Why Kim Kardashian's Vegan Diet Is Anything BUT Healthy

As you may or may not have seen, Kim Kardashian went plant-based, and is claiming it’s done wonders for her body and her health. While I usually don’t follow any of the Kardashians, this claim caused an uproar in the health and wellness community, so naturally I investigated.

Celebrities like the Kardashians have the power to make a huge impact (unfortunately) and especially on those that know little about the subject that they are discussing- like diet. It can be super easy to look at someone like Kim and think, wow, she looks like THAT, so this must be the right choice for me too. However, the truth is they have millions of dollars and access to the best people in the beauty and fashion industries.

While there are ways to be healthy on a vegan or plant-based diet, Kim Kardashian is not following the diet in a healthy way. Let’s look at what she’s eating each day and why these aren’t healthy plant-based options.

Beyond Burger

According to Vegan Food and Living Beyond Burger sent her a shipment of their products which she has been incorporating into her meals. Before we go into this, another reason why I’m skeptical of celebrities promoting plant-based products like Beyond Burger is because there’s lots of motive for financial gain on their end. Many celebrities own huge portions of these fake meat companies and by promoting them just get richer and richer. Whereas with whole foods and grass-fed meats, there is no way to patent them and no motives behind promoting them.

Let’s look at the ingredients in Beyond Burger:

Where do I even start? First, there are low-quality highly processed vegetable oils such as canola oil and sunflower oil in the burger, one of them being the third ingredient. Second, there are natural flavors, which means a lot of chemicals that they simply don’t have to list out. Third, there’s a lot of weird things that you probably can’t pronounce, which usually isn’t a good sign.

Clevr Blends Vegan Superlatte

Vegan Food and Living also mentions that Kim promoted a vegan superlatte from the brand Clevr Blends. While this product does have a lot of good ingredients, there is one that stands out to me.

Oatmilk powder. Who knew they could now turn oatmilk into a powder? Wouldn’t that just be ground up oats? Anyways, I’m not a huge fan of oats because it is one of the crops drowning in glyphosate. Even organic oats have large amounts of detectable glyphosate. Glyphosate has been linked to all types of chronic health conditions like cancer. Even though it’s non-GMO, it’s not organic and it has not been third party tested for glyphosate.

Vegan Sausage

I already mentioned why I’m not a huge fan of oats. In addition, eating them for breakfast isn’t a wise choice if you are trying to lose fat. Studies have shown eating protein and fat rather than carbohydrates as your first meal actually leads to fat loss and increased metabolic rate throughout the day.

As for vegan meats, they are usually filled with inflammatory vegetable oils and processed soy protein. One article mentioned that Kim loves Morning Star bacon, so let’s look at the ingredients of this product.

This may even be worse than the Beyond Burger. The second ingredient is soybean oil which is highly inflammatory and processed. There are even more processed soy ingredients further on in the label and processed corn ingredients as well. Similar to oats, corn is a crop drowning in glyphosate. There is artificial coloring like Red 3 and Yellow 6, known to make kids go a little crazy (and cause cancer). More ingredients we can’t pronounce… I think most people will agree that this is a product nobody needs in their diet.

One article I read even goes to suggest a brand called Sweet Earth which makes bacon that are actually vegan (Morning Star contains dairy).

Here are the ingredients of that brand:

Again, similar to all of the other fake meat products mentioned, the ingredients include processed vegetable oils, natural flavors, inorganic soy, and even added sugar.

While I tried a vegan diet and later discovered how it was depleting my energy, causing nutrient deficiency, and ruining my gut, there are ways to make it a healthy diet that could possibly work for you. If you stick with real, whole foods over fake meats made in a lab, you may be fine. Limit your intake of oats, soy, and corn and make sure you’re tracking the foods you’re eating and the nutrients you need.

It can be dangerous to switch to a vegan diet without tracking what you need to eat to meet certain nutrition requirements in order to properly function. And, remember, fake meats don’t have the nutrients that real meats do. In fact, they act as way more of an anti-nutrient because of the dangerous chemicals and highly processed ingredients.

