One Thing You Can Do to Improve Health and Manage Weight

There are many ways to go about weight loss/management and they involve varying degrees of effort.

For people who don’t want to weigh and measure everything they eat or track calories/macros in a food log there is a simple solution!

Eliminate (or greatly reduce) heavily processed foods!

What are heavily processed foods?

Heavily processed foods (or just “processed foods” for this post) are foods that have been altered from their original state. They are altered to make them more flavorful, improve their shelf-life, or make them more convenient. Often, they have added ingredients like emulsifiers, fats, salt and sugar.       

   Foods considered heavily processed would be things sold in a box or bag with multiple ingredients that are not in “original” form. Things like:

·       Most “snack foods” chips, cookies, crackers, candies, ice cream

·       Frozen meals

·       Canned/boxed dishes

·       Cereals

·       Most packaged breads

·       Processed cheeses

·       Packaged soups

·       Processed meats: some deli meats, sausages, hot dogs, fish sticks, chicken nuggets and tenders

·       Prepared drinks and sodas

Why does this matter TO ME?

·       When the food is heavily processed the vitamin, water and fiber content gets reduced

• You miss out on the nutritional value of the vitamins and antioxidants

• If the water and fiber are lower you will not feel full and it will be easier to overeat

• The body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest the food and will not burn as many calories as it would have by eating the food it it’s whole form

·       Some foods are engineered in a manner that leads to overeating

• They are portable and convenient to eat on the go. Plus they are easy to chew and swallow

• This can lead to quickly consuming a lot of calories without the chance to feel full

• They have unique combinations of fat, salt, and sugar that make them enjoyable to eat

•  It is in the best interest of a company to design a product that will encourage you to eat a lot and keep coming back $$$

• FOODS MAY “APPEAR” TO BE HEALTHY BY LABELING AND MARKETING, BUT OFTEN ARE NO BETTER THAN THE “UNHEALTHY” VERSIONS

Is there any proof?

Actually, yes, there is proof that all this matters. In 2019 a study was published that showed when people ate diets consisting of heavily processed foods they ate, on average, an extra 500 calories per day than when they ate a diet consisting of whole foods [1].

·       500 calories per day would = 3500 calories per week

o   3500 is the estimated number of calories required to burn to lose 1 pound of body fat

·       For most people, decreasing calories by 500/day would result in steady weight loss

o    A modification as simple as eliminating heavily processed food could quickly help someone reach this

[1]Hall, Kevin D. “Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: A one-month inpatient randomized controlled trial of AD Libitum Food Intake.” Clinical and Translational Report, vol. 30, no. 1, 11 Feb. 2019, pp. 67–77. P67-77, https://doi.org/10.31232/osf.io/w3zh2.  

SO WHAT DO I DO?

   Keep in mind, not all processing is bad. The process of grinding food, heating it, or pasteurizing it does not cause these alterations.  It’s the addition of chemicals (usually ones you are not familiar with), oils, sugars/syrups you need to watch

1.       Cook you own meals. This is ultimately the best way to control what you eat. Don’t be lazy and opt for the quick foods. this is your health, your body, you only get one!

2.       Use simple, basic, whole ingredients like

• Meat

• Fish

• Chicken/Turkey

• Vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned)

• Fruit (fresh, frozen, plain canned)

• Rice

• Potatoes

• Oats and Grains

• Beans

• Nuts

3.       Check food labels! If you don’t understand what’s in it, don’t eat a lot of it

4.       Treat processed foods as a garnish, or enhancement to your whole foods. Use them sparingly and measure the serving.

• Be responsible for what you put in your body

5.       Aim for 80-90% of your diet from whole foods

You may find that as you eliminate artificially created foods from your diet the whole foods you are eating taste better. Maybe you will even develop a preference for eating them. You will likely feel fuller from the whole foods and not have the need to eat as much or as often. All of these will lead to long-term weight management success.