You’ve heard it so many times. Drink more water and you will be healthier.

And you want to. In fact, you have every intention of doing so.

You may have purchased a variety of beautiful water bottles to complement your sincere hydration goals. You may have invested in a state-of-the-art water filtration system and/or tried many brands of water, hoping to be inspired to develop the habit of hydrating with ease on a daily basis.

But how many of us manage to stick to our drink-more-water-mantras for the long-term?

It’s a challenge I hear about from my patients every day, which inspired me to start writing down all the various recommendations I have given to patients throughout the years on how to drink more water.

Today’s post, 10 Delicious Ways to Drink More Water (solutions for the well-meaning and forgetful), includes delicious, easy, and healthy ways to end your internal water challenges for good and start reaping the health and beauty benefits of optimal hydration.

What science says about how much water you should drink may surprise you

When it comes to water and the human body, scientists agree on the following:

• The human body is made up of 80-85% water.
• A human being can survive only 3 days without water.
• Like air and food, we literally can’t live without it.

But, the question of how much water a person should drink daily is still very much unproven.

You’ve heard the recommendations, 8 glasses per day, drink half your weight in ounces, drink until your urine is clear…

I wish I could show you the science behind these recommendations, but guess what? I can’t!

No study or scientist has proven the optimal amount of water for human beings to consume daily.

We all live in different climates, have different body compositions, eat different diets with varying amounts of salt, diuretics, alcohol, and water-containing foods; we all exercise different amounts and perspire at different rates, and medications and illness also play a role in our hydration levels.

Given the individuality of humans and our environments, it’s no wonder science has not been able to come to a conclusion.

If you need a solid number to go on, I’d suggest talking with your practitioner OR experimenting with different amounts of water and listening to your body.

Word to the wise-water enthusiast: as you begin to drink more water, you will have to use the bathroom more often. This will even out as your body adjusts to your new water intake. But until then, plan accordingly.

Proven ways water can help you stay healthier

Despite the fact science can’t tell us how much to drink, it has proven the following health benefits of drinking more water.

• Drinking more water supports healthy weight and weight-loss—studies have proven that adequate water helps your stomach feel full and satisfied so you eat less ¹.

Test it out for yourself the next time you get the munchies: drink a glass of water before chowing down and wait 10 or 15 minutes to see if it satiates your hunger.

Along this same theme, another study reported by ABC news², proved that people who consume a brothy soup before a meal eat 20% less than those who do not.

The principle is the same, take liquid first and you’ll eat a smaller meal.

• Water keeps your bowels functioning optimally—the colon relies on water to help it move efficiently and comfortably. When not enough fluid is present, constipation and hard, dry, painful stools result.

This is why many fiber supplements, such as psyllium, should be taken with water. The two work hand-in-hand to sweep and flush out waste.

• Water helps improve brain and cognitive function—studies have shown that just a 2% rate of dehydration can lead to cognitive impairments including reduced memory and attention³.
• Maintains normal fluid balance—which improves circulation, digestion, absorption, creation of saliva, nutrient transport, muscle health, and body temperature.
• Boosts your body’s detoxification by supporting healthy kidneys—the kidneys are key organs of elimination, but cannot function properly without enough water.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the kidneys are associated with the Water element; and have a direct relationship to the health of the bones, organs of fertility, hair, and ears.

• Water helps maintain normal blood pressure and promotes alertness—the relationship between hypertension and chronic dehydration has been long-known. But researchers at Vanderbilt University found that plain old water increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system which helps promote alertness and greater focus⁴.

So, water is important! Now onto the 10 delicious ways to get more of it…

1. Bored with plain water? Just add fruit.

This is an old trick spas used to encourage patrons to hydrate after massages.

You can buy fruit-infused water, OR just add a few slices of fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, or herbs to room temperature water.

The natural flavors infuse within minutes, and you can enjoy a spa-like experience anywhere you go.

Once you find your favorite combo the stuff is deliciously addictive.

