what do avocado and butter Greek yogurt and mayo and nutritional yeast and cheese all have in common well each of these Duos can be swapped for each other as a healthy substitute for your favorite recipes say what stay tuned to find out more I'm Dr Blake Schusterman I'm a board certified kidney doctor and I'm also the cooking doc that's why I'm in the kitchen make sure you like subscribe and share so you never miss a new recipe or new health tip and remember everything we talk about here today is just for information purposes this is
not Med IAL advice so let's start with some Basics some of the best substitutions are when we choose an unprocessed food instead of a processed food that allows the foods to keep their nutrients and their nutritional value when you eat them and sometimes these Replacements are pretty obvious and sometimes they're not if you have kidney disease making the right substitutions in your diet can make a huge difference in your overall health so we're going to go through some nonobvious substitutions today but first let me give you three easy substitutions you should be making in your
diet right now number one choose whole oats instead of individually packaged oats more fiber less sugar number two pick apples instead of applesauce obviously less processed versus fully processed and finally make baked sweet potato fries instead of bagged potato chips TAA you're healthy just kidding now let's get a little more in depth these are substitutions that may not be so obvious but they're going to be really good for your health and let's give a shout out to Haley Heth a third-year medical student who came up with this script and she is a champion for healthy
eating and education thank you Haley give her a shout out in the comments the first thing we're going to start with today is butter now we're not going to get into a whole argument about whether or not butter is a healthy part of your diet but we'll just say this butter has a lot of saturated fat and most of us are better off substituting some healthy unsaturated fats for some of the saturated fats in our diet and we know that increased saturated fat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease for many people and that the number
one thing that leads to death in people with kidney disease is heart problems you can make the connection there I think right how do you feel about butter comment below and I way off base with this the key to substituting for butter in my opinion and in Haley's opinion is thinking about the type of dish you are adding it into so here are three of my favorite ways to substitute for butter in your recipes first need butter to grease a pan or a baking dish try olive oil or avocado oil instead those substitutions can swap
63% saturated fat for less than 14% saturated fat and they also add healthy unsaturated fats vitamins and antioxidants that you wouldn't be getting just from butter alone and that's the key with the substitution not only are we taking things away but we're adding healthier things in instead and if you're baking a lot or cooking with butter all the time this change may make a big difference just be aware that all of these things they cook differently so experiment today and let me know what you think number two are you using butter for your baking this
fall or winter try applesauce or mashed bananas instead of that butter butter can be swapped almost in a 1:1 ratio with applesauce and it will create extra moisture for those baking Goods when I make this substitution I also reduce the sugar I add to the recipe because these fruits that applesauce even if you choose to un sweetened or the banana they contain their own natural sugar so you don't want to overwhelm the sugar or the moisture content of these recipes and if the swap sounds like too much I'm not ready to give up my butter
in my cooking I understand that try half butter and half fruit number three are you a butter spreader on your toast we'll try mashed avocado instead the healthier fats in the avocado can help you feel Fuller for longer and that's really what we want when we're trying to eat healthy ready to hear what our med student Haley eats for a hunger crushing Savory breakfast to help keep her fueled for a day of learning she spreads hummus and avocado on toasted bread then she sprinkles some garlic powder and red pepper flakes and finishes it with an
egg for added protein delicious sign me up if you have kidney disease watch out for that avocado because it can be high in potassium and some people with kidney disease need to watch the potassium in their diet next let's talk about mayones Mayo Mayo is a staple in American households with 70% of families consuming it regularly Dukes is the best by the way don't come at me now let's look at some good ways to substitute for that Mayo first let's think about sandwiches instead of using Mayo to tie your whole sandwich together here are my
three favorite substitutes number one mustard get some extra tang with less fat number two mashed avocado like we talked before that swaps out a healthier fat but maintains that moisture even though it will be a little more work up front and then hummus for added fiber in a sandwich or wrap that can give you that medic Mediterranean flavor and pairs well with veggies and cheese what's your favorite Mayo substitute have you ever tried Homa sandwich it's amazing next Mayo is also a vital ingredient in things like pasta and potato salad but to maintain that same
creamy texture I want you to try Greek yogurt not only do you get rid of the things that mayonnaise comes with those saturated fats but you get to add protein you get to add some probiotics and you get to add healthier fats that's a triple winner and don't fret about flavor you can always use vinegar mustard or other seasonings to add the flavor back in that you might lose from not using that mayo and in fact Greek yogurt is a great ingredient to have because really it can replace just about any creamy dairy product in
any recipe heavy cream sour cream or even cream cheese just have to experiment with it because obviously it's not going to taste the same number three on our substitution list is cheese so cheese production has tripled in the United States since the 1970s and it's something that many Americans can't live without and often times that cheese is really the fully processed cheese we're not talking about those fresh blocks of cheese that cost $10 to $20 from the store because those processed cheeses are much cheaper I'm going to give you 3 seconds to guess what my
favorite cheese substitute is ready 1 2 3 nutritional yeast surprised nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast and it's sold in flakes or powders at most major grocery stores nutritional yeast contains all of the essential amino acids and is interestingly fun fact one of the only plant-based sources of vitamin B12 which is really important to have if you're a vegan or vegetarian now I love adding this nutritional yeast to any dish that would benefit from a little Savory cheesy flavor and you need to try this to believe it here are my favorite ways to use nutritional
yeast number one mix nutritional yeast with olive oil and almond milk overheat and you get a creamy sauce that can replace your cheese and mac and cheese number two for any food that you find tastes better with a little sprinkling of cheese and let's face it there are a lot of them swap that shredded cheese for nutritional yeast this works great for baked vegetables tortilla chips and even popcorn it's an awesome one for popcorn number three stir nutritional yeast into eggs while scrambling for that classic cheesy egg flavor that we all love finally number four
add nutritional yeast into the dough for biscuits or pizza to mimic cheddar biscuits or stuffed crust brilliant Haley thank you lastly this is probably the most controversial substitution let's talk about ice cream and frankly many people may say well there's nothing we can do we just need our ice cream but when my patients tell me that they like to end the day with ice cream I want to give them some options things that maybe they can use instead of ice cream that are a little bit healthier a little bit lower in Sugar a little bit
lower in fat and help them satisfy that Sweet Craving in a healthier way it's not easy but let me give you two ways first Frozen mash bananas Frozen masked bananas is one of the closest substitutes to the Sweet flavor and creamy texture of ice cream you just have to use your imagination a little bit right so don't be afraid to let your bananas turn brown before using overripe bananas will be easier to mash and their sugar content actually increases some so they'll be a little bit sweeter now if you have advanced kidney disease bananas are
like the avocado higher in potassium so you may have to be careful and lastly have you ever tried avocado pudding blend avocado cocoa powder maple syrup and almond milk for a delicious creamy pudding substitute wow thanks Haley that looks awesome not only do you get less sugar remember substitution take things out replace it with something that adds additional health benefits so this will give you antioxidants and healthier fats perfect substitution well what' you think of course there is a place for all Foods in a well balanced diet but we can always keep an open mind
about how to boost the quality of what we eat through healthy substitutions thanks so much for watching today I'm Dr Blake Schusterman I'm a board certified kidney doctor and I'm also the cooking doc make sure you check out my website cooking do.com check out my book The Cooking docs kidney healthy cooking a modern 10-step guide to preventing and managing kidney disease and I will see you next time
