“Red wine is better than white wine!”
“Spinach is better than iceberg!”
“GRAINS ARE EVIL!!”
It’s no wonder that most people feel like nutrition is too complicated and overwhelming.
If you are that one person who has been feeling completely overwhelmed, try this very simple tweak:
Eat mostly (or at least more) minimally processed foods!
Ultra Processed Foods = An Early Grave
Okay, that’s a bit scary sounding, but this is exactly what has been found as worryingly, in Western countries as much as 50% of our diets are coming from ultra-processed foods.
Two large studies have recently highlighted the risks associated with these types of foods, including increases in cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and dementia to name a few.
The further away we get from nature, the sicker and fatter we become.
More Minimally Processed Foods
Most people would define this as choosing foods close to how they’re found in nature. Whole foods — sweet potatoes, broccoli, chicken, an apple — are a great example of this.
Why?
Reason #1: The more processing a food has gone through, the more likely a food has:
👉Lost nutrition (fibre, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients)
👉Gained additives (sugar and/or refined starch, unhealthy fats, sodium, preservatives, and fillers)
Reason #2: Diets rich in minimally processed foods are linked to lower rates of heart disease, cancer, depression, and type 2 diabetes.
Reason #3: Because minimally-processed foods also tend to be richer in fibre and protein, and lower in calories per volume, these foods make it easier for you to manage your calorie intake.
Minimally-processed foods are more nutritious, improve health outcomes, and help you regulate your appetite.
There’s just one caveat:
It’s REALLY hard to eat ONLY whole foods.
So, think of foods on a continuum.
As with most things, processing isn’t binary: Foods aren’t 100 PERCENT FAKE or FRESH-FROM-THE-DIRT (or animal).
Most are somewhere in between.
This is why I encourage minimally-processed foods versus only limiting yourself to whole foods only.
For example, something like natural Greek yoghurt has still gone through some form of processing to turn it from milk to yoghurt. But it’s been minimally processed and is still a great food to include in your diet.
Versus something like breakfast cereal, which has been processed down into some wheat based mush, had synthetic vitamins to add to it (because that looks better on the cereal box to say it has Vitamin D in it) as well as a shed load of sugar.
Look at the foods you’re currently eating, and just try to move along the continuum, choosing foods that are slightly less processed than what you’d usually eat.
Plus, some processed foods are awesome.
Whey protein powder.
Tinned fish.
Natural yoghurt
Also: Cooking, chopping, and blending are all forms of processing.
So it’s not that processing is “bad.”
It’s just that ultra processed foods — star-shaped cereal puffs, electric blue energy drinks, and pretty much anything that’s shelf-stable for over a year — are usually specifically engineered to make these foods too delicious, and therefore super easy to overeat.
There lies the real trouble with Ultra Processed foods. They are super easy to eat, high in calories, low in essential vitamins and minerals that your body can actually use to thrive. Thats why you can eat lots of it and never feel fully satisfied.
Even if you just try this trick of less processed with your snacking habit to start off with.
If you really need a snack try and keep it minimally processed. This one shift alone could transform your health and your waistline.
Never underestimate the basic tools. If you want more of the basics that work for a happier, healthier lifestyle CLICK HERE and join the free 5 day Better Body Kickstart plan today. Sign up and i’ll see you on the other side.
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