Check out my post on why the popular vegan chicken nugget brand, Nuggs, is an unhealthy fake meat option or why vegan butter isn’t better for you than actual butter.

If you’re interested in reading why a vegan diet isn’t the answer to climate change, check out this post.

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Is Skinny Pop Healthy?

I often see people snacking on Skinny Pop when they want a healthy, low calories snack. Yes, it is indeed low in calories, but is it actually healthy? Is it as good for us as we are led to believe? We can easily answer this question by looking at the ingredient label.

The brand definitely gets an A+ in marketing and deception. I mean, Skinny Pop? Any person trying to lose weight will eat this right up. They want you to feel like you are making a great choice by choosing their brand. Unfortunately, Skinny Pop is one of the popcorn brands that you should avoid.

Let’s look at the ingredients:

Simple, right? Only 3 ingredients. That part is definitely good. However, sunflower oil is the oil used in the snack. This is one of the processed vegetable oils that should always be avoided. Whenever you see oils like sunflower, canola, or soybean on an ingredient label, steer clear of that product.

Why is sunflower oil so dangerous? It is mainly comprised of an inflammatory fatty acid called omega-6s while having 0 healthy fatty acids called omega-3. While omega-6 is necessary in our diet, the average American gets way too much of it. The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is 4:1 or lower. Maintaining this ratio has been linked to a 70% decrease in overall mortality rates, making it a powerful factor in our health (“The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids”). An increased omega ratio has also been linked to chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and IBD (“Health Implications of High Dietary Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids”).

Additionally, when buying popcorn you want to get one that is organic. Corn is one of the most common GMO crops in the United States and is often sprayed with glyphosate. According to a 2017 test done by the FDA, 59% of corn tested positive for glyphosate residue, yet it was below the standards in place. I don’t know about you but any trace of glyphosate is bad to me whether its above or below “standards”. A recent study from the University of Washington found that exposure to glyphosate increased risk of cancer of the immune system (Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma) by 41%.

While it is not guaranteed that organic crops have no traces of pesticides, they are less likely to have any and won’t contain nearly as much as crops purposely grown using these chemicals.

Recommendation:

Instead of Skinny Pop, try Lesser Evil Organic Popcorn. They make the most delicious popcorn and only use quality oils like ghee, avocado oil, and coconut oil. They also use organic popcorn. Try my personal favorite- the Himalayan Pink Sea Salt!

Much better. Organic, non-gmo popcorn and a healthy oil!

Read more about the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in my post Is almond milk good for you or could it be causing inflammation?.

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Is RightRice Healthy?

Lately I’ve been seeing a rice alternative called RightRice circulating the internet. It’s made of lentils and chickpeas and supposedly has less carbs than actual rice. Well, the burning question is, is RightRice Healthy? Is it really better than white or brown rice? Let’s breakdown the ingredients and see for ourselves.

Sunflower Oil

First, let’s talk about one of the ingredients in RightRice- sunflower oil. If you’ve read my content before then you probably know how much I dislike processed vegetable oils. They have an extremely high omega 6 to omega 3 ratio, contributing to high amounts of inflammation in the body. You can read more about this omega imbalance in processed oils here.

When shopping at the grocery store I avoid bad oils at all costs. It’s so important to read ingredient labels because these oils often sneak their way into “health” snacks… So, just going off this ingredient, no, RightRice is NOT healthy. But, let’s breakdown the other ingredients as well.

Lentil Flour, Chickpea Flour, and Pea Fiber

Lentils, chickpeas, and pea fiber are a complete form of plant protein (when combined), which is essentially the purpose of eating RightRice. It is marketed to have 6g more of protein than white rice and 40% less net carbs. While I believe these sources are fine in moderation, I do think it can be hard on the digestive system to eat these ingredients regularly.

Personally, when I was vegan, I ate chickpeas or lentils in almost every dinner I made. It was hard to find any other plant-based sources with high amounts of protein, even if it wasn’t complete. After years of feeling awful, I came to realize that my body does not do well digesting legumes. They were a huge part of my issues with bloating and gas. Pay attention to your body when eating these types of foods. Do you get sluggish, bloated, or gassy after eating them? Maybe you’re not digesting them well. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to these foods. Do what feels good for YOU and YOUR body!

