In last week’s podcast I mentioned that another great step to make in your journey toward healthy eating is to make the switch “from white to brown”.

And what, you ask, does it mean to switch “from white to brown”? In three major areas, I would suggest starting to move away from refined, highly processed, nutrient void ingredients…and instead choose unrefined, unprocessed, nutrient filled ingredients. These three major areas would be:  Rice, Sugar and Grain. 

Yeah, because guess what?! White flour, white sugar and white rice have pretty much NO nutritional value. When we eat them, they fill our bellies…and that’s about it. Our body really can’t do anything with them since the nutrients have been stripped out of them…which is why they are called “empty calories”. In fact, because our bodies crave nutrients in order to function properly, these “white ingredients” can also be “negative calories” – as in the nutrients stored as reserves in our bodies are then sucked out to help our body function, leaving our reserves depleted. And then what often happens with the white stuff? It turns to fat.  Well, no wonder. It’s bored and has nothing else to do.

In addition, once our bodies are depleted of nutrients, we are much more likely to get sick. Did I mention that eating these nutrient void ingredients can even cause depression? OUR BODIES NEED NUTRIENTS!!!

Now that I’ve made this suggestion…I am also going to reassure you that it really is okay to take one step at a time as you start replacing white ingredients with brown ingredients in your kitchen. This switch “from white to brown” takes a little effort. It may take a while to adjust your family’s taste buds. You also may find that it adds a little more expense. (Remember though that you are investing in REAL whole food – an investment in your health and the health of your family that is well worth the cost and effort!)

But I believe in the end, you will LOVE making this switch. 

Want to know a little secret? Brown ingredients actually have flavor!! It’s amazing what nutrients will do to food – it makes them taste good!! Go figure. :)

Here are some tips to help you transition “from white to brown”:

• Make the switch gradually. You can make a mixture of white rice and brown rice to help get your family used to it. You can do the same with white flour and whole wheat…white sugar and sucanat. Mix it up a bit…literally.
• Read through the suggestions about the sugars I recommend here.  There are several different “healthy sugars” that make fantastic treats!
• Try to find whole wheat flour made from hard (or soft) WHITE wheat. White wheat is a variety of grain that has the same nutrition as red wheat…but white wheat makes a lighter, fluffier flour that is not as hard to get accustomed to. We love hard white wheat at our house. And…I know I’m telling you to switch from white to brown and white wheat is white…but really…white wheat makes brown flour. Really it does. :)
• Cook your brown rice in chicken broth to make it taste awesome – yum! (I’ll try to post a tutorial on how to easily cook brown rice sometime soon.)
• Whole wheat pasta really is tasty! Our favorite whole wheat spaghetti is bionaturae. This brand works great for my Creamy Mac and Cheese recipe!

 I’d love for all of you to pipe in and share your tricks for making the switch from white to brown! What works for you and your family? What have been some of your biggest challenges in making the switch?