Vani Hari, better known by her "Food Babe" online persona, knows firsthand how altering one's eating habits can change a person's life – and health – for the better.
As a young woman, Hari was diagnosed with a litany of health conditions and had to have her appendix removed, she said. While she was recovering from the surgery, Hari began studying nutrition and examining what she was eating.
After cutting out certain things from her diet, starting with artificial food dyes and processed foods, Hari's health took a turn, she told Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of this article.)
MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOVEMENT
"I went off every single prescription drug. My asthma disappeared, my eczema disappeared, and I started to look like a different person," she said.
"All the inflammation from my face and under my eyes disappeared. And the people around me who grew up with me couldn't believe the transformation."
Today, Hari maintains her "Food Babe" blog, has published several books and is passionate about improving America's food supply. She recently appeared several rows behind Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his Capitol Hill hearing as President Donald Trump's nominee for HHS secretary.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Hari, who is based in North Carolina, shared the following advice for how others can begin the health and wellness journey she herself underwent years ago.
"You've got to understand what you're eating," Hari said. "And if there's an ingredient on there you don't understand, go look it up."
TOP INFLUENCERS IN THE MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN MOVEMENT: SEE THE LIST
It is key, she said, to be able to "understand what you're putting in your body."
She added, "Once you understand that the majority of chemicals that are being put in processed food are there to just improve the bottom line in the food industry and not improve your health, you will automatically start to make better choices."
Cook at home, Hari advised, to avoid accidentally consuming something processed or containing an ingredient that would be avoided otherwise.
"Take back that ownership of your food and start cooking at home," she said. "Really understand the items you're putting into your body."
Plus, by cooking at home, people are not "outsourcing to the food industry" for their choices of what to eat.
It can be hard to ditch favorite foods — but alternatives exist, Hari said.
For breakfast cereal, Hari advised purchasing a "natural version" of an existing cereal, one that does not contain refined sugar or artificial ingredients.
WOMAN WITH CANCER REVEALS THE DIET THAT SHE SAYS SAVED HER LIFE
"That would be a first step," she said.
Another item that's an easy swap? Chips.
Buy a brand that "doesn't have the MSG and artificial food dyes," said Hari.
And to satisfy a fast-food craving, Hari suggested making french fries at home with beef tallow or an air fryer, something she does with her own family.
"They're delicious," she said.
"Just choose real food, one-ingredient foods, as much as possible," Hari said.
"There are so many swaps available today to go from the very highly processed ingredients that we're used to, to better-for-you brands," she said.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Hari is hopeful that the food industry in the United States will soon be forced to comply with similar regulations as in other countries.
"I think the food industry has been put on notice that they are no longer going to be allowed to use ingredients they don't use in other countries," she said. "Americans are fed up."
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle
Americans, she said, "want the same safer ingredients that these food companies have already figured out how to make."
Go to the local farmer's market, Hari said, and keep an eye out for certified organic food.
With organic food, "you're eliminating hundreds of chemicals that are allowed in conventional foods," Hari said.
"There are over 10,000 chemicals here in the United States — and there are only a few hundred in other countries," she said.