Conclusion

I tend to believe that any food in its whole form is better than a processed product, whether it contains more protein and less carbs or not. Whole foods are whole foods and nothing beats that. If you want more protein simply balance your meal out with a piece of wild-caught salmon and top it off with a healthy fat like extra virgin olive oil. If you want to eat less carbs eat more protein and healthy fats! You don’t have to choose these processed alternatives to eat a certain way.

Think about this- rice gets grown in a field, RightRice gets processed in a factory. Which do you think we were intended to eat?

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Healthiest Foods at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe’s can be a tricky place to shop when looking for healthy foods. They have so many intriguing products that it can be easy to get caught up in the novelty of them all. While it’s fine to pick up one of these unique products every once in awhile, it’s probably smart to not buy them every grocery trip.

If you stick to the outside perimeter of the store, you’re usually safe when it comes to your health. Trader Joe’s is a great place to shop for fruits and vegetables on a budget. You can also find some other really great staples when you read the ingredients closely.

Here are my staple Trader Joe’s products with good ingredients:

Cauliflower Gnocci

Ingredients: Cauliflower, Cassava Flour, Potato Starch, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt

This is my absolute favorite Trader Joe’s product. It’s an easy frozen meal to cook up with some pesto and 100% grass-fed beef. However, I make sure to read the ingredient label each time because TJ’s has been known to later change the ingredients in order to reduce cost.

Albacore Tuna

Ingredients: Solid White Tuna, Water

Tuna is a great source of protein and provides tons of nutrients. It’s one of the best bangs for your buck. They have a bunch of good canned tuna options, but this is my favorite. Just make sure it’s wild-caught!

Organic Popcorn with Olive Oil

Ingredients: Organic Popcorn, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt

It’s surprisingly really hard to find popcorn (or any bagged snack) that uses good oils. This popcorn is not only super cheap but it is all organic and uses a high quality olive oil. I pick this up every single time I’m there!

Simply Almond Beverage

Ingredients: Almonds, Water

If you’re looking for a good nut milk without any weird fillers or additives, this one is for you. It’s as clean as a nut milk comes!

100% Spanish Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Ingredients: Extra Virgin Olive Oil

High quality oil can be pretty expensive. Luckily TJ’s offers a lot of great oils at an affordable price. This Spanish olive oil is one of my favorites. They also have oils like avocado and coconut. Just make sure they aren’t blended with any vegetable oils!

Organic Hearty Vegetable Broth

Ingredients: Filtered Water, Organic Vegetables, Organic Herbs

This broth is especially great this time of year. I’m constantly using broth in soups and crockpot dishes, but this one makes all of those recipes reasonably priced. They also have a reduced sodium version, but I personally prefer this one! There’s actually no added salt in this original one.

Mirepoix

Ingredients: Celery, Carrot, Onion

Another staple in my kitchen this time of year. Is there anything better than a veggie soup when it’s cold outside? This takes all of the work out of cutting your own vegetables.

Coconut Water

Ingredients: Coconut Water, Absorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

Coconut water is another ingredient that can easily get pricey. Luckily TJ’s has a large bottle of it for a good price. I always use this as the base of my post-workout protein smoothies. The key with coconut water is to make sure it’s not from concentrate.

While I still have more TJ’s staples, these are definitely my favorite products. If you’d like any other blog posts related to Trader Joe’s, please leave a comment down below with any suggestions.

What to Look for When Buying Beef

Which meat is safe to buy? Which isn’t? Is organic beef or grass-fed beef better? Buying meat can be tough nowadays. There are so many buzz terms thrown around that can be misconstrued when it comes to the quality of the foods you are eating. In this post I’m going to tell you the terms that matter and those that don’t when buying beef.

Let’s start with what you want to look for.

100% Grass-Fed

In my opinion, this is the most important when it comes to beef. 100% grass-fed means that the cow is fed grass its entire life, up until the moment it is killed. This means there is no grain, soy, or corn in the meat you are eating, which is what cows are typically fed.

