The kitchen staples you should be binning now

Every good cook needs a well-stocked kitchen and having essential ingredients to hand enables us to concoct simple, fresh meals in no time. We all know preparing food from scratch is infinitely better for us than reaching for those processed ready meals, but what if the go-to ingredients we keep neatly stacked at the back of the kitchen cupboard are actually doing us more harm than good? Here’s the rundown.

Tinned tomatoes

While tinned tomatoes count as one of our five a day and offer a versatile base ingredient for simple pasta sauces, those of us suffering from any form of autoimmune illness would do best to avoid them. Tomatoes are a nightshade and nightshades are a botanical family of plants, more technically called Solanaceae. The reason why nightshades are problematic for so many of us is due to their lectin, saponin and/or capsaicin content.

There are over two thousand plant species in the nightshade family, but the most common ones to remember are tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergine. If you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, lupus or graves disease, try cutting nightshades from your diet for a while to see if there’s a correlation.

Tinned fruit

Adding lots of fresh fruit to your diet is always best, but there are times of the year when a wide variety of exotic fruits are simply too expensive or difficult to find. In those instances is tinned fruit a viable option?

Unfortunately canned fruit is never a suitable alternative to fresh fruit. Tinned fruit such as pears and peaches for example have often been peeled, thereby significantly reducing their fibre content. The healthy vitamin C content in fruit is heat sensitive and can be destroyed in the canning process. Some fruit are tinned in syrup, which adds lots of empty sugar calories.

If you struggle to find your favourite fresh fruit, unsweetened frozen and dried fruit (non sugared) retain much of their nutritional value since they’re picked and processed rapidly. These options make great wintertime alternatives.

Wholewheat pasta

When it comes to eating starchy carbs such as bread and pasta, we’re often encouraged to buy wholewheat versions under the guise that they’re better for us. But what’s the real deal?

Because pasta is processed during manufacturing, the health benefits from so-called ‘wholegrain’ versions may actually be fairly minor. Furthermore, just because a product has whole grains in it does not mean the entire product is wholegrain. You may be eating a pasta that is partly refined.

As a result, if you’re spending extra on whole grain pasta simply because you think you’re getting serious health benefits, it isn’t worth wasting your money. Instead consider buying rice pasta or pasta made from vegetables as a healthier alternative.

Seed and vegetable oils

The consumption of processed seed and vegetable oils has dramatically increased over the past century. The main problem with these oils is that they are way too high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. These biologically active fats are harmful in excess. Consuming too much omega-6 creates a buildup in our cell membranes and contributes to inflammation.

These fats are highly toxic and are associated with an increased risk of various illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. The simple alternative is using healthy, plant oils such as olive oil or coconut oil, which by contrast are extremely good for us.