Developing healthful eating habits and eliminating white flour, sugar and trans fats from your diet may have many benefits. These include healthy weight, increased energy, a stronger immune system and improvement of overall physical health.
Step 1
Take stock of your current food supply. Go through your cabinets and refrigerator and read labels, which list trans fat content as well as other ingredients, including flour and sugar. Differentiate between foods made from whole grains and those made from processed flour. Sugars may be listed as corn syrup, fructose, dextrose or glucose. Note that there is a difference between natural and artificial trans fats. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, trans fats in meat and dairy products are natural, while processed foods may contain a trans fat called hydrogenated oil. This trans fat is made when oil is combined with hydrogenated gas.
Step 2
Throw out everything with trans fat, white flour or sugar as an ingredient. This means getting rid of items such as white bread, margarine and ketchup as well as cookies, potato chips and microwave popcorn.
Step 3
Cook at home. If you want to control what you eat, the best way is to make your own meals. Switch to whole grains, look for all-natural products and avoid processed foods. Instead of using margarine or shortening in the kitchen, cook with olive oil, peanut oil or canola oil, which contain monosaturated fats instead of trans fats.
Step 4
Educate yourself. Before you eat in a restaurant or buy a pre-packaged meal, make sure you understand the ingredients involved. When in doubt, consider that many restaurant items such as baked goods, condiments and desserts could be made with refined flour or sugar, and fried foods may be cooked in hydrogenated oils containing trans fats. If you can't confirm an item is free of forbidden ingredients, skip it.
Step 5
Educate others. Let your family and friends know about your new diet objectives. Explain to them the types of foods you're trying to avoid and why. Ask them to take your food preferences into consideration. Encourage them to alert you to the presence of white flour, sugar and trans fats in foods offered.
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