X Grass-Fed

Be wary when you don’t see 100% grass-fed or grass-finished. This usually means the cow was fed grass most of its life, up until the last 2 weeks before it was killed. During these last 2 weeks it is fed grain, corn, and soy to fatten it up. These are all ingredients you typically want to avoid.

X Organic

When you see the word organic on a meat label it simply means that the grain, corn, and /or soy the cow was fed was organic. Yes, this is absolutely better than a cow not fed an organic diet. However, it is not the only thing you want to look for. 100% grass-fed or grass-fed/grass-finished is the most important thing. Then, if you want to go a step further, look for organic when possible. If not, it’s not the end of the world since these cows are being fed all grass anyways.

X Natural

This has to be the most misleading marketing term out there. Natural means absolutely nothing in my book. It has nothing to do with the farming practices but simply just the processing of the meat. It means no artificial chemicals or dyes were added to the meat. However, it still can mean the cow was given antibiotics or growth hormones. There is no group that regulates the term “natural” either, meaning nobody is checking to make sure the company is actually following a set of standards.

Regenerative Agriculture

While this isn’t necessary, I highly recommend buying your beef from a local or regenerative farm. These are farms that use their cows to help fight climate change. You can read more about regenerative agriculture and how it works here. These farms are the most humane and are working to rebuild our soil health. And who doesn’t want a better functioning food system and healthier planet?

If you want to learn more about the types of meat you should be eating for optimal health, check out this video I filmed on my Instagram.

And, lastly, if you can’t afford 100% grass-fed beef from a regenerative farm, beef still has a large amount of nutrients for its cost. Choose real meat over processed foods any day!

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Is Vegan Butter Healthy?

Is vegan butter healthy? Is it good for you? Is it better than regular butter? What about grass-fed butter? There are so many questions that need to be answered.

Many people automatically assume vegan = healthy. However, this is not the case. Instead of looking for magic wellness terms like “gluten free” and “vegan”, read the label of a product and see if you recognize the ingredients.

If it’s not a whole food or name you can pronounce, you probably want to stay away.

With this being said, I’m a believer that grass-fed butter or ghee (which is dairy free) is always healthier than a fake product created to mimic an animal product.

Below are the ingredients in Kerrygold’s grass-fed butter. As you can see, it’s two simple ingredients: pasteurized cream and salt. You know exactly what you’re getting.

Now let’s look at the ingredients of the two most popular brands of vegan butter.

Earth Balance Original Natural Butter Spread

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that these are not real, whole food ingredients. This “butter” is simply made of harmful vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are one of the most inflammatory things you can consume and should be avoided at all cost. In addition to the vegetable oils, it contains natural flavors and sunflower lecithin, an ingredient derived from harmful vegetable oils.

Miyoko’s Classic Fresh Organic Vegan Butter

So close to using better oils, but not quite. The first ingredient is coconut oil, which is a good start. However, you can see this brand also uses sunflower oil. Don’t let the term organic thrown in front of any type of vegetable oil fool you. They are still extremely detrimental to your health, organic or not. You can see they also use sunflower lecithin, an ingredient you want to steer clear from.

Unfortunately there are no good options for “vegan” butters. They are all made of inflammatory oils, whether they’re organic or not.

If you really want a vegan butter substitute, go with a healthy oil like extra virgin olive oil. This is much less processed and has lots of amazing health benefits.

Halloween Candy Swaps

Nothing beats the feeling of putting on a costume, pretending you are someone completely different for the night, and going door to door, collecting massive amounts of candy. For most kids, nothing is better than a sugar rush! My favorite Halloween candy would switch every year, but I remember being really fond of almond joys, butterfingers, Kit-Kat, and Twix. And, of course, Reese’s peanut butter cups. Basically anything covered in chocolate!

Nowadays these candies don’t appeal to me the way they once did. There’s something about a fine quality dark chocolate that I would take over these options any day. Luckily, there are some great options out there that have the same nostalgia, are way healthier, and use decadent dark chocolate (not the fake Hershey’s stuff).

