America's Love of Fast Food

If you have health problems and you eat fast food frequently, you have identified the main problem.  In my post on Cooking, I explained how cooking whole foods was the solution to poor health brought on by America's obsession with pre-packaged meals. The same could be said for poor health brought on by America's obsession with Fast Food. Here could be some reasons why we indulge in Fast Food, and how to counter them.

Fast Food is Bad:
I'm probably stating the obvious here, but french fries, deep fat fried mystery meat, and sugary drinks cause inflammation and intense cravings. Fast food is not a good "cheat" for Candida, nor for anyone wanting to overcome any kind of disease state. With that being said, I also want to admit that in the past Mcdonalds' was one of my favorite restaurants, and there was more to the allure than the tasty deep fat fried junk.

But They offer Wifi: 
Because I am Generation Y, Mcdonalds has appealed to my Generation for a number of reasons. One is they offer free wifi. In the time before I had internet, I was almost completely reliant on Mcdonalds to check my email, pay bills, and surf. Out of obligation and respect, I always bought something, either a sugary coffee or lunch, and I paid for it with my health.

The solution to my need for internet was moving in with my IT boyfriend and enjoying his elaborate internet network at home. Some of you, however, may not have that option. So my first recommendation is to find other places with free internet. Check your college, local library, and coffee shops for wifi options. Make a habit of eating a healthy breakfast or lunch at home before you go out to any of these establishments. If you choose coffee shops, look for locally owned coffee shops. They often have healthier low-sugar coffee and tea options, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, and are more welcoming of wifi campers than chain coffee shops. If you do end up in a bind where the only place that is open is Mcdonalds, or you go there on a whim, try to keep it healthy by ordering a black coffee or sugarless tea.

And You're a News Junkie:
I have always been a news junkie, and Mcdonald's appealed to me because I could watch Fox, and sometimes CNN, depending on the location. My advice to anyone who does that is to either break down and buy cable, or to search for news on the internet. All the media outlets offer highlights, articles, and news clips on their websites for free and many others offer subscriptions to news channels at reduced rates.Unsurprisingly, youtube is also another great place to scavange news. Many gyms also offer television with subtitles, so you can catch up while you are on the eliptical.

But It's so Convenient and Cheap:
Because I am Gen Y, I am also on a budget, as is most of America. The allure of fast food is that it is obviously fast, and cheap too. You'd be surprised, however, that it is just as cheap to eat at home. If you cook plain oatmeal in a rice cooker and cut up an apple, you are paying about the same or less as you wouldfor a small fry and burger. Healthy snacks like nuts, fruit, simple salads, sandwiches, and yogurt are all convenient choices. Simple dinners like baked chicken breasts or fish and steamed vegetables are easy and quick. Set the timer on your oven to help you multi-task while you are baking meat. Heat up leftovers in a hurry, and pack food in a small cooler if you drive a lot. Carry a water bottle or tea/coffee thermos with you everywhere. If you do end up in a bind and need to eat fast food, pick places like Subway or Qdoba, or local sandwich/burrito shops that have healthier options. Order small servings and opt for sugarless tea instead of soda. Keep a calendar of how  often you hit up fast food and try to reduce the number over time. Sometimes awareness alone will help you transition away from it.

 #Sugar #Candida #Yeast

Curbing the Candy Cravings

If you are combating Candida and Sugar Addiction, chances are that chocolate candy bars, ice cream, and bakery goods are foods you crave the most. In my last post, I explained how to transition from your favorite ice cream to plain old vanilla, and then to frozen yogurt smoothies and mixing frozen yogurt with plain yogurt until you've combatted your ice cream cravings for good.

In this post, I want to give some suggestions for combating your candy bar addiction. Before I go into alternatives, I want to reiterate that anything you crave intensely is a food that is feeding your Candida and Sugar Addiction. I used to make excuses for allowing myself a container of ice cream, a bakery item, and a bag of candy bars every time I went to the grocery store, all the while "following"Candida diet plans. I didn't allow myself to realize that those items were the culprit that sent my health into a neverending downward spiral.

If you are suffering to the degree I was, you recognize that just having a bag of your favorite candybars will cause you to binge eat until the whole bag is gone. I used to chase my binge-eating episodes with whole bottles of acidophilus and 5-6 caprylic acid (antifungal) vitamins in a setting. By changing my shopping habits, I could have alleviated much of this struggle and saved tons of money in supplements.

