When your pantry is filled with healthy food staples, it is easy to put together a quick, healthy, and well-balanced meal or snack. Dried beans or lentils, extra-virgin coconut oil, whole grains, unsweetened almond milk, nuts, and seeds are all standard pantry staples you probably already have at your home.

Next to the refrigerator, your pantry can be the healthiest place in your home, but it also often hides foods that should be removed from your life immediately. Think of baked goods, candy, canola oil, margarine, and other highly processed foods. These food items are high in unhealthy fats, refined grains, sugar, salt, and chemical substances that have no place in a healthy kitchen.

If you have any of these unhealthy foods lying around, it is time to remove them from your cupboards and make some room for the latest, trendy pantry staples with amazing health benefits, which you’ll find below.

Avocado oil

Move over olive oil; avocado oil is one of the most recent health trends that is here to stay. Just like olive oil, avocado oil is loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamins, and minerals. But it has a much higher smoke point (520 degrees Fahrenheit) than extra-virgin olive oil (220 degrees Fahrenheit), which makes it ideal for high-heat cooking. While some lower grade olive oils can have a smoke point as high as 430 degrees Fahrenheit, it is still well below the smoke point of avocado oil.

Grass-fed collagen peptides

As reported by Organic Authority, this superfood has taken the nutrition and health community by storm. Rich in essential amino acids, powdered collagen peptides come from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle. This flavorless and odorless powder can be added to coffee, tea, smoothies, salad dressings, soups, stews, and many other dishes to keep wrinkles at bay and support joint, skin, hair, nails, cartilage, and bone health.

Turmeric

Often touted as “The Queen of Spices,” turmeric truly deserves to be among the fast-rising food trends. Turmeric can boost your health in so many ways. Curcumin, turmeric’s active compound, has been shown to balance blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, fight free radicals, and kill cancer cells, among many other uses and benefits. A must-have in your kitchen.

Unsweetened coconut flakes

Coconut flakes are a delicious and cheap addition to smoothies, oatmeal bowls, chia seed puddings, banana bread, or paleo-style fish or chicken breading. They are loaded with healthy medium-chain fatty acids, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals.

Brazil nuts

While almonds, cashews, and pistachios make it into nearly every home, Brazil nuts are less known, and that’s a real shame. They are an excellent source of protein, healthy fats, and selenium. According to Organic Authority, there isn’t any other food on our planet that packs as much selenium as Brazil nuts. Only one or two nuts are enough to meet your daily need.

Medicinal mushroom powders

Medicinal mushrooms such as shiitake, chaga, and reishi are loaded with vitamin D, minerals, and fiber to support the immune system. Medicinal mushroom powders can be used in a variety of healthy dishes, snacks, and health tonics or lattes.

Grass-fed ghee

Have you ever heard of clarified butter or ghee? Used in Ayurvedic cooking and healing for ages, ghee is on its way to becoming a rage among health-conscious people. Grass-fed ghee is an excellent source of short-chain fatty acids and butyrate for optimal gut health. Rich in many essential vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) and minerals, ghee gives your dishes a rich, buttery flavor. Or why not try a bulletproof coffee instead?

Stay informed about the latest trends in the superfood world at SuperFoodsNews.com.

Sources include:

OrganicAuthority.com

SuperFoodProfiles.com

NaturalNews.com