One of the best options when you found a recipe online that has a ‘bad’ ingredient in it is to look for a food substitutions, especially when there’s only one ingredient that is not allowed in the whole recipe.
As a conscious Fast Metabolism dieter who is committed to staying clean in his/her food intake, it is just correct to thoroughly check all the ingredients in a recipe to achieve great results from the diet. And when you find a forbidden ingredient in a recipe, your best response is to look for a way to replace it with an acceptable one.
To help you deal with this trouble, we’ve come up with this list of food substitutions/replacements. By following the formula here, you’ll be able to successfully create the recipes you’ve been eying to do all these years but just cannot because of the said forbidden ingredients. Now you can try replacing them with healthier ones, specially the sweetener and flavorings.
It is important that you are aware that, “not all substitutions are created equal”. You might thought that every food alternatives are good but in reality, there are some alternatives that are just disguising as healthy one without knowing that it may actually increase sodium ansugar deposits in other areas of your body. To avoid this, you need to be extra careful in improvising your recipe and in every ingredient you include to your meal plan.
To completely help you fill your grocery list with healthy ingredients right for your recipe and budget at the same time, below is the table of food substitutions we prepared for you.
| Foods that are not allowed in FMD | Substitutions | Phases Allowed |
| honey | -stevia + water (1/32 of a tsp of stevia is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of sugar) | All Phases |
| wheat(e.g. bread, crackers, rolls, cereals, cakes, cookies, etc.) wheat flour |
-wheat in a sprouted form-quinoa flour, almond flour, buckwheat | Phase 1 and 3 |
| dairy products(e.g. milk, cheese, cottage cheese, butter, yogurt, Greek yogurt, whey, etc.) butter |
-avocado, | Phase 3 |
| dried fruit or fruit juices | actual fruits, water, coconut water, homemade brew | Phase 1 and 3 |
| corn / corn stuff(e.g. corn tortillas, corn chips, corn cereals, corn starch, grits, hominy, polenta, sweet corn, popcorn, processed foods containing corn, etc.) corn chipspopcorn |
-tortillas (made from brown rice or sprouted grains)-Raw nuts, hummus, and gluten-free pretzels | Phase 1/3Phase 3Pretzels – Phase 1/3 |
| soy(e.g. tofu, miso, tempeh, meat substitutes, processed foods containing soy, etc.) | -tamari, Bragg Liquid Aminos | All Phases |
| refined sugar | -stevia, xylitol | All Phases |
| caffeine(e.g. decaffeinated coffee) | -smoothie with cinnamon, Gingko biloba, -feverfew (herb that helps withdraw headache) | Cinnamon – Phase 1 and 3 |
| alcohol (white wine) | -lemon juice, water, balsamic vinegar | All Phases |
| vinegar | -balsamic vinegar | All Phases |
| rice | -wild rice | Phase 1 and 3 |
| potato | -turnip | Phase 1 and 3 |
| mayonnaise | -safflower mayonnaise | Phase 3 |
| allspices | -cinnamon | Phase 1 and 3 |
| oil | -olive oil, grapeseed, toasted sesame and coconut oils | Phase 3 |
| salt | -sea salt, onion salt | All Phases |
| yogurt | -coconut sour cream (made of coconut milk, lemon juice and sea salt) | Phase 3 |
| cornstarch | -arrowroot powder | All Phases |
| polenta | -sprouted grains (like teff, quinoa, or amaranth) | Phase 1 and 3 |
| herbal teas | -Non caffeinated herbal teas or Pero | Phase 1 |
| nut butter | -tahini | Phase 3 |
Be extra cautious as well that these ingredients are fit to the phase you are in. Good luck and don’t give up on that weight loss goal!
Karen
July 8, 2016 at 6:32 pm (3 years ago)I have a serious allergy to EGGS … can I just “not use eggs” in the diet … can you suggest another protein/fat that I can use so as not to sabotage my efforts … thank you …
admin
July 11, 2016 at 5:40 am (3 years ago)Hi, Karen! Are you a vegetarian, or not? If you’re not, then it’s easier for you to replace it. There are many types of animal protein listed in the diet in replacement of eggs. If you’re a vegetarian, you can substitute eggs with legumes as your protein for Phase 1/3. On Phase 2, you can break the no-soy rule. You can read more about it here. Hope this helps! 🙂
Eymi
July 3, 2015 at 1:44 am (4 years ago)I meant to say: Is cinnamon forbidden on p2???, is tahini allowed on p1???
admin
July 6, 2015 at 5:05 am (4 years ago)Hi Eymi! Cinnamon is allowed in all phases. While Tahini is only allowed in Phase 3 since it’s a healthy fat. Hope this helps!
Char
October 19, 2015 at 2:35 am (3 years ago)I think you meant Tahiti is only allowed on phase 3
admin
October 19, 2015 at 3:17 am (3 years ago)Hi! Thanks for that correction. Already changed it.