For Candy Bar cravings, identify your favorite candy bar. For me it was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, a candy that was my favorite in childhood. If your favorite candy was also a learned trait in childhood, let that part of your childhood go. Try to find candy you do not crave or even necessarily like and allow yourself that candy as the replacement.

Because my chocolate bar cravings revolved around Reese's and sometimes Butter Fingers and Hershey's, I started looking for alternatives. I tried Snickers, but then hit a brick wall when I began craving them. I then tried mint chocolate bars and started seeing results. You see, for me, it was a lot harder to polish off a bag of Ande's Mints, or York Peppermint Paddies. 
If I had it to do over again, I would have used Almond Joy's, a candy bar I am absolutely disgusted by, to transition out of candy.

Buy that candy you dislike the most. It may not even be a chocolate bar, any kind of candy will work. Allow yourself to binge on it in the throws of a full-blown sugar craving, the kind of craving you generally have at night. Don't anticipate the craving and buy this candy during your shopping, rather buy it when your cravings arise. Try to only buy a small bag or one bar. Chances are you will allow yourself a smaller portion of this kind of Candy because you don't like it. You'll be angry at first, I know I was, because what you are really craving is your favorite. Your mind is craving it and the yeast in your gut are craving it. Embrace this anger as a normal emotion and let it pass as you explain to yourself that you get this kind of candy, or nothing at all. Give yourself that choice.

After a few weeks or a month, you'll find that you will be less likely to break down and buy the kind of candy you don't like. You'll be more willing to withstand sugar cravings and reach for things like fruit, raw nuts, and a bowl of plain yogurt for night time snacks.

As of now, I only allow myself chocolate during a social event and maybe once a month to every two months. When I do indulge, I opt for dark chocolate that contains 80% cocoa and a lower sugar content.  I generally buy a very small bar on sale at the health food store. Chocolate has become a decadence rather than a craving, and one that is sustainable long-term. 

Finding a Palate for Plain Yogurt through Ice Cream

If you suffer from Candida, Ice Cream may be one of those foods you have trouble avoiding for a couple of reasons.  

One reason is that Ice Cream is high in Sugar and Corn Syrup, with one brand measuring 14 grams, equivalent to 1 Tablespoon of sugar, per serving size (1).  The definition of a serving size can be misleading, and it is easy to inaccurately visualize a bowl of ice cream as such.  However, if you were to measure a serving size, it would be about 1/2 of a cup, or one scoop of ice cream (2).  Because we anticipate that a serving size is more than that, we may have a habit of dishing out 3 to 4 scoops into a bowl, and then going back for seconds.  This  can easily add up to 8 Tablespoons of Sugar (about 1/2 of a cup) in your dessert alone.

A second reason Ice Cream can pose a problem for Candida sufferers is because it contains milk. Alongside Leaky Gut allergies to wheat (glutenous grains), soy, and corn, those with Candida can also be sensitive to dairy products and/or have an inability to breakdown Lactose (3).

Many Candida diets rule out all dairy products to address this potential dairy allergy, and also as a cautionary approach to the possibility of antibiotic residue that may be present in Cow's Milk (4).  For Candida, the high amounts of sugar added to ice cream, alongside possible trace amounts of antibiotics, and a potential dairy allergy is courtship for a problem food that is highly addictive.

I would recommend any Candida sufferer to try very hard to get away from Ice Cream.  To do that, like I've outlined in my previous posts, is to transition out of it. 

Take the ice cream you crave the most (Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Birthday Cake, etc), and switch it for a boring flavor like Vanilla.  Don't buy any toppings to go over it.  Be sure to only buy that flavor when cravings arise. Concentrate on only having a couple scoops at a time. If necessary, try measuring an actual serving size amount.  

The next step is to switch to frozen yogurt.  You can experiment with flavors, but try to pick a frozen yogurt that has no artificial additives and is made with milk from Cows not treated with rBST or antibiotics if possible.  A brand I used that was closest to this criteria is called Open Nature, and  is available at Safeway.

Try changing between flavors until you reach plain old boring vanilla again. You can buy bananas and Natural Peanut Butter or Almond Butter as a topping or in a smoothie.  I started out by making smoothies, and then went to toppings.  As I lost my cravings for my old peanut butter ice cream, I began mixing frozen yogurt with just plain yogurt.  After the transitional phase, I replaced frozen yogurt all together with a good quality plain yogurt. 