Need some inspiration? Here are some ideas to try:

• Strawberry, orange, and lime
• Lemon and a sprig of fresh rosemary
• Peaches with plums or raspberries
• Cucumber, orange, and mint
• Peeled grapefruit (the rind is too bitter), or orange (peel on) with fresh basil
• Raspberry with lemon or lime
• Watermelon, cucumber and mint
• If you can find chocolate mint at your farmer’s market, it is lovely paired with raspberries or orange.

2. Craving something sweet? Try this nearly zero-calorie, no-sugar-added, naturally-sweetened lemonade.

This is one my favorite ways to drink more water and it take no time to make.

Homemade Stevia Lemonade or Limeade

Yield: 1 Quart

Ingredients:

Juice of 4-6 lemons or limes (depending on size and your desired tartness)

3-6 packets (to taste) pure Stevia or Stevia with inulin such a SweetLeaf® (the stevia dissolves perfectly in room temperature water)

4 cups purified water

Procedure:

Mix, shake, and enjoy.

3. Can’t remember to drink enough? There’s an app for that.

Try Waterlogged for iPhone, Water Your Body for Android, or set alarms on your phone or computer.

4. Start your day off hydrated.

Many patients report how they “know they should drink more water.” There is something in them that knows intuitively, yet they also report how they feel the day escapes them and they often realize later how little water they drank. That was also the case for me many years ago. I realized that by developing the habit of drinking a 12 oz glass of water (I squeeze half a lemon that I pick from my own lemon tree) first thing every morning, my awareness of hydration continues throughout the day. That tip seems to the the single most useful that I’ve shared with thousands of patients for almost three decades in terms of “converting” the forgetful to the hydrated.

Color your world of hydration with other foods and fluids that count toward your water intake, such as:

5. Pure coconut water

Known as nature’s sport’s drink, coconut water has been sustaining people for centuries. There are many brands out there, my favorite for both purity and taste is Harmless Harvest Raw Coconut Water.

6. Water with a splash of juice

For many years, consumers had been led to believe that 100% fruit juice was a healthy beverage. Experts now agree this is not the case. However, if you’re used to drinking juice it can be hard to give up that flavor for plain old water.

To ease the transition, try diluting your juice. Start with half water, half juice, and slowly reduce the amount of juice. This gives your water some flavor without all the added sugar.

7. Broths

Why are steamy hot broths consumed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner in some of the world’s most sweltering countries?

In addition to being incredibly nourishing, they are also mostly water. Plus, as the theory goes, when you take hot liquids they makes you perspire, which ultimately cools you off.

8. Enjoy and Explore the Amazing Variety of Teas

A warm cup of energizing herbal or green tea counts toward your daily water intake, and can have a positive effect on your overall health.

For a natural pick-me-up, try Tulsi; for a fruity flavor that pairs well with citrus, hibiscus hits the spot, if you like a more smokey, woodsy tea, Yerba Mate blends or nettles are the way to go; if you prefer black tea, red raspberry leaf has a similar tannic flavor and is a wonderful tonic for women.

9. Coffee substitutes

A cup or two of coffee is fine for most people and has proven health benefits⁵.

But, if you end up drinking glass after glass of iced coffee and blended coffee drinks to keep cool, all that stimulating caffeine and sugar can negatively impact your health.

Chicory, roasted dandelion blends, or Teeccino® all offer delicious, nutritious coffee flavor without the caffeine jitters.

10. The low-sugar “Arnold Palmer”

Mix half of your stevia-sweetened lemonade with half iced red raspberry leaf or green tea, for a refreshing, hydrating pick-me-up.

In addition to these delicious ways to get more water, technology can be a big help here. Try setting reminders on your phone and other devices, or use a fitness tracker like FitBit® or Jawbone® to help you remember to sip water throughout the day.

When it comes to how to get enough water, creativity, consistency, and reminders are key. I hope these 10 tips have inspired you to start reaping the benefits of optimal hydration for health, beauty, and beyond.