Reese’s

I was shocked to see that Reese’s are actually one of the “healthier” options in the Halloween candy department. They are free of corn syrup AND vegetable oils. Who knew?

While there are other ingredients I’d prefer not to eat, this is actually one of the better options. However, I’ve recently come across Theo’s peanut butter cups which knock this Hershey’s option out of the water. The first ingredient is cocoa beans and they use rosemary extract to preserve the candy. Not to mention all ingredients are organic!

Buy on Amazon

M&M’s

M&Ms are quite the classic. I always got a ton of them trick or treating but they were never really my favorite. If you’re a fan of them, Unreal’s Crispy Cocoa Gems are nearly identical. They have the same crunchy outside shell and soft inside chocolate that melts in your mouth.

They use natural vegetable juices to color their candy rather than artificial dyes which have been known to make kids go nuts.

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Butterfinger

It’s always the things that taste the best that are the worst for us. I can’t even remember the last time I ate one, which is probably a good thing considering the first ingredient is corn syrup. Unfortunately, there is no easy dupe for these. However, it does make for a fun Halloween activity if you are staying inside this year.

I’ll be testing out this recipe from one of my favorite baking blogs, Detoxinista.

Kit Kat

Another classic chocolatey treat. I’m hear to argue that this swap is even better than a KitKat, considering it’s made with actual chocolate. I promise, real dark chocolate makes all of the difference in a candy bar. While this option is definitely healthier, keep in mind that it still does have gluten in it.

You can even feel good about purchasing this brand since the palm oil they use is sustainable sourced and their chocolate ingredients are Fair Trade Certified.

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Twix

I had to save the best for last. I think this is still a favorite of mine up to this day. Luckily corn syrup isn’t the first ingredient in this one, but it’s still up there. Like Butterfingers, there is no easy dupe. You just have to do it yourself! A lot of the ingredients overlap with the Butterfingers recipe, so why not make both?

I’ll be using this Twix copycat recipe from Ambitious Kitchen. Bonus: it’s vegan and gluten free!

Starburst

Starbursts are probably one of the worst candies you can eat because they are mostly comprised of corn syrup and vegetable oil. Luckily, Smart Sweets makes a pretty good swap with better ingredients. They also make other candies like gummy bears, gummy worms, and swedish fish.

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Luckily there are brands out there making “healthier” versions of our favorite candies! We can indeed indulge without consuming harmful ingredients like corn syrup and vegetable oils. Wondering why corn syrup is so bad? Check out the recent post I wrote here.

What candy are you most looking forward to trying?

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What's wrong with corn syrup? It's uses include tanning leather and polishing shoes.

What is corn syrup? Why is it bad for you? These are the major questions.

Corn syrup is a glucose syrup made from the starch of corn. Part of its glucose content is converted to fructose through chemical processing. It came to be in the 70s when the price of corn was very low due to the government subsidizing the corn industry. It is now used by companies as a sugar substitute because of how cheap it is.

To make matters worse, 92% of our corn today is genetically modified (GMO), made to be resistant to chemicals and pesticides. Corn is a questionable crop to begin with, now take into account all of the chemical processing that is done to it to create corn syrup.

The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) talks about the different uses of its popular sweetener, corn syrup, in not just food, but in antibiotics, tanning leather, and in shoe polish. Yikes. Do you want to be consuming an ingredients that is also being used to make these 3 products? I hope not!

What does corn syrup due to your body?

• Increases hunger and desire for food

• Effects reward processing areas of the brain

• Increases risk of type 2 diabetes

• Increases blood pressure and cholesterol

• Increases inflammation in the body

Look for natural forms of sugar like cane sugar, maple syrup, and dates instead. Better yet, choose products with no added sugar at all!

Resources:

Differential effects of fructose versus glucose on brain and appetitive responses to food cues and decisions for food rewards

High fructose corn syrup and diabetes prevalence: A global perspective

Energy and Fructose From Beverages Sweetened With Sugar or High-Fructose Corn Syrup Pose a Health Risk for Some People