*A word of note for Candida Sufferers who think they may suffer from a dairy allergy: 
 If it is due to leaky gut, probiotics are necessary to heal the problem, which along with being easier to digest is why plain yogurt is a form of dairy generally allowed. It is also a great source of Calcium. However, if you find  you have side effects from eating plain yogurt, try yogurt from Goat's Milk first, and probiotic supplementation as a last option.

1) http://www.breyers.com/product/detail/113869/reeses-chocolate

2) http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5405/2

3) http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2014442682_candida10.html

4) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/business/26milk.html?_r=0

Going Nuts over Nuts

If you find yourself craving nut mixes, trail mixes, or peanuts, try peeking at the label.  You may find a whole list of unpronounceable additives like Maltodextrin, a wheat- and barley- derived thickener, and surprising stowaways like Corn Syrup (1,2). When you see this, you know it is time to trade your beloved snack for something less processed, even if the label touts Heart Health and Nutrition.

Discovering the difference between processed nuts and real nuts may be ambiguous at first. Like rice, any additives should be regarded as a red flag.  Buy nuts separately and look for labels that list only Almonds, or only Cashews, or only Walnuts on the ingredient list.  They are generally found hiding among the nut mixes in the same aisle. Good buzzwords to look for are Raw and Whole.  

Try to avoid peanuts; they are a common allergen and susceptible to mold.  For Candida sufferers, any kind of mold hampers the immune system and helps to establish fungal colonies (3).  The same goes for peanut butter. 

If peanuts and peanut butter are foods you crave, start by buying raw peanuts and natural peanut butter. You will know the natural kind visually because the oil has a tendency to separate from the solid, so it must be stirred. The natural kind also lists only peanuts on the label (and maybe a little bit of salt).  A great brand I used to help end my cravings is Adams.

Once you are able to combat peanut cravings, trade your peanuts in for raw Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Macademia Nuts, Pistachios, and Hazlenuts (4). They are packed full of vitamins, antioxidants, and good fats; and are a great source of healthy carbohydrates for those who have cut out refined carbohydrates.

If you continue to crave nut mixes after switching to raw nuts, try making your own.  Mix varieties together in plastic baggies for quick snacks on the go.  Add sunflower and pumpkin seeds that are raw, shelled and unsalted. Seeds, like nuts, are packed full of vitamins and antioxidants, protecting against cancer and helping to manage disease states (5). I buy my seeds from Vitamin Cottage because they have a great variety and are inexpensive.

For added flavor, try adding sweet spices (ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon), or hot spices (chili powder, Cayenne) for a kick. Also feel free to add Salt if your diet permits. Sneak in some raisins if trail mix was a previous staple in your diet.  If you are concerned about the sugar, just rationalize that adding a few raisins will be significantly better for you than the whole processed trail mix Shabam. Slowly work them out over time for their natural 

counterparts: grapes.

Feel free to replace or combine grapes with any fruit. From my experience, rather than grabbing a cliff bar, trail mix, or a granola bar, I find that taking an Apple and a baggie of Almonds on hiking trips gives me needed energy and convenience without the cost to my health or my purse.  

      1)      http://www.fitsugar.com/What-Maltodextrin-293287

      2)      http://www.target.com/p/planters-nut-rition-energy-mixed-nuts-9-25-oz/-/A-12969551

      3)      http://www.candidamd.com/candida/exposures.html

      4)      http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition/0406/why-you-should-go-nuts-for-          nuts.aspx#/slide-1  

      5)      http://www.besthealthmag.ca/eat-well/nutrition/6-super-seeds-to-eat-every-day?slide=8&rel=1

Alternatives to Chips

If your nemesis is chips, that’s okay, there are ways around that.  Take the chips you crave the most, like Nacho Cheese Doritos, and replace them with a brand of plain potato chips that have a lower sodium content.  Essentially what you are doing is taking a snack that has an ingredient list a mile long, and transitioning to one that is shorter.  Chips are not healthy by any means, but there is a hierarchy to their nutritional value like other packaged foods.  If you like Fritos, for example, switch to white corn tortilla chips and then to blue corn tortilla chips.  Look for chips that are cooked in oils like sunflower oil instead of cottonseed oil (1). 

