Note: this post has been updated in December 2020.
Why Is Real Food Better?
There is a great debate going on about eating real food instead of processed foods. Processed foods are all around us at restaurants and throughout grocery stores.
Real foods are foods that are grown with minimal processing. Fresh fruit and vegetables are fitting examples of real foods.
An example of minimal processing would be a whole grain flour that is ground and that is a type of processing, but if it is only ground and isn’t bleached or filled with added chemicals, it is much closer to the way it came out of the ground. Eating meat that is fresh instead of processed is another example.
In the excerpt below, we’ll see just one of the health benefits we experience when we choose real food.
FIBER REALLY IS FIBER WHEN YOU EAT REAL FOOD
You know the products that you see at the grocery store with a big bright label on the package practically singing out about all of the added fiber they contain? There’s a good chance that the fiber they speak of isn’t what you’re thinking. Getting more fiber is something that we want which is precisely why more and more companies are trying to reel us in with the promise of more fiber. What they don’t tell you is that these isolated fibers don’t come close to providing us with the amount that we need. And that even in packaged foods containing whole grains, a lot of the nutrients and most of the fiber has been removed during processing with some being artificially put back in! Don’t settle for some added isolated fiber when eating real food gives you the health benefits you’re after. Get your fiber from whole grains, beans, and nuts, as well as fruits and vegetables and enjoy benefits like lower cholesterol and better bowel health and blood sugar levels. – via www.littlegreenpouch.com
What is So Bad About Processed Food
There are many more benefits to eating real food besides getting the fiber we all need for healthy digestion, among other things.
Besides the many benefits of real food, there is a real downside to eating processed food. Below are just two of the many negative attributes of processed food. Look. You may decide that freshness is better!
Processed foods are high in sugar and high fructose corn syrup
Processed foods are usually loaded with added sugar or its evil twin: high fructose corn syrup. It is well known that sugar, when consumed in excess, is seriously harmful. As we all know, sugar is “empty” calories – it has no essential nutrients, but it has a large amount of energy. Empty calories are just the beginning when it comes to the harmful effects of sugar.
Many studies show sugar can have devastating effects on metabolism that go way beyond its calorie content. It can lead to insulin resistance, high triglycerides, increased levels of harmful cholesterol and increased fat accumulation in the liver and in the abdominal cavity. Not surprisingly, sugar consumption is strongly associated with some of the world’s leading killers, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
Most people aren’t putting massive amounts of sugar in their coffee or on top of their cereal; they’re getting it from processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The bottom line: processed foods and beverages are the biggest sources of added sugars (and HFCS) in the diet. Sugar is very unhealthy and can have serious adverse effects on metabolism when consumed in excess.
Most Processed Foods are low in Nutrients
Processed foods are extremely low in essential nutrients compared to whole, unprocessed foods. In some cases, synthetic vitamins and minerals are added to the foods to compensate for what was lost during processing.
However, synthetic nutrients are NOT a good replacement for the nutrients found in whole foods. Let’s not forget that real foods contain much more than just the standard vitamins and minerals we’re all familiar with. Real foods, like plants and animals, contain thousands of other trace nutrients that science is just beginning to grasp.
One day we will invent a chemical blend that can replace all these nutrients, but until that happens, the only way to get them in your diet is to eat whole, unprocessed foods. The more you eat processed foods, the less you will get vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and various trace nutrients.
The bottom line: there are many nutrients found in whole foods that are not found in processed foods. The more processed foods you eat, the less you will get of the real food nutrients.
Now is the time to act for Real Food
Science confirms that a diet rich in whole, plant-based foods can help you live to the fullest and still get adequate protein. In fact, a growing number of physicians advocate a completely plant-based diet for many of their patients who suffer from diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Check out these great sources:
Plant-Based Nutrition, 2E (Idiot’s Guides),
Nutrition Facts: The Truth About Food
The Forks over Knifes, a simple plan that focuses on hearty comfort foods and does not involve portion control or worrying about obtaining single nutrients like protein and calcium.
Conclusions
If you are not eating real food, you are not getting the nutrition that your body needs to function properly. The result being many diseases including heart disease. According to the CDC someone dies ever 36 seconds in the United States. That amounts to 2380 deaths every day and this data is from 2018, the latest available for the CDC.
Heart disease is often a silent killer. Most of its victims don’t even know they have it until it’s too late. It takes the lives of more people than any other disease on the planet, by far.
Even if your cholesterol levels are normal, and you think you’re doing all the right things, you could still be at risk. But according to one of the top holistic cardiologists in the world, Dr. Mimi Guarneri says it doesn’t have to be that way. You can do something about your Health!
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What would happen if you ate real food and started feeling great? Don’t you think it makes a difference?
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