Nutrition Essentials: Step One - Eat Real Food

"If man made it, don't eat it" – Jack Lalanne

With the persistent onslaught of fast and junk food advertising, our fast-paced culture and hectic schedules, it is a challenge to eat healthily.   People often ask me “What is healthy?” and/or “What should I eat?”.   The first thing I tell them is to eat real food.  Bookstores carry hundreds of diet books with a never-ending flood of conflicting information regarding what one should eat.  It is beyond confusing and can prove to be more stressful than the proposed behavior change is worth.  However, while the recommendations may vary, most have one message in common:  Eat Real Food!  This can be a difficult task, but it is an essential first step in changing your health and your life. 

                                                                             

“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.”

– Food Rules by Michael Pollan

  

Eat Whole Foods: 

Most packaged foods are highly refined and processed.   The motive for this is to make the food last longer on the store shelf, not to support health!  Some might think enhanced shelf life is a good thing, and I would agree in an emergency situation.  However, the processes used to refine grains (wheat, rice, etc), sugars (from fruit, sugar beets, or other sources), and fats to make them more “stable,” create vitamin and mineral deficiencies in both the food and the body.   Some manufacturers “fortify” their products with vitamins and minerals after the fact.  However, these fortifications are usually poor quality, cheap, synthetic versions of the vitamin/mineral and are not recognized by the body or used as efficiently as the natural form found in many of our foods (low bioavailability). 

What is Lost?

  

1.   Fiber- Processed foods are stripped of the natural fibers that nourish beneficial bacteria in the gut and that can assist in the digestive process through the production of short chain fatty acids (1, 2, 3).  Fiber also physically spaces out carbohydrate, and therefore, lowers the glycemic index of foods and helps keep blood sugar stable.

2.   Vitamins and Minerals – What you eat is sometimes not as important as what you avoid.  Some “foods” act as anti-nutrients and literally strip the good stuff (vitamins, minerals, fats) out of your body.  It is best to avoid these foods as they can cause problems in the long and short term.  Refined sugar is a powerful anti-nutrient. 

3.   Healthy Fats – Refined fats are probably one of the most toxic substances you can put in your body.  This is one point most nutritionists can agree on (Somewhat...).  Industrial trans fats replace good fats at the cellular level leaving cell membranes rigid, which can affect nutrient absorption and proper hormone signaling.  Excessive omega 6 oils - especially chemically extracted, high heat, highly processed oils - can cause inflammation in the body and result in numerous problems.

Eat Organic when Possible:

Although the “Organic” label is highly abused as of this point in time it is still a good standard to follow.  Thankfully, there are third party advocacy groups that expose dishonest labeling and organic practices - check out the Organic Consumers Association

Why “Organic” and What Does It Mean? 

I’ll start with an example.

'“Organic” vs. “Conventional”

I hold two apples before you.  I say, "You may have one apple; pick the one you want!"   Before you choose, I spray one with bug spray.   Then I ask "Which one do you want?"   Most people would instinctively avoid the one that was just doused with potentially toxic bug repellant.  Simply put, by eating organic you are eating food without bug spray.  The goal is to reduce the toxic burden on your body (especially the liver, kidneys, and digestive tract).  Organic foods are also required to be free of chemical fertilizers, antibiotics (animal products), Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), biosolids (animal byproducts sewage sludge) and other pollutants.  All of which have their own individual health concerns/risks.

·         Ironically, organic food is the true “conventional” food. It is the food people have been eating for thousands of years, free of hazardous pesticides and other industrial chemicals. Only in the past 60 years have pesticides become the norm.   

• Click here for more information on Organic Food 

Eat Fresh:

Eating fresh can be difficult.  It means going to the store, the farmers market, or keeping up with a garden more often.   However, keeping your food supply fresh will help maintain the nutritional content and will minimize cost and waste.  Optimally, it is best to get your food from a local farmer or market, or grow your own food.  Not only will it taste better, but it will be free of mold and will have retained most of its nutrition.

Resources:  See more on our sidebar or Resources Page

1.       Localharvest – Local farms
2.       Eatwild – Local animal products
3.       RealMilk – farm fresh milk
4.       Beyond Organic – Pastured animal products, cheeses, probiotic foods
5.       US wellness meats – Pastured animal products and more

For more detailed information check out the following pages:

·         Healthy foods list (coming soon)
·         Top “Foods” to avoid (coming soon)

Sources:

1. Cummings, J. H., et al.  The control and consequences of bacterial fementation in the human colon:  a review.  Journal of Applied Bacteriology.  70:443-459, 1991.
2. Erasmus, Udo.  Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill.  Alive Books, Burnaby, BC, Canada.  1993:30.
3. Topping, D. L.  Short-chain fatty acids produced by intestinal bacteria.  Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  5:15-19, 1996.