I'm listening to this book and am really interested in what he has to say.
I have avoided processed food, or as it's correctly called, I found out, ultra-processed food, for a long time. It's not hard since I cook what we eat, but I'm finding how pervasive it is. I looked at the container of ricotta, a staple for me. Imagine my shock when I saw a list of not food ingredients! There is a difference between processed and ultra-processed food, all food is processed in some way. But an item made from milk, salt and an acidic having a list of not this ingredients surprised me. OK, I can accept I cannot avoid it entirely, but ricotta is simple to make and actually better homemade than purchased, so I can avoid that. I have always looked at my DIL's vegan diet as basically unhealthy. When a product is manufactured from one thing and manipulated into another, one must wonder. I know it's a moral choice. I could be vegetarian or pescatarian, which she was, but not vegan, really because of my abhorrence of manufactured items intended for consumption. I may be stepping on some toes, please don't be angry with me. I do understand the dilemma. I simply wonder how aware people are? That, I guess is what I think about. How aware people are of what they are eating.
It's an interesting book. He is a scientist and an MD. He doesn't lecture or condemn, he talks about his own issues with food. He has humor. I have learned much I didn't know. Awareness is the issue. People should make informed choices. People should have choices.
16 comments:
I agree that there's more processing than we realize. Shredded cheese has added desiccants so it won't clump. Cereals have additives to lengthen shelf life. I've been buying multigrain bread recently, but I think I'll return to baking it all, because I see a list of additives on the package. Also when you bake your bread you're not wrapping it in plastic!
I think people get very passionate about food choices, so I avoid food evangelists!
I think about the bread. I've mostly made our bread but haven't for quite awhile now. It's not entirely avoidable, but knowing what you're choosing makes a difference. I know bread has additives and shredded cheese, too. I still opt to buy it. I hope I'm not evangelizing, I don't like that either.
We talk about food and processed food---ultra processed food a LOT at the gym. We too eat mostly home grown stuff -- No, I do not make bread but we don't eat bread often.
There are foods I get that give me short cuts like shredded cheese. But mostly we eat food that is plain.
However I have members of the family who eat everything they can in a microwave one dish dinner or Mickey D's, pizza, or other fast food.
How do we avoid processed foods these days? That answer is not clear.
This is a great subject matter for great discussions!
Making healthy choices can be so hard.
Thanks for this!
Thanks for this book suggestion.I'm going to check the ingredients in my dinner.
I'm not sure if I make most food from scratch because I want to be healthier or I am just too cheap to buy processed foods. I did think that more people would either learn to cook or remember how to cook during the Covid shut downs, but it seems like the minute the store freezers were full and the restaurants open, everybody forgot you can buy actual potatoes and fresh vegetables. I do know I am lucky that we have a farmer that raises beef just a mile or two from us. And I know 4-H chicken farmers too. Not only are farm eggs available to me, I get free delivery on the day she brings her daughter to town for dance.
It sounds like a good Book that informs. I have been noticing what is Real Food... Whole Food... and what isn't. My easiest way to differentiate is to ask myself the simple Question of, "Would my Grandparents recognize this as Food?" Since, in their Era almost none of it existed that is over-processed and manipulated stuff being passed off as Food and Nourishment. I hope you are doing well on your Journey of more Healthful Eating, I am right now and really am amazed how easy it's been once I found a good way to go. I'm now under 200 and I hadn't seen that in a long time.
Val, the short answer is we cannot completely avoid UPF, we can just be aware and avoid it as much as possible. After I moved here and got myself over-busy I relied on the microwave stuff a lot. I stopped after the crash inn 2000. I started thinking about an $8 jar of tomato sauce and wondered why I'd stopped making it myself? I never went back. I had no idea how pervasive it is, though. Some, like ricotta, I'll stop buying, others I won't. If I can maintain at 10-20% UFP I think that is about as good as I can do. I was worried I was being offensive!
e, it is informative and sometimes overwhelming. He isn't trying to tell people what to eat, he is giving information and people can do with it what they want. If a person is listening to the book they probably are already thinking about this anyway. I've found a few items I never would have thought were UPF in the house. Bread is a real offender. I can never fully avoid purchased bread, nor can most others. We just need to decide, if that's what we want, what can be changed and what cannot.
Miss Merry, I stopped using the convenience food because I realized it was a bad habit that cost more than if I made it myself. The healthier part came to me later. I put a lot of weight on from eating that stuff, even though I was extremely active. How fortunate to have fresh eggs. I had a neighbor I got eggs and chicken from, but she moved a few years ago. Nothing like a fresh egg!
Dawn, it is. No preaching from him. Another way to recognize it is the ingredients list, if you can't pronounce it, it isn't food! You are doing really well with Golo, you should be proud.
I read labels, when there are so many ingredients you cannot pronounce I put it back on the shelf. We really watch gluten here at our daughters:)
Far Side, yes if you can't pronounce it do you want to eat it? I was gluten free for at least a year. Then I found out gluten wasn't the problem. I was so happy about that!
To answer your question. I am if the guy fixing the ceiling ever appears. She should but since I have neither an estimate nor a bill for completed work. I cannot ask for payment yet.
Your post has made me want to do better. I have become so lazy in what I am putting in my body. Thanks, for (hopefully) inspiring me to do better.
Take Care,
Kaye
e, she certainly should. I hope this is successfully sorted out.
Kaye, we do the best we can. I spent part of the 90s and most of the first decade of the 2000s with a terrible diet.
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