Clean out your pantry and create a healthy one - Health Coach Australia — Michelle Desira

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Has it has been a while since you gave your pantry a clean out? If you said yes, then now is the perfect time to do it! As we are in the winter school holidays in Australia, let this be an opportunity to give your pantry a healthy makeover before the next school term.

Now if it has been a while. This task may be a little overwhelming. I like to put on some music or a podcast to keep me motivated, diffuse my favorite essential oil ‘stress away’ and grab a hot beverage - either a coffee or chicken broth depending on the time of the day!

Start from the top shelf and work your way down. Pull everything off the shelf, throwing/donating unwanted items as you go, then give the shelf a good wipe and then finally return those items back onto the shelf.

What should you get rid of?

Food additives

Food additives include artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and flavour enhancers or anything with a ‘number’ These additives are added to our food for various reasons - to last longer in the packet, to look better, taste better and make food addictive so food companies can sell more. Shocking isn't it? These food additives are consumed every day by millions of people without them even knowing it - but what we also don't realise is that these food additives have a detrimental effect on our bodies. Food additives have been linked with many symptoms such as asthma, eczema, allergies, behaviour problems, depression, headaches and migraines, sleep disturbances, learning difficulties and digestive upsets just to name a few. I would get rid of these asap!

Unhealthy fats

Many decades ago, we were told by the government and medical associations to use vegetable and seed oils such as canola oil, soybean oil and corn oil as the traditionally used fats such as butter, ghee, coconut oil, lard and tallow caused high cholesterol and were harmful to our health. This is very far from the truth. We have seen an increase in diseases more than ever, caused by high levels of inflammation from the consumption of these so-called ‘healthy’ vegetable oils.

These diseases include;

Type 2 diabetes
Cancer
Heart disease
Automimmune conditions
Obesity

Vegetable oils are commonly found in Australian pantries to use in frying and baking as well as in most processed foods (go check the ingredients of your bread)

These oils need to go. They are not healthy for our children or us! And the sooner you can remove them from your diet, the better.

Expired foods and packets that have been unsealed

We all have them - herbs and spices that are many years past their expiry date or opened packets of crackers (that the kids don’t seal closed) that have been pushed to the back of the pantry to get forgotten about!

What many of us don’t realize is that tiny microscopic mold spores can grow on your food, causing issues in our body after consumption to some who are sensitive. The most common pantry staples that may contain these mold spores include dried fruit, coffee, nuts, grains and corn-based foods. The worst part is - we wouldn’t even know it. So you may think that those cashew nuts that are a couple of months past their used-by date may be ok to cook with - but are they really?

Another thing to consider is pests - I'm sure we have all seen tiny weevils in our rice or flour, and even though we can't see any crawling around in that packet of flour we neatly folded the packet back up - there may be eggs in there that we cannot see to the naked eye. Get rid of those packets, and next time you open a new bag of flour, immediately transfer it into a sealed container. This brings to containers

Plastic containers

Storing food in a plastic container increases our exposure to harmful chemicals which are known toxins and hormone disrupters. These chemicals leach out into the foods that we consume. Switching your plastic food storage containers for glass is the best way to reduce this chemical exposure. Also, consider buying store bought foods in glass jars if there is an option. Did you know that cans also contain a coating of BPA inside them? Yep! It's not just plastic bottles that leach out chemicals into foods. Some foods are sold in both plastic and glass jars - choose glass over plastic or cans if there is the option. Changing over all of your storage containers from plastic to glass is a big (and expensive) exercise! Start by purchasing a few jars in various sizes, and when it comes time to refill those items, get rid of the plastic and fill up the glass. You could also collect glass jars from store bought foods such as tomato paste, coconut oil and nut butter jars. Be sure to wash thoroughly before re-using and label as you go! I once put cream of tartar in some pancakes instead of baking powder! Whoops!

What to keep

Now that we have gotten rid of the bad stuff, it is time to restock with the good stuff!

To set yourself up for success, keep a good supply of foods to help you create tasty and nourishing meals. I have created this FREE downloadable checklist to help you build up your wholefoods pantry in case you are a little bit unsure as to which staples you need. This checklist is a guide, but provides a great starting point.