Whole Food or Processed Food?..That is Our Question

Happy New Year everyone. I wish nothing but blessings for you and your family in 2019.

I will not be doing the typical New Year’s Resolution post this year. Mostly because I believe New Year’s Resolutions aren’t the way to a healthier you.

A healthier you does not happen in one grandiose decision, but rather thousands of small, daily decisions.

Yes, a commitment at the start can be important. But it is far from sufficient.

So instead, let’s simply continue on our journey, taking small steps. Today’s small step...

When I say healthy grocery store, what is the first store that comes to your mind?

For most, it is probably Whole Foods. Disclaimer: I am not knocking Whole Foods at all. I think it’s a great place to shop.

Here’s the rub. Is everything in Whole Foods, a whole food?

And this is where we can get off track. If I get organic candy, whole grain chips, organic yogurt, and organic deli turkey meat...am I eating whole foods?

Most of us know that we want to eat more whole foods and less processed foods. But how do we know if we are eating a whole food? It isn’t always as cut and dry as we think.

I am going to offer a few questions, with credit given to Precision Nutrition, for us to think about.

1. What’s on the ingredient list?

Apple - Ingredients: Apple.

Organic Cheetos: Ingredients: Organic Corn Meal, Expeller-Pressed Sunflower Oil, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Whey, Maltodextrin (Made from Corn), Sea Salt, Natural Flavors, Sour Cream (Cultured Cream, Skim Milk), Torula Yeast, Lactic Acid, and Citric Acid.

2. Do I recognize all these things?

Looking at the previous example. Apples..yes, Maltodextrin and Torula Yeast not

so much.

3. How many steps did this food take to get to me?

Sticking with apples, an apple I picked myself is going to be less processed than one I buy at the store. And I’ve never seen a Cheetos tree.

4. Does this food come in a bag, box, or can?

People might look at you weird when your cart is filled with green and colorful fruits and veggies, and is missing all the boxes, bags, and cans...or they might not notice because they’ll be too impressed by how healthy you look.

Here are some whole foods and processed foods to think about the next time you head to the grocery store. Keep in mind “processed” is on a continuum, not an either/or.

More Whole: Frozen or Fresh Fruits and Veggies, Grass-Fed Beef, Free-Range Chicken, Wild-Caught Fish, Bulk Nuts, Potatoes (the kind YOU have to cook). Pastured Eggs (just to name a few). If interested, here is a list of 125 whole foods.

More Processed: Deli meat, most frozen meals, cereal, cereal bars, rice cakes, most yogurts, pasta, crackers, cookies, bread, most foods in most restaurants (just to name a few.)

Companies are not going to label their foods “processed” for you. In fact, they are going to to try to tell you they are healthy (Organic Cheetos). So, ask yourself these 4 questions to decide how processed your foods really are.

And let’s move to a less processed, more whole-food diet...1-minute at a time.