It isn’t as hard as it sounds. Ultra-Processed food causes us to eat more, makes us fat, causes inflammation, and can ultimately lead to things like dementia, diabetes and other terrible diseases. Many of the ultra-processed foods we eat are barred in other countries.
What are ultra-processed foods? They are foods that have been altered from their original state and have little to no actual whole food in them—they are mostly chemicals. Dr. Mark Hyman describes them this way: “[Ultra-processed] foods that have gone through a series of industrial processes that strip away nutrients and are loaded with some preternatural combination of sugar, starch, fat (particularly the bad kind, such as trans fats), sodium, and chemical additives.”
https://drhyman.com/blogs/content/the-most-dangerous-foods-for-your-brain
Ultra-processed foods include:
Potato Chips, Cereal, Candy, and Soda.
Instead of eating potato chips, eat nuts. I like Almonds and Organic Salted Cashews from Trader Joe’s.
Instead of cereal try steel-cut oats with berries or better yet Greek Yogurt with berries (I like adding flax seed for an omega-3 boost) and homemade granola sometimes.
Instead of Candy, try an apple with peanut butter or almond butter
And instead of Soda try water with lemon or lime; if you need the fiz, get plain sparking water and add a lemon or lime (we also drink Spindrift).
Not convinced yet? One recent study showed that cutting 10 percent of the ultra-processed food in your diet cuts your risk of dementia by 17%. Another one found that ultra-processed food consumption is linked to “30 harmful conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and death from any cause.” (Mark Hyman article linked above.)
MY CHALLENGE FOR YOU: cut at least one of the above from your diet for the next week and if it works, slowly add.
You don’t have to be perfect. The goal is to reduce ultra-processed foods in your daily consumption. The average American gets 57% of their calories from ultra-processed foods. Let’s start cutting that number.
Finally, I leave you with this post from Max Lugavere (great podcast and movie about his mom and Alzheimer’s). Max testified recently in front of Congress and took on the Kelce brothers for promoting cereal.
