Is it even real?

Bite this: According to Bettina Siegel in Kid Food - The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World, on any given school day, the average maximum amount of sugar a child can consume is 25 teaspoons per day! 

That is a lot of sugar! And that doesn't take into account the other crap they consume like chips, breads, goldfish crackers, etc. Which brings me to the point of this - what are we even eating? Is it even real? Short answer is no. 

I became a dietitian for reasons described in earlier posts, but really because we get tremendous benefits from food if we treat it like medicine and so many of us (including myself most times) don't. There are lots of occassions to eat and enjoy food and that hasn't changed in all of history. But what has changed is the amount of non-food ingredients added to real foods or even just made-up foods. I have written about this a time or two, including this one. I am convinced this is what is causing us to be overfed and undernourished and leading to many chronic illnesses. I don't care what you read in the news, processed foods are slowly killing us. 

Processed foods are any foods that have processing involved. Highly processed foods (without getting into the real sciencey, nerdy definition) are foods with multiple ingredients that are not ingredients you would find in your kitchen. Foods that include emulsifiers like polysorbates, added flavorings, added colors, artificial sugars, etc. Chips, packaged treats, pretzels, crackers, pretty much any food you consider a "snack" is highly processed. Like, what is a Cheeto anyway? Salad dressings and other condiments also fit into this category and even seemingly healthy foods like soy burgers or pea chips, are highly processed. Most unprocessed foods are whole foods that you would find out of the ground - fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. 

Photo from Unsplash by Ryan Quintal

We are learning more and more about the gut microbiome and how a healthy, diverse microbiome can protect us from many chronic and acute illnesses. Think about what that soda, doughnut, chips, etc. have done now to that once healthy gut microbiome. It's not food. They're chemicals and they're changing our hormones, metabolism, brain function, and gut function. 

They're even more detrimental to the young children and teens now adays. ("Nowadays" - I sound like I am 70 years old!)  Processed foods are linked to cognitive issues, memory issues, depression, anxiety, obesity... you name it. 

From an evolutionary standpoint, the human diet was the same for hundreds of years until processing began. We had a short amount of time for our bodies to adjust to food that wasn't really food and maybe the reason these "foods" are causing so much damage is because our bodies simply cannot adjust to them, especially that quickly. 

You're probably thinking that you knew all this, but wondering how in the world to change your diet to cut out convenience and ultra-processed foods. I am thinking the same thing - mostly for my kids. My kids get treats all day at school and at home and at friend's homes and after soccer games...I don't want to be the food police, but it has also gotten out of hand. One way to clean it up is to just not purchase the highly processed foods - chips, crackers, pretzels, cereals (pretty much any convenience snack). Once these are cut out, look for foods with ingredients that you would find in your kitchen - flour, eggs, milk, cheese, etc. If the food contains a laundry list of ingredients, it is highly processed. 

Listen, I don't like this anymore than you do. I am just here to state my opinion, and you can take it or leave it. There is so much more to say on this topic, like the addictive characteristics of highly processed foods, but I am not here to bore you. Is it too late? I also want to discuss how even in our fruits and vegetables and healthy foods, we are not getting the benefit we used to due to soil changes, and chemicals sprayed on them, but I will save that for another day. You're welcome. 

Sound bite: Look at what you had for lunch today - what was processed, not processed?