When my family and I first began our quest to eat healthier, one of the first things we did was change out some of the refined, white products we were eating such as table salt, sugar, and flour.
And while the things we currently use may or may not be acceptable in the eyes of some health enthusiasts, they’ve worked well for us!
Now, I’m not here to preach why YOU should switch these items out – hopefully you already know that.
But I will say bleached salt, sugar and grains (flour) are stripped of their NATURAL nutrients. Sure they may be ‘enriched’, but it’s just not the same.
What you can swap refined white products with
Sugar
Instead of using white, refined sugar, use Organic Evaporated Cane Juice. You can use it cup-for-cup like white sugar, but it is minimally-processed and unbleached.
Again, probably still not the healthiest, but I’ve found that my body doesn’t react the same (negatively) with it as it did with white sugar or as it DOES whenever I eat something that was made with white sugar.
Other sweeteners we use in place of sugar are: stevia, raw honey, agave nectar (though some are now saying it’s not good for you, but we used it religiously when we were raw vegans and never had issues with it *shrug*) and on occasion, xylitol – made from birch, not corn.
Salt
Instead of white table salt, we now use Real Salt Sea Salt. I’ve been using this for YEARS and do not get any of 
the adverse reactions (high blood pressure, etc) that people typically get with regular, white, table salt.
I remember when I was a kid, my mom used to by this salt that didn’t have iodine. It was GROSS and weird-tasting… but Real Salt brand sea salt is yummy and it has all the minerals that salt is SUPPOSED to have!
Some choose to use pink Himalayan salt or celtic sea salt… both are also great alternatives to replace the one in the round, blue box! 😉
Flour
This is a touchy one because more and more people seem to be gluten-intolerant these days. I’m not all that well-versed in all the various types of flour substitutes for those who don’t do grains, so I won’t even attempt to go there.
However, if you CAN still eat grains and want a better flour (however slightly better it may be considered to be) then try unbleached flour. You can even do the whole wheat flour, but in all truth and honesty, I have kids and they are picky enough as it is. All the bread and buns at school have been replaced with whole grain and they were NOT happy about that!
So at home, when we DO make things that require flour (which isn’t very much nor very often) it’s unbleached flour.
In Conclusion…
Now, one other bleached, white food I didn’t really mention was rice. The reason I didn’t mention it is because… *sigh* we still eat white rice.
I know… I know. But these kids of mine will NOT eat brown rice. They grew up eating white and once we started making changes, brown was just too… “different”.
Now, hubby and I will eat brown rice with no qualms and I make it really good with lots of REAL butter, sea salt, garlic & onion powder.
But I generally make it for us when we’re really being health conscious and doing meal prepping. But when I cook it for the house, it’s white.
Same with bread, which I haven’t changed out for the same reason as the rice thing. But sometimes when I’m REALLY trying to be healthy lol, I will eat Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread. I like it toasted with butter or almond butter and bananas on top.
All in all, I pick and choose my battles with some things lol. As long as I know the majority of what we eat is healthy, I don’t make a big deal over a few things if they’re not.
Anyway, hopefully you’ve found this information beneficial in helping you to clean up your pantry and switch out the refined, white products for things that may be a little better for you… it’s just one more baby step in the right direction to improving your overall health!
