Cleaning up your pantry for brain health is one simple and actionable thing you can do to nourish your brain and body. Plus, your ability to make nourishing food choices is one of the most effective Lifestyle Strategies you have. 

You make multiple food choices throughout your day- breakfast, lunch and supper come to mind. These important choices can lead you to a life filled with vitality, clarity and a powerfully functioning brain, or lead you to a life filled with fatigue, brain fog, and an overall lack-luster appearance and mood. 

Food is Powerful!

Food is powerful!  The food choices you make can reduce inflammation and toxic load and help you feel energy and vitality, or your choices can increase inflammation and toxic load and leave you feeling bloated, irritated, anxious and blah. 

The power is all yours! And while some say knowledge is power, I like to say, “knowledge is potential power”, for if you don’t put your knowledge into action, it is not powerful at all. As Florence Nightingale says, “Health is not only to be well, but to use well every power we have.” And now, let’s give you a boost of power!

Cleaning or Organizing…

You might think cleaning up your pantry will organize it- something like the psychological thriller Sleeping with the Enemy.  Well, this is a little bit different.  While likely your outcome will be some organization, this blog focuses on cleaning up your pantry from a preservative, chemical, toxin perspective. 

Cleaning Up Your Pantry for Brain Health

Cleaning up your pantry for brain health in this way will help you reduce toxins and inflammation at your cellular level and keep your cells functioning with clarity and strength!

Alright, let’s clean up!

The Spice Rack

Aaah, the spice rack… when is the last time you spent time looking at this section of your pantry? 

Spices are integral in giving you quick bursts of flavor and are packed with phytonutrients and phytochemicals that reduce inflammation.  Take 30 minutes now to review your spices.

A few years ago, my husband and I went through our spice rack, preparing to embark on our Group Elimination Food Plan, and were shocked at the multitude of hidden chemicals and junk in our spices. But what was most interesting to us, is the chemicals were NOT hidden. They were written on the label- we just didn’t know any better to look. But now we do. And you should know too!

Read the Ingredient Label!

If there was only space for one tip, it would be: read the ingredient label!

Look for spices that include ONLY the spice you need.  For example, a bottle of cinnamon should only have the ingredient cinnamon.  Nothing else.  I know you can recognize the name of the spice you are looking for, so if you read the label and notice a word you don’t know- put it back on the shelf.  It’s likely a chemical, binder, or preservative or something your cells will not appreciate. 

Want more information about how to read ingredient labels? Click to read our blog, Food Labels. What about Ingredients?

Trash spices that have added chemicals, binders, and preservatives.  Common culprits are MSG, Sodium aluminosilicate (see I can hardly say it right), silicon dioxide and many others.  Spice combinations like, BBQ rubs, taco seasonings etc. commonly have chemical additives, so check those first to see it first hand!

Another tip? Spices do not get better with age- unlike us 😊, so toss out all expired spices.

Tips to Be More Spicy:

• Buy organic if you can.

• Buy in small portions from the bulk section.

• Read the tiny ingredient label to see what’s inside the jar.

Click here for a clean, printable version of my favorite preservative-free taco seasoning. 

Nut Butters

Nut Butters have sneaky additives in them if you don’t pay attention!  Check out the little ingredient label on your nut butter, and if the label includes more than just almonds, or peanuts, find a brand that doesn’t!  It will take a few moments to get used to the flavor change, but it will definitely reduce your toxin load over time and make your brain and body happy!

Tips to Nut-butter Better: 

• Buy real nut butters in the bulk section so you can try a small portion instead of a big jar.

• Look for a grocery store that crushes nuts into butters right in their store.  Fresh and yummy!

• Read the small print ingredient label so you have power over what you eat.

Canned Produce

Canned produce is a great source of eating your 9 servings fruits, vegetables, beans etc., especially in the off season when fresh produce is more difficult to find.

All fruit and vegetable cans are not created equal! 

BPA still exists in some canned products and is known as a chemical disruptor that is known to harm cell replication, and for brain and body health, we want to be making awesome, healthy and functional cells every time we replicate! Eliminating exposure to BPA and other chemicals helps us replicate with grace and gusto.

Are you receiving more than you want?

Are you receiving more than you want? Reading the small print of the ingredient label will help you determine this. You thought you were eating beets, because that’s what it said on the big label. But turn the can over to read the small print and you will likely be surprised. Manufacturers want you to LOVE their beets (and other veggies), so you’ll buy more and they will add sugar, and chemicals to make their foods taste great! NO! That is not going to keep your brain cells sharp and functioning clearly. 

Tips for Yes-You-Can: 

• Look for glass ‘cans’ to avoid BPA or other man-made chemicals like BPS.

• Read the small print ingredient label, so you get what you want and avoid unwanted extras.

• Buy fruits and vegetables packed in their own juices or water.  Avoid syrup or brine.

Three Easy Tips to Clean Up Your Pantry for Brain Health Summary

There you have it! Three easy and actionable things you can do today to clean up your pantry for brain health (well, maybe more than three- but you get the picture).

• Read the ingredient labels.

• Clean out your spice rack.

• Nut-butter Better.

• Look for and avoid chemicals in all of your food including spices, cans and packages.

Need more help keeping your brain healthy, vital and strong? Message Nicole Vienneau our Active Aging Specialist and Head Motivator!

NICOLE VIENNEAU, MSN, RN, NC-BC

~Active Aging Specialist, Health Protection Expert & ‘Head’ Motivator!

After two decades as an Intensive Care Nurse caring for the sickest of patients, Nicole left the one-size fits all healthcare industry, and created Blue Monarch Health.

Nicole takes you by the hand and co-creates a plan with you, so you can really do it in your life. Nicole is an authentic, heart-centered stick of dynamite, that will focus your energies, build up your strengths, and leverage your unique gifts, all while enhancing your health and vitality!

Nicole has been a Registered Nurse for 20+ years and achieved a Master’s in Nursing Science from the University of Arizona, a board certification in Integrative Nurse Coaching from the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation, and is Senior Faculty with the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy. She is a Functional Aging Specialist, yoga teacher, personal trainer, and group fitness instructor and enjoys healing in nature while hiking the Pacific Northwest trails with her husband or lounging in the sun with her cat babies. Email Nicole 

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