-Dr. Patricia

References:

If there is one area of nutrition that has everyone confused, it’s which fats and oils are truly healthy.

Widespread use of canola oil is a prime example of this confusion run amuck.

Just Google “Canola Oil”, and you’ll find advice ranging from “It’s poison! Don’t ever consume it!” to, “It’s the world’s healthiest cooking oil”.

Or take a trip to your local natural foods store, and you will be greeted with a variety of organic foods containing canola oil…and a select variety boasting a “canola-oil-free” label.

So, is canola oil healthy…or not?

To the contrary. In fact, next to soy fake foods and artificial sweeteners, it’s the biggest fake-health-food to ever infiltrate our food supply.

Read on to find out the history and science behind why canola oil became so popular, how to avoid it, and what to use instead.

What is Canola Oil is Made From?

Canola oil gets its name from the two words: “Canadian” and “oil”.

In the 1970s, Canadian scientists used genetic manipulation to turn rapeseed oil (a popular pesticide at the time) from a dangerous, inedible product, into the ‘heart healthy, omega-3-rich” canola oil we know today.

The oil was made edible by removing two key compounds known as: erucic acid (a fatty acid known to cause heart lesions) and Glucosinolates (which gave the oil an unpleasant bitter flavor).

What’s wrong with this picture? Three Key Things…

#1: The extraction process used to make most canola oil requires high heat. This renders the omega-3 fatty acids rancid, and therefore incredibly bad for your heart and cell health. Heat it again for cooking, and you double your dose of rancid fats.

#2: Highly toxic chemical solvents, such as hexane and bleaches, also used in the extraction process remain in the end-product in trace amounts.

Trace amounts may seem safe, but if you cook with canola oil every day, 365 days a year, you wind up consuming a lot more than a “trace amount” of these chemicals.

#3: Despite its engineering, canola oils still contains trace amounts of heart-damaging erucic acid. More on this to come…

Why the labels “Organic”, “Non-GMO”, and “Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil” Don’t Matter…

Though it is estimated over 90% of canola oil crops in the United States and Canada are genetically-modified¹, you can find organic, non-GMO, expeller-pressed-canola oil.

But that doesn’t make it better.

You are still consuming a genetically-manipulated, highly-processed oil that contains low-levels of erucic acid (the compound mentioned above that causes heart lesions).

Now, our friends at “Big Agriculture” would have you believe these trace amounts are nothing to worry about.

Yet, there have been no human studies done to demonstrate the cumulative effects of canola oil consumption.

Conversely, animal studies have shown that regular consumption of canola oil creates vitamin E deficiency, which causes an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and shortened lifespan.².

Another study showed that even in low amounts, the erucic acid found in canola can cause heart lesions³.

Plus, if you’re using expeller-pressed canola oil for cooking, that heat will cause oxidation of those omega-3s resulting in a rancid product.

How to Avoid Canola Oil in Your Favorite Natural Foods

Avoiding canola oil in any food requires paying serious attention to labels.

Just recently, I ordered what appeared to be an olive-oil-based mayonnaise from an online natural food store. It had a picture of olives and a notation implying the olive oil was significant. I have been an avid label reader since I was a teen (nerd alert, I know), however I let my guard down on this one.

Imagine my dismay when I opened the box, read the label, and found it was loaded with canola oil!

The lesson: read labels thoroughly, including your favorite organic, natural foods brands.

The Best (and worst) Canola-oil Alternatives for Cooking

Neutral-tasting canola oil is advertised to be wonderful for everything—from deep frying to salad dressings.

However, choosing an alternative isn’t as simple as switching to another neutral-tasting vegetable oil, like safflower or soybean oil.

Why not?

Because many vegetable oils are produced using that same high-heat, chemical solvent extraction process.

This creates a highly rancid, pro-inflammatory, free-radical producing nightmare of a fake food you want to steer clear of.

