10 Simple Changes to Make Your Family Healthier

If you feel overwhelmed or intimidated at the thought of making changes to your cooking routines, here are ten simple changes that won't require you to learn new recipes or new techniques.

1. Use grey sea salt instead of regular table salt. Unrefined sea salt still has all its vital minerals, while regular table salt has been refined so that it is pure sodium chloride. Grey salt in particular provides 82 (!) vital trace minerals that promote optimum biological function and cellular maintenance.
2. Use natural sweeteners instead of refined white sugar. Like salt, refined sugar has been stripped of its minerals. Natural sweeteners are not white because their minerals are still intact. Maple syrup and unrefined cane sugar are the most readily and easily found.
3. Use free-range eggs. Even if you aren't able to source or purchase free-range meats, it's worth it to just make the switch with eggs. They're definitely more expensive, but for the nutritional difference, it's worth it, especially if you use a lot of them.  ((Mother Earth News))
4. Eat something raw at every meal. An avocado, fruit salad, lox, raw nuts and seeds… anything you like! Eating foods raw keeps the nutrients bio-available and provides good fiber for your gut.
5. Eat yogurt or other cultured food regularly. Fermented and cultured foods like yogurt help keep our guts clean and well-populated with friendly bacteria so that our bodies are able to absorb nutrients.
6. Eat sourdough or sprouted grain bread. These don't have to be expensive – our local Costco has a 2-pack of sprouted grain bread for only $1 more than the standard whole wheat bread.
7. Buy organic whenever you can afford it. One friend has decided what works for his budget is that if the organic price is within 30% of the conventional price, he buys the organic option.  Figure out what works for your budget.
8. Stop buying soda pop. It's even worse for you than you think it is.
9. If you make oatmeal in the morning (which is a fantastic way to feed a family frugally), soak the oats the night before. This not only makes the cooking process for the oats mere minutes in the morning, but it breaks down acids in the oats, making them easier to digest.
10. Use butter instead of margarine and vegetable oil. I cannot stress this one enough, as this one simple change – more than any of the other nine – will nourish your body quickly and deeply. Butter provides bio-available vitamins and the good types of saturated fats that our bodies need and crave for cellular communication and healthy brain function. Good fat also keeps sugar cravings at bay.