Is it Food?
Skillful aging newsletter Vol 5
Hi all,
I hope you are well!
What you eat has immediate AND lasting implications for your health and wellness.
Everything you eat affects you physically, cognitively and emotionally. The nutritional value, or lack thereof, of your food has significant consequences for how well your body functions, how much strength you have, your overall mood & cognition and ultimately your future health or disease status.
In this edition of the skillful aging newsletter we are starting an ongoing series on food and nutrition. Specifically, in this edition, we will be discussing what food is. Simple, right? Maybe not.
Starting with the broadest understanding of food:
Food, according to Merriam Webster, is: material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy [1]
Using this definition, anything that is not a macro-nutrient OR is not used by the body to: sustain growth, repair, vital processes or furnishing energy, is then, by definition, not food.
In other words, most of what we eat can be considered NOT food. Just take a look at the ingredient list on almost any food item that HAS an ingredient list (as compared to a whole food).
Most of the stuff in there has been added. It has been added, ostensibly, according to the FDA, to preserve freshness, control contamination, improve nutritional value, improve taste, texture and appearance. [2] Sounds great, right? While these goals would all seem laudable, the true picture is more complicated. It's useful, then to ask:
"At what cost to our health are these things being added to our food?"
To understand the health costs of various food additives it is important to know what we are talking about. This is vast subject matter and the scope of this newsletter allows only a high level overview. In addition, we will introduce some critical, proactive thinking about HOW to make the best decisions around what we eat. We will start by thinking in terms of what we may want to avoid and what may be okay.
Some common additives on ingredient labels you may want to avoid include: hydrogenated vegetable oils and tropical oils such as palm oil, preservatives such as sodium nitrite or nitrate, flavor enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), and added sweeteners such as corn syrup, cane juice or artificial sweeteners, among others. [3]
The reasons to avoid these additives include (but not limited to): obesity, nutrient deficiencies, gut microbiome disruption, potential increased risk of diseases like: metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, cancer, heart disease, cardiovascular risk factors, frailty conditions, and ultimately higher risk of death from any cause. [4,5,6,7,8]
Examples of unhealthy processed foods
Eliminating some of the unhealthy processed foods from your diet can go a long way to helping you lose unwanted weight and giving you a healthier lifestyle altogether. Here is a short list of some unhealthy processed foods to avoid or minimize:
Sugary beverages such as sweetened coffee and tea, energy drinks and soft drinks
Deli meats, hot dogs and sausages
Frozen pizza and frozen meals
Packaged snacks such as chips, cookies, crackers and baked goods
Most breakfast cereals
Canned or instant soups
Boxed instant pasta products
Sweetened yogurt
These are just some random examples, so you may ask:
Is there a way to make informed decisions, consistently?" YES!
A system to classify processed foods was introduced in 2009, called the NOVA classification. It lists four categories detailing the degree to which a food is processed. [4]Become aware of these NOVA categories to take more control of what is in your food and help protect your health and wellness:
1) Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
Unprocessed foods include the natural edible food parts of plants and animals. Minimally processed foods have been slightly altered for the main purpose of preservation but which does not substantially change the nutritional content of the food.
2) Processed culinary ingredients
Food ingredients derived from a minimally processed food by pressing, refining, grinding, or milling. They are typically not eaten on their own but used to prepare minimally processed foods.
3) Processed foods
Foods from either of the two previous groups that have added salt, sugar, or fats. Some canned fruits and vegetables, some cheeses, freshly made bread, and canned fish are examples.
4) Ultra-processed foods
Also commonly referred to as “highly processed foods,” these are foods from the prior group that go beyond the incorporation of salt, sweeteners, or fat to include artificial colors and flavors and preservatives that promote shelf stability, preserve texture, and increase palatability.
Choose your own health adventure. Homework... yay! :
1) Read the ingredient list on a package of food that is in your kitchen right now. Learn a little about what that stuff is. Then decide if you want to keep eating it or if there is, potentially, a better choice based on the NOVA categories (see above).
2) Add 1 new, tasty, whole food item to your menu this week. What was it? Why did you choose this food? How did you prepare it? Was it tasty? Would you eat it again?
3) Read this: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/processed-foods/
As always, please share your thoughts and questions: george@zoeticcoaching.com Your health and wellness are important to me!
Be well, George
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/food
[4] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/processed-foods/
[5] https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-020-00996-6
[6] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01478/full
[7] https://research.uga.edu/news/study-finds-lifestyle-factors-that-could-harden-arteries/