Instead, choose healthy fats and oils that fall under these three guidelines:

• Are high in anti-inflammatory fatty acids (omega-3s)
• Are stable and not rancid
• Minimally processed or cold-pressed
• Organic

The Best Fats Oils for Cooking:

• Virgin coconut oil (for low-to-medium heat cooking and baking)
• Refined Coconut oil (for high heat cooking and baking)
• Extra virgin olive oil (for salads, and low-to-medium heat cooking)
• Pasture-raised butter (for low-to-medium heat cooking and baking)
• Clarified butter or ghee (for medium to medium-high heat cooking)
• Avocado oil (for salads, low heat cooking)

In addition, a high-quality fish oil, cod liver oil, or plant-based EFA oil like evening primrose or borage, can go a long way in helping supply those much-needed anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

There is much more to say on the topic of healthy fat vs. unhealthy fat, omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratios, and why vegetable oils should be avoided (despite what we’ve been told).

However, if you can start by just replacing canola oil with one of the healthy oils or fats listed above, you are taking significant steps towards better health and nutrition.

And if enough of us start doing this—just like GMOs—the food companies will notice and start taking canola oil out of our favorite products.

Until then, read labels carefully and enjoy in good health!

-Dr. Patricia.

One of the most frequent questions I receive from patients is: “Do I have to give up sugar to get well and stay healthy?”

The issue of sugar is a huge area of concern for most people when it comes to their health and happiness.

In fact, many of my patients delayed seeking the health advice they needed, for fear of being told they had to give up their sweet treats for all eternity.

And I’ll admit, the integrative health field does have a reputation for vilifying sugar to the extreme.

Fortunately, times and opinions have changed a lot. And the truth is, most people need not sacrifice all types of sugar and sweeteners to resolve health issues, prevent disease and maintain their well-being. The key is to eat a variety of delicious and healthy proteins, vegetables and good fats throughout the day, and let the sweet stuff be an occasional treat.

One thing hasn’t changed though: white sugar and artificial sweeteners are still undesirable choices for those wishing to overcome disease and maintain their health long-term… 

So, what are some of the best natural sugars and sweeteners to support your health in the 21st century? Let’s take a look at 5 considerations:

#1: Coconut  Sugar

This relatively new-kid-on-the-block comes from the sap of coconut blossoms, and is an excellent choice for those with stable blood sugar for 3 reasons:

1. Unlike white sugar, which is completely stripped of its nutrients, coconut sugar contains beneficial trace elements like iron, potassium, and zinc, antioxidants and polyphenols.
2. You can use it 1:1 in place of sugar in baking, coffee, etc. Just keep in mind, it has a dark color and brown-sugar flavor.
3. It’s affordable. A bag of organic coconut sugar will set you back about $3.00-$4.00.

While coconut sugar is not appropriate for diabetics, if you do have other blood sugar issues like metabolic syndrome or Type 2 diabetes, check with your healthcare professional to see if you can enjoy small amounts of coconut sugar.

For the rest of us, enjoy in moderation. Even though it’s a natural sugar, you can overdo it.

#2: Stevia

While it’s been around for years as a supplement, stevia is still my #1 choice when used sparingly.

Stevia comes from the stevia plant, which is native to South America, where it has used by native peoples for centuries as a natural sweetener and blood sugar balancer.

Despite its very good purity and safety record, it was banned as a sweetener (but allowed to be sold as a dietary supplement) in the United States until very recently. Now, stevia has earned GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status from the FDA for use as a sweetener¹.

Stevia advocates argue this decades-old ban had nothing to do with Stevia’s safety, but is believed to have been the result of influence from the artificial sweetener industry—since Stevia presented a serious threat to their market share.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusion about that, but it does make one wonder: if it was safe enough to be sold as a dietary supplement, why was it held back as a sweetener for so long?

These days, we can buy stevia and stevia blend sweeteners in nearly any supermarket…and they vary in quality.

When choosing quality stevia, I suggest looking for 100% pure organic stevia.

