Q. I am trying to reduce the amount of processed foods in my diet, can you offer any tips?
A. Yes, I think the movement away from processed foods is a great idea!
Depending on how you want to define “unprocessed,” a 100% unprocessed diet may not be practical. But every step you can take toward the “unprocessed” end of the spectrum is a step in the right direction.
I like Michael Pollan’s common-sense guidelines in his recent books In Defense of Food and Food Rules and I agree with them.. here are a few that will help you!
1. Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize.
2. Don’t eat cereal that changes the color of your milk.
Here are a few other tips to help shift your diet away from processed foods:
3. Eat more food that comes without packaging.
4. Look for foods with fewer than 5 ingredients in the ingredient list.
5. Avoid things made with ingredients that you don’t recognize as food.
6. Eat more whole intact grains and less flour.
7. Eat most of your fruit whole and unprocessed. Each the fruit rather than drink the juice!
8. Eat at least some of your vegetables raw every day.
9. Avoid the center isles of the grocery store! Shop around the perimeter!
10. If it is white, think twice about eating it! (sugar and flour….)
