the juices leak.

Once you’ve placed the items in Box 1 back into your fridge or pantry, it’s time to make your shopping list and go to the grocery store! I’ve included a FREE What To Eat Shopping Guide PLUS a Quick Start Guide to Healthy Eating to help you get started.

The items in Box 3 can be thrown out and the items in Box 2 can be dropped off for donation on your way to the grocery store.

Now if you haven’t done it already, it’s time to grab your FREE copy of my What To Eat Shopping Guide PLUS your Quick Start Guide to Healthy Eating. Download yours now, make your list and go shopping!