A couple brands to consider are:

• Stevita Simply Stevia—organic stevia powder with no fillers grown within a sustainable cooperative of small Brazilian farms
• SweetLeaf stevia packets—stevia powder with inulin, a natural prebiotic fiber

Both of these brands also carry liquid stevia products (which are helpful for making natural sodas and sweetening your coffee and tea) and stevia blends.

#3: Raw Honey

I truly believe we’ve only begun to understand the far-reaching health benefits of raw honey.

Loaded with enzymes, minerals, antioxidants, and disease-fighting/allergy-reducing properties, raw honey is an incredible choice for non-diabetics.

Look for 100%, sustainability raised raw honey from a trusted source.

While most raw-honey producers follow humane practices, due to the rise in popularity and demand, it pays to know your bee keeper.

If you want the allergy-reducing benefits of raw honey, be sure to choose local honey from a trusted source.

#4: Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar

Maple syrup and sugar are my #3 choice for non-diabetics.

Derived from the pure sap of maple trees, this amber elixir is loaded with trace minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.

It’s also lower on the glycemic index than white sugar², which is a bonus for your energy and insulin levels.

A couple things to note when buying maple syrup:

#1: There have been rumors circulating that maple syrups could contain formaldehyde. This was due to paraformaldehyde pellets which were traditionally used to plug the tap holes in trees.

As it turns out, those pellets cause irreparable damage to the trees, and thus were made illegal. So, you don’t need to worry about formaldehyde.

#2: Look for 100% pure maple syrup—some companies dilute-down pure maple syrup with sugar water or corn syrup to make a cheaper, inferior product.

#3: Maple syrup labeling has changed since 2015. While you used to be able to find “Grade A”, “Grade B” or even “Grade C” varieties, now all maple syrup is “Grade A”.

If you want the B or C grades, which are touted as having higher nutritional value and often used in cleansing tonics, look for the label:

• “Grade A Very Dark Color/Strong Taste” which is formerly “Grade B”

Or contact the company to get their recommendation.

One final note: while the price tag of maple syrup may seem high, you will use a lot less than regular table syrup. You can also save big by buying in bulk or at your local price club.

#5: Dates and Date Sugar

Despite their incredible flavor, nutritional profile, and natural sweetness, dates don’t get a lot of love in the natural sweetener space.

However, date paste and date sugar make excellent natural sweeteners for baking, coffee, and a variety of other sweets.

And, for some people with blood sugar issues, whole dates can usually be enjoyed in moderation.

You can buy date paste ready-made or whip up a batch yourself and use it in select cakes, cookies, tarts, etc.

As for date sugar, you can use it 1:1 in place of sugar in baked goods, but keep in mind it will have a dark color and date flavor making it unsuitable for some desserts and palates.

We’ve come a long way since the days of no-sugar diets and hard-to-find stevia extract supplements.

But remember, just because a sugar is “natural” doesn’t mean you can’t overdo it. The key is to use sweeteners sparingly and enjoy sweets as a treat, not a daily indulgence.

Note: Sugar alcohols are another category of sweeteners; we will cover that in a future post.

If you find yourself craving any and all types of sugar frequently, there may be other underlying causes at play, it is wise to seek assistance from a health care professional. We will cover this topic in a future post.

My wish for you going forward, is that this information will help you find the appropriate natural sweeteners to maintain your health and happiness for the long-term.

In health and happiness,

-Dr. Patricia

Imagine yourself strolling through the natural food section of your local grocery store looking for some dinnertime inspiration, when suddenly you find yourself in the chip aisle.

There you are, surrounded by a plethora of colorful organic, salty, yummy, crunchy goodies.

Your mouth starts to water as your eyes dart from sweet potato chips to wild rice chips to organic multigrain chips…and you think to yourself, “Does it really matter which one I pick? As long as it says “organic” or “all natural” it’s pretty healthy right?”

Given the wholesome reputation of organic products, one would think so. But the answer is, those chips are probably NOT healthy.

