The Single Most Important Dietary Change You Can Make: Give Up Processed Foods

Hi there!  I’m Dr. Lisa Schwartz and today I would like to discuss what is probably the single most important dietary change you can make for your health.  And that is cutting out processed food.  So in this short video I am going to teach you how to recognize processed food, and you’ll find out why you want to avoid it.

So let’s start with what is meant by “processed food”.  Well, it will probably help to contrast processed foods with what I consider to be their opposite.  And that is a whole food.  Whole foods are things like fruits and vegetables that you find in the produce aisle, whole meats without added sauces, flavoring, or chopped up into something that doesn’t look like it came from nature at all like bologna or hot dogs.

If you do any grocery shopping at all, you will see that grocery stores are laid out with fresh meats and produce on the outer edges of the store.  That’s generally where the whole foods are.  The center aisles contain the processed food.

Whole foods also typically don’t need ingredient labels.  An apple doesn’t have a label, apple juice does.  So if there is no label, you are pretty safe in assuming it’s a whole food and not processed.

But not all foods with labels are processed.  So it’s time to start reading labels.  As a general rule, you want to be able to recognize and pronounce all of the ingredients on the label.  Distinctly chemical names means that those chemicals were added during an industrial process.  A huge one to look for is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.  This is just another name for trans fats which are the particularly dangerous fats.

Second you want to look for added ingredients that don’t need to be there.  A couple of big culprits are salt and sugar.  In fact the CDC estimates that more than 70% of Americans’ salt consumption comes from processed and restaurant food, not from the kitchen salt shaker. 

It’s not that salt is all that bad for you. You need some. But too much salt is a real problem for American health.  And the salt is hidden in processed foods.  Same goes with sugar.  And the sugar gets disguised under many names which I will cover in another post (so stay tuned for that).

Next comes “natural” flavors and preservatives.  Natural in this context just means that it has to be derived from plant or animal matter.  And the kicker is that these chemicals have not been widely studied for their safety in foods.  They fall into a category that the FDA labels “generally regarded as safe”. 

And food producers don’t have to specify which “natural” chemicals they used.  These chemicals are added to food to enhance flavor or smell or add to the intensity of the taste so that you will want to eat more.

And the last big giveaway that you have a processed food in your hands is that it is a prepackaged meal or dish.  All of those supposedly healthy frozen entrees are processed foods.  There may be some that are minimally processed so this is where your label reading skills will come in handy.

Now let’s talk about processed meats.  Processed meats are basically those that are not fresh. A fresh meat that is frozen is fine.  But processed meats have had things added to preserve them or to enhance their flavor.  These modifications include salting, curing, fermenting, and smoking. Some examples are sausages, hot dogs, bacon, corned beef, beef jerky, luncheon meats, and canned meat.

Why are processed foods particularly harmful?

·      We talked about the added salt and sugar which is thought to be a major contributor to the epidemic of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity in this country.

·      Processed foods are artificially tastier and can lead to overeating.  We love foods that are sweet, salty, and fatty and these things get added so that we will want more.

·      Chemicals.  Enough said.

·      Processed foods are often contain high glycemic index carbs which means they increase your risk for insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity.  The sugars in these carbs are rapidly absorbed into your bloodstream and cause a spike in insulin.

·      Many of the nutrients have been destroyed or removed by processing.  For example, grains that are used in processed foods have often had the healthy fiber removed.  Processing can also destroy many vitamins and minerals.

·      Trans fats (the really dangerous fats) are often hidden in processed foods to extend their shelf lives.  In fact, a serving of food can contain 0.5 gms of a trans fat and still claim that it is trans fat free.

What can you do?

·      Eat whole fruits and vegetables and fresh meats.

·      If you can’t find a whole lot of fresh fruits and vegetables out of season, then frozen fruits and vegetables are a good substitute.

·      Cook your own meals.

·      Stick with whole grains.  For some goods like breads and pasta, you might have to stick with minimally processed rather than going to the trouble of making your own.  The first ingredient should be a “whole” grain.  And check the rest of the ingredients for things you don’t recognize.

·      A “healthy” label on a food does not mean that it is not processed.  Just look at the cereal aisle and you’ll probably be amazed at all the health claims on highly processed foods that have no resemblance to anything found in nature.

So that’s it for processed food. If you are interested in more information about breast cancer, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle changes, be sure to visit my website and blog at LisaSchwartzMD.com or subscribe to my You Tube channel at Lisa Schwartz, MD.  Have a fantastic week and I’ll see you next time.