  

One brand of chip I like every once in a while is called Terra.   It is a brand I recently noticed at my grocery store and sports vegetable chips as its base (sweet potato, parsnip, batata, taro and yuca) and has 50mg of sodium.  I buy the original kind which I don't crave very often.

If you continue to have intense cravings for chips, even after switching to a brand like Terra, try limiting your intake (one bag per week), and making up the difference by making your own chips.

You can easily make tortilla chips in the oven by cutting up tortillas into wedges, coating them with olive oil, lining them out evenly on wax paper and baking them at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes on each side (2).  Baking your own chips can allow you to choose how much sodium you add, if any at all.  A word of caution about sodium is that one gram is about ½ of a teaspoon (3).  If you are concerned about sodium, 50 mg of sodium, like the amount found in one serving of Terra chips, is only going to be 5% of ½ of a teaspoon.

With that being said, you may be craving chips because you are sensitive to food additives like preservatives, dyes, and artificial flavors; to the corn used to make the chip; or to whatever microbes that may be hanging along for the ride.  A way to test this theory is to see if your salt cravings follow you from one food to another.

For example, if you have intense cravings for salt in foods that you cook yourself, let’s say chili or tacos, or to salt alone, than you may be dehydrated or have a medical condition.  If you crave specific salty snack foods, even when adding salt to the foods you consume, than the problem probably rests not in the salt, but the snack food you are craving.

The end result of transitioning away from chips is to bake your own vegetable chips in the oven.  Several recipes give options on how to bake almost any root vegetable, cut up thin enough, in the oven at a low heat (250 degrees) with or without oil, salt and spices for about 2 hours. The result is a crispy chip, somewhat similar to the chips available in the Terra brand.   

1) http://www.livestrong.com/article/394685-what-are-the-healthiest-potato-chips/

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZiwSJWeFiA

3) http://www.thekitchn.com/how-much-is-a-gram-of-sugar-really-nutrition-labels-visualized-173972 

From Popcorn to Amaranth and Quinoa

If you have intense cravings for foods like glutenous grains, wheat, corn, and soy, you may have food sensitivities or allergies. These sensitivities occur when the mucosa that lines your intestinal tract becomes permeable, allowing food molecules to enter into the blood stream to trigger an immune response (1).  This permeability is known as “Leaky Gut.”

Eating a diet high in processed foods packed with sugars, additives, and chemicals can over time create inflammation leading to this permeability. The consequences can be severe, causing autoimmune diseases (2).  Examples of autoimmune diseases are IBS, Crohn’s Disease, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.  In my experience, eating yogurt, whole foods (meat, vegetables, and fruit), and transitioning out of foods I craved not only helped to overcome Candida, but helped to reverse Leaky Gut as well.

If you have intense cravings for microwave popcorn or candied popcorn, start out by replacing it with whole kernels you have to pop yourself.  You can use a hot air popper or a sauce pan with a lid.  If you have Candida and you use the sauce pan method, layer the bottom with antifungal coconut oil and spices.  Coconut Oil is a sweet oil, so it is a great choice if you like kettle corn, and spices like Rosemary provide added flavor.

Popped Amaranth

If you still have intense cravings for popcorn after shrugging the packaged kind, try popping Amaranth or Quinoa.  These whole grains, like popcorn, are non-glutenous and, unlike popcorn, are small so they pop quickly.  Because they pop quickly, they need to be watched as not to burn. Try popping them using the saucepan method minus the oil, or using a stainless steel or ceramic skillet.

1)     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1856434/

2)      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22109896

Using the Food Hierarchy to your Advantage

In my last post, I outlined a bullet point list of unhealthy foods that are Candida triggers, mainly packaged, canned, and bottled foods that are high in sugar and salt.  If your diet consists mostly of these foods, it is going to be next to impossible to radically change your diet by cutting out all of them at once, so you start out by identifying foods you can live without.

Take a look at your cupboard. Chances are there is an old box of instant mashed potatoes, a can of fruit, or a package of jello shoved way in the back that will exist there for eternity, until some random mood blesses you with the motivation to clean out your cupboards.  These are exactly the kind of foods you want to think about. They are the kind you can take or leave, and the kind you can live without.

Because you can live without these foods, there is no reason to ever buy them again. Maybe they were bought on a whim for a recipe.  Make a mental note to buy fresh potatoes and fruit the next time you make that recipe, or find a healthier recipe that doesn't call for processed foods.