The somewhat unfortunate truth is the organic/natural food industry has gone mainstream.

This is wonderful for raising awareness about eating well and increasing availability of healthful foods. BUT, when the big food players start buying up small companies and appealing to the masses, the integrity and quality of the products often suffer.

For many, if not most big brands, garnering mass appeal means making a beloved natural or organic snack food just a teeny bit less processed than its mainstream cousin.

Perhaps they use organic flour instead of conventional, add a little brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup, or toss in a few organic ingredients.

While the differences are subtle, the labeling can be misleading.

We’ll get to our 5 easy steps to outsmart pseudo-healthy snack foods in just a moment, but before we do here’s what you need to know about labeling to help protect yourself (and your wallet) from fake snack foods:

A crash course in organic/all-natural food labeling

• A product labeled: “made with organic ingredients” must be made with 70% organic ingredients and 100% non-GMO ingredients.

This is a good thing…but that does NOT mean the product is free from unhealthy fats, emulsifiers, or thickening agents like carrageenan, unsavory non-organic ingredients, or “natural” flavors (we will get into more about natural flavors below).

• Products that bear the USDA Certified Organic label must be made up of 95% organic ingredients.

BUT that means up to 5% of the product may be made up of non-organic, questionable ingredients. Also, I must point out that an unhealthy food, such as white flour or sugar, is still unhealthy whether it’s organic or not.

• Perhaps the most misleading label of all reads, “all natural”. According to the FDA, “all natural” products cannot contain artificial preservatives or additives

So, that is some good news. However, “all natural” also pertains to any substance, adulterated or not, that originates in nature.

For example, corn is “natural”, therefore so is GMO corn or high fructose corn syrup.

Same goes for the sawdust—marketed as “cellulose”—added to foods as an anticaking agent. It comes from trees, therefore is considered “natural”, and MSG—an allergen and known excitotoxin—also falls under this category.

With all these labeling loop-holes and bizarre ingredients masquerading as “natural”, how does a health-conscious person chose quality, healthy snack foods?

It’s actually pretty easy when you follow these easy steps.

5 Easy Steps to Outsmart Pseudo-Healthy Snack Foods

Step 1: Be fastidious about fats.

Look for snacks made with coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, organic butter, ghee, and walnut oil.

Avoid snacks with highly processed oils such as canola (even GMO-free, organic canola is still bad news), cottonseed, corn, or soy. Slightly better options include peanut, sunflower, and safflower oil.

Palm oil, similar in composition to coconut oil, was once considered a healthful choice but it is no longer an ethical one.

The palm industry is responsible for the endangering of orangutans due to deforestation¹. So PLEASE just say no to palm oil products.

Insider labeling tip: often a snack food will advertise that it is made with a healthy fat, such as potato chips “made with extra virgin olive oil”, but that may mean it has been cut with a lesser oil…like canola. So be sure to read labels carefully.

Step 2: Scrutinize sweeteners.

Look for brown rice syrup, raw honey, tapioca syrup, stevia*, xylitol, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and monk fruit.

Avoid, sugar, evaporated cane juice, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, turbinado sugar, agave, and especially artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose aka Splenda®, Acesulfame K aka acesulfame potassium, neotame, and saccharin.

Insider labeling tip: Many stevia products are not pure stevia but a combination of stevia and erythritol.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol added to stevia products to make them cheaper for the manufacturer. It is generally well tolerated and safe for diabetics but can produce mild GI issues such as gas and bloating.

Erythritol is one of those ingredients that isn’t super healthy in that it is processed and devoid of nutrients, but is a lot better than its alternatives: refined GMO sugar and artificial sweeteners. For this reason, I tell my patients to enjoy it in moderation.

Bottom line on Stevia: Chose pure stevia products, like Sweet Leaf®, most the time. If it’s a choice between artificial sweeteners, white sugar, or a stevia/erythritol mix go for the stevia mix.

Step 3: Just say “no thanks” to natural flavors.

