Ingredients to avoid this holiday season... and healthy alternatives

Food Network star and founder of FlavCity Bobby Parrish has revealed the three ingredients you need to look out for this holiday season - and their healthier alternatives.

Parrish, a social media sensation with over five million followers, is notorious for sharing his healthy swaps at the grocery store, including big-brand shops like Costco, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

While it's important to be able to have some balance this holiday season, Parrish has disclosed the top ingredients that you should stay away from ahead of the upcoming holiday celebrations.

The first ingredient on his list? Refined sugars.

'I think we as Americans have consumed 20 teaspoons of added cane sugar a day. Wow, which is just the average,' Parrish told Daily Mail exclusively, citing a report from Yale Health. 

'That's not a good thing,' he added. 'So when you start to look at things in the grocery store, especially for kids, the refined sugars add up.'

Parrish explained that it is 'no problem' if you want to indulge in some delicious foods during the holidays, but it's important to note that extra sugars can really start to accumulate.  

'Then you kind of coast over to the new year, new year season, and you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place,' Parrish explained.

Instead, he recommends limiting or replacing those refined sugars with things like maple syrup, coconut sugar, Stevia, or monk fruit.  

'Refined sugars would be number one thing to abate, especially around the holidays,' Parrish said.

The next ingredients he suggested watching out for was anything that contains artificial dyes and flavors. 

Of course, there have been plenty of studies in recent years showing that some artificial food dyes, like Red 40, have been linked to hyperactivity in children and cancer.

'Unfortunately, you think of the holidays or kids birthday parties, and they're always like those neon, frosted color cupcakes,' Parrish told Daily Mail. 'And it always makes me cringe, because the alternative is there.'

Instead, you can use frostings that don't contain artificial dyes, or make it yourself using natural colors like matcha or beet powder.

Lastly, the YouTube star warned about seed oils, an ingredient that has been a hot topic in the wellness world for the past few years.

Seed oils can be categorized as cooking oils like canola, sunflower and corn oil. 

Parrish explained to Daily Mail that seed oils were first used to 'lubricate machinery,' but people later discovered that it was possible to refine and process it, turning it in to 'cheap cooking oil.'

'If you look at anything in the grocery store, especially in the middle aisle, whether it's salad dressing, gravies, sauces, they always have seed oils in there,' Parrish said. 

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'Those are just inherently inflammatory, and the average American eats a very inflamed diet, which can lead to numerous health issues,' he continued.

'So just by swapping out seed oils in the foods we buy and cook with, you're automatically doing like 90 percent of the work to having a better-for-you holiday or a better-for-you pantry.'

So, instead of using canola oil when you bake a cake or similar, he recommends using avocado oil, ghee, or coconut oil.

'Those are healthy fats that actually have anti inflammatory properties, whereas the seed oils are inflammatory oils that are loaded with free radicals that destroy the cells in our body,' he explained.

At the end of the day, it's all about swapping things out to make healthier choices, not eliminating foods completely, Parrish shared.

'It doesn't matter what aisle of the grocery store we're talking about, I'll always find the better-for-you swap or the Bobby-approved swap,' he said.