Eating real food in a processed food world

I’m amazed on a daily basis when I ask patients how much processed food is in their diet and they ask me "what's that?"  People truly don’t know what constitutes processed foods.  We’re inundated with artificial foods in every ad, on every grocery shelf, in most restaurants.  Preparing a home cooked meal has become something of an anomaly.  I say if you can’t identify the “food” as it’s source in nature, you can be sure it’s processed.  If it’s been made in a factory, it’s processed.  As a general rule, if it comes from a box, bag, can, freezer, or drive-thru, it’s processed.  

So what do I mean by “real” food?  Fresh fruit and veggies, whole grain breads/pastas, brown rice, meats, fish, dairy.  In the diet industry, we hear about reading labels.  But I say, eat foods that don’t even have labels.  Now THAT’S real food.  They don’t need a label because we already know what it is.  For those things like breads and dairy or pasta that has labels, the first item on grains should be the word “whole.”  Food manufacturers are allowed to say it’s “wheat” bread or is made from “whole grains” but unless the first word on the ingredient list is the word “whole” it often is while flour with brown food coloring.  Like “wheat” bread for instance, most all bread is made from wheat but once the outer part of the grain has been stripped away, it is no longer “whole” and is processed in your body very quickly, giving it a high glycemic index, which causes a rapid rise in blood sugar, contributing to diabetes development.

Another thought about labels, if there are words on there you cannot pronounce, you can be assured it is a processed food.  Below is a guide that can help you navigate your way through the grocery aisle.  Another thing to think about is how the store is laid out.  All the healthier, unprocessed foods are on the outer aisle and all the processed foods are on the interior aisles.  

1. Fresh fruit and veggies 
2. Portion control – nothing bigger than the palm of your hand (except salad)
3. No processed foods including:  anything from a box, bag, can, freezer, or a drive thru window
4. Eat only whole grains – read labels the first ingredient must say the word “whole”
5. Avoid saturated fats – red meat, butter, high fat dairy, sauces and dressings
6. Eat unsaturated fats – salmon, plant fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados)
7. Limit alcohol intake to one or less drinks/day