Other foods you won’t be able to live without, and you will know these foods because they are the ones you will break down and buy at a gas station in the middle of the night.  It’s important to write them down.  Use a Post-it or piece of scratch paper and attach it to your refrigerator.  If the list is long, do not despair, you don’t even have to list all of them as long as you have something.  Just think about the list when you plan your grocery shopping and your meals.  Focus on replacing one food on the list with a healthier option.

For example, when I first started, my list looked something like this:

            Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Bread

Bakery Foods:  Cookies, Pies, Cakes

Soda

Cereal

I highlighted cereal and went from there.  I had never been a fan of the sugary kids’ cereals, but I did like Honey Nut Cheerios and Corn Flakes.  I started by exchanging my Honey Nut Cheerios for Regular Cheerios and sugar free Corn Flakes.  I bought fresh berries to go over cereal: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.  At the time, I used Almond Milk and Soy Milk, but if I had to do it over, I would have used either sugar free options of these milks, or just plain hormone and antibiotic free Cow's milk.  It was only when I switched to milk, that I began losing interest in Cheerios and Cereal.  I ended up giving up cereal for smoothies I blended myself with berries and vanilla yogurt.  I then went to eating plain oatmeal with fruit. After some research, I switched to steel-cut oats, and then to alternating between quinoa, millet, and buckwheat.  Amaranth is another good option.  I don’t particularly like it, but you might, so it is definitely an option to try.   

For Bakery Goods, there were not many options for substitutions, so I started baking banana bread with sugar in it.  After a while, I replaced the sugar for vanilla yogurt and apple sauce with sugar in it. I then went to plain yogurt and sugar free applesauce and added sweet spices (Cardamom, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg, Ginger) for flavor.  Now, I make a variety of breads (zucchini, pumpkin, carrot, banana) for special occasions and I don’t have intense cravings for the bakery goods available at the grocery store.

For Reese’s, I bought Andes Chocolate Mints because I did not crave them as much. Because my cravings for chocolate were so intense and I was so addicted, I did not include the Andes on my grocery list. I kept chocolate out of the house as much as possible, and bought it only when I broke down and drove to the grocery store for a single trip.  With this arrangement, and with some help from my boyfriend, I was able to combat chocolate cravings by rationalizing staying home and eating other foods, like fruit and yogurt.

I will focus on other foods I struggled with as well, which I will be detailing over the next few weeks. This post is to give you an idea about how to approach some of these problem foods, and successful ways of cutting them out of your diet and replacing them for healthy options.  

Identifying the Junk

In my last post on cooking, I pointed out that swapping pre-packaged food choices for home cooked meals helped alleviate many of my health issues.  However, even after making these choices, I still found myself craving packaged food and junk food. 

Part of my transition began with a lengthy and honest assessment of food, and coming to terms with the reality that most of the foods available at the grocery store are not healthy. I didn’t begin by eliminating these foods, but simply identifying them.  

In my opinion, unhealthy foods include the foods from the following categories:

• Bakery Foods: Donuts, Turnovers, Pies, Cakes, Cookies, Breads, Muffins, Bagels
• Deli Foods: Pasta salads, Potato salads, Fried foods, Lunch meats
• Canned Foods:  Canned soups, Canned vegetables, Canned fruits, Canned processed meats
• Drinks:  Any fruit juice in a bottle, carton, or at a fountain, including the naked juices in the refrigerator section, Soda, and canned or bottled teas and drinks.
• Frozen Foods:  Any meal or food that comes pre-packaged  including Pizza, TV dinners, French fries, Tator Tots, Stir fry, Popsicles, Ice cream, Frozen yogurt
• Snack Foods:  Jello, Pudding, Cookie dough, any dough in a can, Cookies, Apple sauce, Flavored yogurts, Trail mixes, Nut mixes,Crackers, Granola and Cereal Bars, Gummy Bears, Cereal, Popcorns, Rice mixes, Protein Powders, Diet shake mixes, Gravies, Seasoning packets, Peanut butter, Jelly
• Candy: Hard candy, Candy bars, Chocolate bars, Licorice, Mints, Chocolate
• Chips: Potato chips, Barbeque chips, Pretzels, chips made from Corn.
• White Anything:  White bread, Pasta, Tortillas and Rice are substances with a high glycemic index that spike blood sugar, or in other words, break down into sugar very quickly and create an inflammatory environment low in oxygen and hospitable to yeast, especially in diabetic patients (1).
• Breads:  All breads I’ve found are problematic in a hierarchical way, with white bread being the worst, breads from subway being next, then wheat and whole grain breads with corn syrup, multi-grain, potato bread, sourdough, and then to sprouted breads at the top as being the best.  Sprouted breads like Ezekial Bread have a lower glycemic index, so they absorb like whole grains.  
• Tortillas:  I’ve found that corn tortillas are generally bad, but affect me less than bread. They are hierarchical in the way bread is, with white being the worst, then wheat, then multi-grain, and then finally those tortillas made with sprouted grains being the best.
• Pasta: Pastas are not as bad as Bread and Tortillas. White pasta is definitely the worst, wheat and multigrain being second, whole grain pasta as third, and finally buckwheat Soba Noodles being the best.

