The following tips provide a streamlined process for making Eco-friendly food choices that promote natural weight loss. It turns out there’s an essential link between what’s healthier for the human body and what’s healthier for the environment! Remember, weight loss is not about dieting fads or even a number on a scale: it’s about choosing to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
#1 – Limit Salt & Processed Food Intake: From canned, frozen, and boxed meals to wrapped snacks and packaged lunch meat, processed foods are loaded with chemicals, salt, and environmentally unfriendly plastic-leaching packaging. Excess salt in the body increases blood pressure and causes other negative health side-effects, so go for unsalted snacks, like fruit, or whole, raw, unsalted nuts. Low-fat, sugar-free, low-carb and other “diet” processed foods may sound like a good idea, but remember that a little bit of real cheese or raw organic sugar is far better for your health and natural weight loss than fake sweeteners and fats. Whenever possible, purchase whole, natural foods that need you to cook them! The more you limit your intake of processed foods, the better your eating habits will become, and the more natural weight loss will occur.
#2 – Don’t Buy Foods with Natural Flavoring, BHT, & Other Chemicals: Even when foods seem as though they are less processed or don’t contain a lot of salt, always read food labels before purchasing. Natural Flavoring is code word for MSG, which research studies have linked to obesity and other health problems. BHT is a nasty preservative that is also linked to serious health risks. If you find something on a label like propylene glycol or something else that sounds like it’s used in manufacturing or car repair, your best bet is to not buy it and go for something natural to promote natural weight loss. If in doubt, research the ingredients!
#3 – Avoid Primary GMO Food Crops: Corn, canola, soybeans, wheat, potatoes, and rice are primary GMO food crops, which have been linked to obesity in recent research studies. Organic foods can be pricey, and going totally organic may be out of the question for many families. When choosing what organic foods to buy for natural weight loss, GMO foods should be at the top of your list. Plus, even though the organic labeling process is less sustainable than originally envisioned by environmentalists, currently USDA organic foods are not allowed to be GMO food crops. If you want to eat corn or rice: definitely go for organic, or shop at your local farmer’s market and ask the grower if they use GMO seeds.
#4 – Make Homemade Condiments & Dressings: Almost all commercial condiments and dressings contain MSG and other harmful, weight-increasing chemicals, saturated fats, and excess salt. If you’re on a natural weight loss journey, attempting to do without condiment goodness can be a serious challenge. Fortunately, with a little effort, you can create all sorts of yummy alternatives! Start by making your own ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. The best low-fat, healthy alternative is mustard, which is easy to make: simply soak mustard powder (or ground mustard seeds) in vinegar (plain, apple cider, garlic, etc.), water, or another type of healthy liquid—then add spices like turmeric, dill, lime, garlic to suit your taste! Basic ketchup and mayo recipes are easy to find online, and you can also make homemade dressings out of yogurt and herbs, honey and mustard, and other healthy combos!
#5 – Make Homemade Flat Breads: Yeasty, commercial breads are hard to digest and stick to your body like fatty glue. Instead, go for non-GMO wheat, flax, or other flours and make flat breads at home. In a few hours, you can make enough flat bread to last a month. This simple alternative will help instead of hinder your body’s ability to lose fat and increase natural weight loss. Making flat breads at home also helps the environment because you won’t be constantly purchasing bread that comes in plastic packaging and is made from GMO wheat!
#6 – Eat Lots of Herbs & Seeds: From chia seeds to to flax seeds, eating seeds adds fiber to your diet, which promotes natural weight loss. Seeds taste great in yogurts, salads, flat-bread wraps, and vegetable stir-fry. There are also many herbs that provide powerful health benefits, such as turmeric that reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, or oregano, which is full of healthy antioxidants. Herbs and seeds often come in non-plastic containers. Plus, seeds are rarely grown from GMO products, and there are currently no GMO herbs on the market. The flavors of herbs can go a long way toward making healthy food taste absolutely fantastic: far better than any processed foods you could by! Don’t be afraid to experiment with creative cooking and load-up on herbs to aid natural weight loss!
Resources:
http://www.naturalnews.com/036308_natural_flavors_MSG_aspartame.html
http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/grocery_shopping/crops/
http://www.naturalnews.com/045247_gmos_weight_gain_obesity.html
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-make-mustard.aspx?PageId=1#axzz3C9Xv7VNC
http://omicsonline.org/2155-9600/2155-9600-2-120.php?aid=4034
