Unjunk Your Junk Food Book Review

Are you trying to eat healthier but get frustrated with all those crazy ingredients on the food labels? You may be finding it a real challenge to figure out what is REALLY going to help you eat healthier. What about your family? Don't forget about your kiddos too. The most popular brands are not always the best for your family to eat!   So many of the brands you know and have been buying forever contain some really scary ingredients.

Unjunk Your Junk Food is a great little book and reference guide by the creators of NaturallySavvy.com that truly helps to educate you about food and drink choices in an easy to understand way. It has simple comparisons of your typical choices and a healthier sub. You can see below how they show you that PopTarts are a no-no but the yummy sub by Nature's Path (which I happen to have recently bought by coincidence) is a healthier version with no freaky ingredients. My little one thinks the Nature's Path toaster pastries taste way better too! How easy is that?

Unjunk Your Junk Food is small enough that you can stash it in your purse or tote bag to refer to on a regular basis--like when you are food shopping!  It really helps you begin to re-think your food choices before they sneak their way into your cupboards. Don't forget all the yummy subs for every item that they don't recommend eating so you don't feel deprived--you just feel healthier without all those funky chemicals and additives.

Many of the items they recommend I regularly see at the conventional supermarkets her in the mid-Atlantic region like ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Pathmark and A & P. I have also seen many of them at Whole Foods as well. Unjunk Your Junk Food is a wonderful little book to help you get started on the road to healthier eating. Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer explain the basics about healthy nutrition in the first few chapters.

The authors decipher some of those terms and names you have always wondered about like Pantothenic Acid and Ferrous Fumurate. How about GMOs? When you read the book you will find the answers! The main section of Unjunk Your Junk Food is a really fun and easy to understand format that shows you what to avoid and what to try in place of the offending food. They even give you additional options for healthy subs too on each page. They also explain why they are advising you not to eat something and why you SHOULD substitute something else.

I like their little Savvy Alert tips on each page as well. Tiny little tidbits or explanations that are "easy to digest." Just like the DIY tips. Easy little ideas to make for tasty snacks, drinks or even a body scrub! Everything is easy to absorb and not overwhelming. That is really important, right? We all like easy-peasy!

You can see below they show you a can of Coke Classic. What could be wrong with that? Even I used to keep it in the house for when a family member was ill. Yikes. It is full of high fructose corn syrup and caffeine. They show you the ingredients and nutrition information right there on the spot.

The nice part is they show you the substitute--Blue Sky Natural Soda. I bought Blue Sky Cola at Stop & Shop recently in their natural foods section. I have to say it tastes great and I feel better knowing that my family has a healthier option on the rare occasions when we drink soda.

 I was excited to participate in this book review opportunity through Naturally Savvy's blogger program. I was provided with a complimentary copy of the book Unjunk Your Junk Food Healthy Alternatives To Conventional Snacks by Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer. All written opinions are my own and I was not provided with payment of any kind. 

Unjunk Your Junk Food is a great book to buy to get you started with eating healthier. I love the size and easy to read format. It would be perfect to share with your children to help them understand why you might be making some changes. The large, colorful pictures would be a fun way to involve the family in helping your to find items on the store shelves too!

I would like to leave you with a quick reference of ‘The Scary Seven’ ingredients lurking in so many everyday foods. Andrea and Randy suggest you steer clear of these ingredients if at all possible:  

MSG: Monosodium Glutamate 
HFCS: High-Fructose Corn Syrup 
Trans-Fat: anything hydrogenated or hydrogenated 
Artificial colors 
Artificial flavors 
Artificial Sweeteners: (Aspartame, Splenda, ace-K (Sweet One), Saccharin (Sweet n Low) 
Preservatives: Polysorbate 80, TBHQ, Propionates, Sodium benzoate, BHA, BHT, Sulfur dioxide  

Unjunk Your Junk Food Healthy Alternatives To Conventional Snacks retails for US $17.99.  It is available online at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon and Books-A-Million and in stores. I see that Amazon currently has a great sale price of $12.23 (move fast...prices change quickly on Amazon!).