Plant Based Healthy Food Substitutions

Food addiction is a real thing and I think we all struggle with it on some level. There is a book called The Pleasure Trap that explains this problem in full detail but for today I am going to share with you a few of my own personal food addictions and how I am dealing with it.

I crave corn chips probably the most. Maybe it is because of my Nebraska roots, corn being its main mono-crop. I think it may actually be in my DNA =)  Even though I have been Plant Based for almost 4 years, I still struggle with it. Corn chips themselves aren’t that bad, it is the oil that they are fried in. My body just grabs up that oil and packs it on like I’m getting ready for the famine. Just recently, while shopping at Trader Joe’s I noticed a pack of snacks that was labeled Just Beets. Hmmmm beets, I like beets but are they just another fried vegetable chip like veggie straws? I turned over the package to read the ingredients and it said : beets. That’s it! OK. I’m game.

When I cracked them open later that night and dipped them in some of my homemade hummus I couldn’t believe how good they were. I am a true believer! Corn chips, I bid you adieu. Warning though, if you do eat them, it turns your urine and poo bright red!

Soda is another thing that has been in my life ever since my teenage years. Mountain Dew being my favorite. When my kids were in their early teens my husband and I decided to cut soda out of our family’s lives. Our kids had grow quite accustomed to Sprite. We turned to juice only to learn that it was literally like liquid sugar, mind you still better than soda.

I had been reading a book called Nourishing Traditions and came across a recipe for Kombucha. It was described as one of the oldest health tonics similar to apple cider vinegar. I was intrigued and ordered a culture from Amazon. After making a couple batches and realizing how easy and inexpensive it was to make, I was hooked. I learned how to make it to go fizzy by adding a little bit of juice after it is done fermenting and sealing it in a jar for a few more days. It was incredible and my family loved it. No more soda for this family!

But, when I am waiting for my kombucha to be done fermenting, I will buy Synergy Passionberry Bliss. So far, after taste testing at least 15 different brands of kombucha, I still think Synergy has the best, fizziest kombucha!

Coffee is another of my addictions. I absolutely love it! I know that coffee is  controversial when it comes to the debate of healthy or not, but I know I feel best if I limit myself to a cup a day or none at all. Crio Bru has been a pretty decent replacement for me. There are so many other coffee substitutions out there but I haven’t found any that tasted very good. In all honesty, they tasted pretty horrible. But Crio Bru actually tastes good. It is made of ground up raw cacoa beans. What could be better really, right, chocolate “coffee”. It is slightly bitter like coffee with just a mild chocolate flavor.

Last but not least is the LaraBar. This one isn’t for me so much but for my children. My kids love granola bars and I like the convenience of them but they are loaded with refined sugar. When my kids eat them they are on a major sugar rush and then a nasty sugar crash 20 minutes later. LaraBars are similar to a granola bar but are only made with minimal plant based ingredients. Most of them only have three ingredients like nuts, dates and dried fruit. Yes, they still have sugar but it is from the date or dried fruit which is a whole food with fiber.

They have oodles and oodles of flavors but my favorite is the Peanut Butter Cookie flavor. The Cherry Pie one is also delicious. I also have a recipe for four different flavors of LaraBars if you want to make your own!

I hope these suggestions will help you with some of your own food addictions. You are not alone in this and it is just part of the process of taking better care of yourself, because you deserve to have the best possible health.