You made it very easy for people to make their choices: "If the label lists a dozen or more ingredients, and a majority of them are chemical compounds you’ve never heard of, that food is ultra-processed."
"pre-chewed food". reminds me of that Saturday Night Live skit... But what a great post read! A favorite topic of mine.
We mostly cook our own food from fresh here and are really sensitive to label reading and extra ingredients. Often times I've put a craving for a certain food or a curiosity of a new product back on the shelf due to the ingredient list. (I suffer)
Even my favorite sriracha sauce no longer graces my pantry- but I have found a new one just as enjoyable with minimal ingredients and it holds up fine.
If anything contains Xantham Gum (among other unpronounceable): I avoid it. This stability ingredient was at one time not supposed to metabolize and now they are finding that it does and that people need to consider this as calories. So many products retain this unneccesary ingredient.
I've also seen in the grocery stores where "healthy" prepared foods like Brussel sprouts or broccoli have a long list of preservatives so I just settle for fresh broccoli steamed, 6-8 minutes of manual cooking labor, instead.
Another thing; canned foods like canned tomatoes or any canned food can leech BPA into your food. Choose glass jars instead. Even BPA-free labels still contain an alternate chemical calls BPS (cans and plastic).
choose real food! (I used to personal chef for clients during my Type A Home years-quite enjoyable!)
Important stuff. Your good work will actually help people. I used to love Cheetos and now I don't. It's almost as though I read this way before you even wrote it. Many thanks!
In my family, we stumbled into the Mediterranean diet because one of us is Italian. He also loves to cook so we eat at home six nights a week and treat ourselves to Thai food or something from another part of the world on the seventh night. If you cook your own meals, you are much less likely to be eating "food" out of a box. It's a huge health factor. My uneducated opinion is that eating real food (does not have to be seeds and millet) goes along with minimizing stress and exercising to promote health. Wish I were better at exercise.
Best advice I got about supermarkets: Shop the edges, where fresh food is sold, and skip the middle aisles as much as possible.
I'm lucky to live somewhere with loads of local producers, so I buy local produce as much as possible: An eminent organic farmer told me that given a choice between corporate organic in supermarkets and local conventionally -raised food, she goes with local. The word "organic" has been appropriated by big agribusiness, and it is pretty meaningless in their hands.
Finally,. if you're not struggling financially, and have local produce available, please don't just buy food based on price: I know my chicken farmer, and pay $20 a bird. i use the liver for pate, and make stock for the freezer from the bones, giving me at least five more meals of soup (when beans and veg are added). I never knowingly eat cheap chicken: Raised inhumanely, farmers treated badly by companies, poor food safety standards, child labor ....
AND the product is often tough and tasteless.
So many reasons. YouTube videos also taught me how to cut up a chicken myself.
Finally, a fantastic book on how Americans came to eat such bad food: Stephen Hayman, The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution (2020)
You made it very easy for people to make their choices: "If the label lists a dozen or more ingredients, and a majority of them are chemical compounds you’ve never heard of, that food is ultra-processed."
"pre-chewed food". reminds me of that Saturday Night Live skit... But what a great post read! A favorite topic of mine.
We mostly cook our own food from fresh here and are really sensitive to label reading and extra ingredients. Often times I've put a craving for a certain food or a curiosity of a new product back on the shelf due to the ingredient list. (I suffer)
Even my favorite sriracha sauce no longer graces my pantry- but I have found a new one just as enjoyable with minimal ingredients and it holds up fine.
If anything contains Xantham Gum (among other unpronounceable): I avoid it. This stability ingredient was at one time not supposed to metabolize and now they are finding that it does and that people need to consider this as calories. So many products retain this unneccesary ingredient.
I've also seen in the grocery stores where "healthy" prepared foods like Brussel sprouts or broccoli have a long list of preservatives so I just settle for fresh broccoli steamed, 6-8 minutes of manual cooking labor, instead.
Another thing; canned foods like canned tomatoes or any canned food can leech BPA into your food. Choose glass jars instead. Even BPA-free labels still contain an alternate chemical calls BPS (cans and plastic).
choose real food! (I used to personal chef for clients during my Type A Home years-quite enjoyable!)
Perfect timing. I just read “Ultra Processed People”. Excellent Book. Thank you for highlighting this so succinctly.
https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Processed-People-Science-Behind-Food/dp/1324036729
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
Important stuff. Your good work will actually help people. I used to love Cheetos and now I don't. It's almost as though I read this way before you even wrote it. Many thanks!
Chips are still pretty irresistible. I just have to remember "moderation in all things."
In my family, we stumbled into the Mediterranean diet because one of us is Italian. He also loves to cook so we eat at home six nights a week and treat ourselves to Thai food or something from another part of the world on the seventh night. If you cook your own meals, you are much less likely to be eating "food" out of a box. It's a huge health factor. My uneducated opinion is that eating real food (does not have to be seeds and millet) goes along with minimizing stress and exercising to promote health. Wish I were better at exercise.
FYI, I read a column espousing the Mediterranean Diet but expressing regret that it did not include French fries.
Best advice I got about supermarkets: Shop the edges, where fresh food is sold, and skip the middle aisles as much as possible.
I'm lucky to live somewhere with loads of local producers, so I buy local produce as much as possible: An eminent organic farmer told me that given a choice between corporate organic in supermarkets and local conventionally -raised food, she goes with local. The word "organic" has been appropriated by big agribusiness, and it is pretty meaningless in their hands.
Finally,. if you're not struggling financially, and have local produce available, please don't just buy food based on price: I know my chicken farmer, and pay $20 a bird. i use the liver for pate, and make stock for the freezer from the bones, giving me at least five more meals of soup (when beans and veg are added). I never knowingly eat cheap chicken: Raised inhumanely, farmers treated badly by companies, poor food safety standards, child labor ....
AND the product is often tough and tasteless.
So many reasons. YouTube videos also taught me how to cut up a chicken myself.
Finally, a fantastic book on how Americans came to eat such bad food: Stephen Hayman, The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution (2020)
Love that advice about supermarket shopping. Also thanks for sharing the reading recommendations.
Thanks, Michelle! This is useful information!
Thank you for the book recommendation. I downloaded and started it already.