This is a lot of information to take in. That is why it is important to simply identify these foods rather than make big changes at once.  Many of these foods may be foods that you don’t eat, or you can go without, and therefore you can cross them off.  Other foods you may crave, and are therefore your nemesis.  Those will be the foods that will need to take center stage.

1)    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24012126

Cooking for your Health

If you grew up in any decade since World War II, you found yourself in the midst of a pre-packaged and convenience food phenomenon (1).  Up to date, companies have been able to recreate stir fry, mashed potatoes, rolls, rice, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, pizza, pasta dishes, Thai dishes, Asian dishes, beef stew, chili, soup, cookies, cakes and you name it, all the while adding preservatives, salt, sugar, dyes, and a whole host of chemical flavors and food additives no one knows the origin of.  These quick and easy meals and desserts are packaged in pretty boxes and marketed with misleading advertising at discount prices.  It’s no wonder why Americans are sick.

When I first started combating poor health in my late teens, I could not tell the difference between rice mixes and regular brown rice.  It took a friend to explain to me the difference between the two, that difference between processed rice and real rice, and then pointing out the real rice hiding on the bottom shelf with the discrete label.  Now, when in doubt, I look at the label.  If the label lists rice alongside other additives, it is processed rice. If it lists rice and only rice as the ingredient, it is real rice.  Another kind of rice to avoid is Precooked, or Instant, because you want the rice to retain its natural vitamin and nutritional content by cooking it yourself in a sauce pan or rice cooker.   

For me, other alternatives to pre-packaged food were more straight forward, so I began implementing changes over time.  Instead of buying frozen lasagna or canned chili, I made it myself.  I swapped TV dinners for real dinners—buying meats to bake in the oven and vegetables to steam.  I began experimenting with various stir fry recipes. When I wanted rice with some flavor, I created a base of coconut oil, minced garlic, chopped onion, green (or any color) pepper, and spices in a skillet and added cooked rice to it.  I swapped instant mashed potatoes for real ones and hash browns for fried potatoes with the same base ingredients I used for rice.  When I wanted sweet baked goods, I began baking breads:  banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, carrot bread.  Options for baked breads are endless, and you can add a variety of fruits, nuts, and sweet spices to them.   

The great thing about baking is you control how much sugar you add, and what kind of flour you use.  There are a variety of flours available made from a variety of whole grains (not just wheat), some of which I listed in my post about Breakfast. Instead of adding sugar for sweetness, you can try substituting vanilla or plain yogurt, or sweetened or unsweetened apple sauce.  You can experiment over time to add less and less sugar to your baked goods. You may not even notice the difference in taste of your baked goods as you begin to add less sugar.

Making these changes for me was a complex and timely process.  Not only did I have to learn to eat healthy, but I had to learn to cook.  I checked out healthy recipe books from the library, searched for recipes online, and combed the grocery store aisles for ingredients I had never heard of before. Many ingredients I also left out, especially corn starches, bouillon cubes, and broths. I bought basic cooking utensils for my kitchen, and turned my kitchen into a welcoming place that I could work out of every day. 

I do want to emphasize that I started out small. I started with cooking one meal per week, usually on a day off to put what I learned into practice.  Over time, cooking and eating well became a habit and a hobby that helped me transition out of many of my health problems.

http://academicearth.org/electives/how-the-end-of-world-war-ii-made-us-fat/