Dr. Achyuthan Eswar - May 11 2021
Healthy Food Grocery List Guide
It is important to remember that we are not just giving you a way to eat the same things you were eating before, but a better, more holistic way of life. Most of these replacements are ingredients and foods that were probably enjoyed by your grandparents. Over the last couple of generations, we have replaced those healthier foods with less healthy foods - now all we need to do is go back to what we were eating traditionally.Here is a table of kitchen replacements for refined / processed and animal foods that you can start using right away to eat healthier (and tastier!)
Health Food Grocery List to Replace Animal Food
| Animal Food/ Ingredient | Replace With |
|---|---|
| Meat, fish & other seafood | Beans, yam, raw jack fruit |
| Eggs | Aquafaba (egg white); ½ ripebanana; 2 heaped tbsp besan + 1tbsp water; 1 tbsp flax seedpowder + ¼ cup water; Mashedpotato; Mashed sweet potato |
| Raw milk, boiled milk,pasteurized milk, tonedmilk, double-toned milk,fortified milk, low fat milk,slim milk, flavored milk | Nut & seed mylks like coconut mylk, almond mylk, groundnut mylk, sesame mylk, cashew mylk. Pulse mylks like moong mylk. Cereals mylks like rice mylk, corn mylk, ragi mylk |
| Curds | Peanut curds, peanut cream, tender coconut cream |
| Buttermilk | Coconut thambulli, peanut buttermilk |
| Cream | Cashew cream |
| Butter | Cashew butter, badam butter, peanut butter, tahini, avocado, coconut butter, avocado spread |
| Ghee | Coconut butter |
| Cheese | Nut, seed, tuber & legume cheese with nutritional yeast flakes |
| Paneer | Tofu, Steamed besan idli / tohu |
Healthy Food Grocery List To Replace Processed Foods
| Refined Food/ Ingredient | Replace With |
|---|---|
| Refined oils, unrefined oils, cold pressed oil, virgin oils | Nuts, including coconut, til, almond, cashew, walnuts, peanuts, etc. |
| Polished / white rice | Unpolished brown rice, red rice, or black rice, or millets, such as bajra, jowar, foxtail millet |
| Polished / white rice flour, maida / refined wheat flour | Unpolished red rice flour, millet flours such as ragi flour, bajra flour, jowar four |
| Refined wheat rava | Broken wheat daliya, barley, rye, oats Millet rava for large millets like - pearl millet & jowar Whole millets for small millets like foxtail millet, kodo millet |
| Sugar, jaggery, honey (although not processed, it is as unhealthy as jaggery) | Fresh fruits, dry fruits, homemade date syrup |
Health Food Grocery List to Replace Irritant Ingredient
| Irritant Ingredient | Replace With | Best possible way |
|---|---|---|
| Chili (especially ground up green chili or red chili powder) | Green chili - slit and boiled but not eaten, or broken red chili | Pepper, ginger, capsicum, milder chilis |
| Tamarind | Kokum / punarpuli / garcinia, Amla, lemon, tomato, amchoor powder | Same as replacements |
Health Food Grocery List to Replace Less Healthy Ingredients
| Less Healthy Ingredients | Replace with |
|---|---|
| Edible colours | Turmeric, saffron, beetroot, garcinia |
| Pickled vegetables | Marinated vegetables (better still use only Fresh vegetables) |
| Ready made paste, batter | Freshly ground batter/masalas |
| Flavors/essence | Natural flavors and spices |
Health Food Grocery List to Replace Dishes and Foods
| Dishes and Foods | Replace with |
|---|---|
| Fried food | Oil-free baked food (Mindful eating to change your preferences) |
| Soft drinks / alcoholic beverages | Fresh fruit / vegetable smoothies |
| Hot drinks - tea, coffee, black coffee, milk, rose milk, etc. | Organic Green tea, Kashayas (chukku kappi), soups |
| Maida products - khakra, bread, bun, chapathi, roti, parata, phulka, biscuits, cakes, other bakery items | Baked and toasted rice, ragi, millet, whole wheat foods (Foods with more water content, steamed or boiled) |
| Whey protein powder | Plant based protein powder, Whole foods - Green leafy vegetables, nuts, sprouts |
| Ice cream | Nice Cream made from fruits & nuts |
| Packaged, preserved, canned and tinned foods | Fresh alternatives |
| Packaged sauce | Freshly made sauces |
Be Blessed by the Divine!Dr. Achyuthan EswarLifestyle Physician