This is a BIG concern with both all-natural and organic snack foods.

The term “natural flavors”, as we touched on briefly above, covers a wide range of chemically-altered, addictive, and downright gross ingredients such as:

• Shellac made from bugs—to give snack foods that shiny finish.
• Excretion of beaver urine and anal gland—known as “castoreum” used as a flavor enhancer in vanilla, strawberry and raspberry ice cream, puddings, gums, etc.
• GMO-corn products—such as maltodextrin.

If it comes from “nature” it’s fair game under the “natural flavor” label.

Organic foods are not allowed to contain artificial preservatives, dyes, or chemicals, BUT natural flavors are allowed as long as they don’t make up more than 5% of the food product.

This gets tricky with organics. Ethical companies won’t use the term “natural flavors” on principle. and if they do they will usually disclose what the natural flavor actually is on their website or label.

However, with more and more natural food companies being bought up by big food it pays to be vigilant.

Step 4: Go no-GMO! Look for the Non-GMO Project Verified label. If there is no label, scan for any GMO hot-button ingredients.

According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association², approximately 80 percent of packaged foods contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Though controversial, studies have linked GMOs to a number of health concerns from gastrointestinal issues to cancer.

Ingredients to watch out for include corn, potatoes, sugar (approx. 95% of all sugar beets are GMO crops), pineapple, canola, tomatoes, arctic apples (newly released in 2017 to test markets, these GMO apples never brown), zucchini, cotton, papaya, alfalfa (think about cows eating this and how that translates to dairy products), and soy.

In 2013 the USDA approved voluntary labeling of non-GMO food products by the non-profit nongmoproject.org.

This was a huge victory for the natural food industry, and sent a message to big agriculture and big food. Thousands of food products from hundreds of companies have or are in the process of being verified for labeling…including Costco and WalMart!

There have been several victories for the non-GMO camp in the past year including Vermont being the first state in history to mandate GMO labeling, six counties in California (and counting) banned GMO crops, and the World Health Organization listing glyphosates (the leading pesticide used in GMO crops) as a probable human carcinogen of which the FDA is now investigating³.

Step 5: Finally, don’t forget about flour.

Organic or not, white flour or high-gluten flour should be avoided.

Whole spelt flour, einkorn flour, or sprouted flours containing shorter chains of gluten and less antinutrients would all be a better choice.

Gluten-free flours such as brown rice flour, non-GMO potato starch, almond flour, millet flour, quinoa flour, oat flour, coconut flour, or tapioca flour are preferable to whole wheat flour.

Now you’re ready to snack real-healthy

Don’t let misleading labeling take the fun or nutrition out of healthy snacking.

Follow these five steps, practice mindfulness and balance when eating, and you’ll be on the road to righteous snacking in no time.

Need more inspiration? Here are some of my favorite healthy snacks:

• Organic, fair-trade, 70% dark chocolate (need an excuse to enjoy chocolate once in awhile? Check out my post 7 Reasons to Enjoy Chocolate—Without the Guilt! on Huffington Post).
• Zevia cola (100% stevia-sweetened soda as an occasional cold, fizzy, pick-me-up).
• Mary’s Gone Crackers gluten-free crackers with guacamole.
• Kale chips, such as Brad’s Raw Chips (delicious!).
• Baby carrots or cucumbers with organic hummus.
• Raw almonds with dates…for some reason this combination is just delightful.

Here’s to happy, healthy, stress-free snacking!

-Dr. Patricia

Additional Reading and Watching:

For information on GMO labeling, including a list of verified companies and products, check out nongmoproject.org; and for an invaluable on-the-go reference, download The Institute of Responsible Technology’s free Non-GMO Shopping Guide.

For a good laugh about a particularly disturbing “natural flavor”, check out “FoodBabe TV’s Do you Eat Beaver Butt?”.

Get an eye-opening look at who really owns our natural food brands, by checking out this chart by The Cornucopia Institute.

References: