Why Americans Should Return to a Whole Food Diet
BY AIMEE WELCH
In 1621, Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians joined together in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for a three-day celebration to give thanks for a successful harvest. Around the table during what is acknowledged today as the first Thanksgiving, they feasted on pure, natural food from the Earth ─ meat they hunted or fished themselves, squashes, onions, leeks, and corn they had grown themselves, maple syrup tapped from local trees, eggs from their own chickens, and fish from the local river.
No cans, no packets, no mysterious “ingredients.” Today, our turkeys, stuffing, and pies have a much more complex “journey” than the food of our ancestors, and our joyful celebration of thanks also includes questions like, “Was my turkey fed antibiotics?” and “Is there food dye in my pie crust?” and “High fructose corn syrup in my dinner rolls…really?”
While there are benefits to the advanced technology and scientific discoveries that enable us to easily access healthy foods, preserve food for longer periods of time, and effectively transport food to feed the world’s growing population, the beloved processed foods that make up the bulk of the average American’s diet contain long lists of ingredients, containing way too many syllables – and in our quest to process foods so they look more appealing, and are more convenient and more efficient to produce, many argue that we’re sacrificing our health.
Processed foods—the ins and outs
When asked in an interview with the Denver Post earlier this year, “What’s the one thing people should change about their diet?” Dr. Andrew Weil, best-selling author and founder, professor, and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, answered, “Stop eating refined, processed and manufactured foods. All the stuff in the middle of the supermarkets — that’s what’s doing us in.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) defines “processed food” as “any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing, such as canning, cooking, freezing, dehydration, or milling.” That doesn’t sound too sinister, until you factor in the “ins and outs” of the processing itself. The process of turning raw food into convenience food often includes adding potentially harmful ingredients like sodium, refined grain, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and food dyes. These serve as preservatives, and are used to improve the product’s taste, texture, and/or appearance — but in the process, essentially strip out many of its nutrients. The USDA estimates that between 5 and 20 percent of nutrients (including vitamin C and fiber, among others) are typically lost during the processing of foods like canned fruits, and breads, pastas and rice made from refined white flour instead of whole grains.
What does this mean for consumers? It means it’s more likely than not that the food we eat from restaurants and grocery stores has been changed from its original raw form, and is most likely unhealthier than when it started. From the bread and cereal aisles to freezers full of waffles and dinners-in-a-box, processed foods are unavoidable. Even store-bought milk, meats, and produce have a “history” to consider ─ animals fed antibiotics, pesticides in produce, and milk from cows treated with artificial hormones, to name a few. The answers aren’t always black and white, but scientific evidence is building in favor of a diet consisting primarily of whole, unprocessed, pronounceable foods.
What’s the big deal, anyway?
Processed foods are convenient, available year round, have a longer shelf life than unprocessed foods, and many are fortified with things are that are supposed to be good for us. Additionally, processes like pasteurization and heating can make food safer by reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses, and frozen fruits and veggies (without any added ingredients) can be just as nutritious as fresh. Without “processed foods” ─ an umbrella term that covers canned, frozen, packaged and prepared foods like bread, cereal, peanut butter, lunchmeat, tuna fish, and juices, to name a few ─ obtaining and preparing our food, and getting enough of the right nutrients, certainly would take a lot more effort. And we wouldn’t have aisles and aisles…and more aisles…of choices. So why are doctors and nutritionists so against it?
More than 800,000 people die each year from heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases, costing the nation $273 billion in health care in 2010, according to the CDC. These chronic diseases, as well as cancer, diabetes, and obesity (and the other major medical issues and chronic diseases that often come with it) have all been linked to diet. Processed foods are generally high in sugar, sodium, fat, and refined grains, and too much of these things can cause major health problems ─ bottom line.
Journalist and best-selling author Michael Pollan wrote in his book In Defense of Food, “…Today foods are processed in ways specifically designed to sell us more food by pushing our evolutionary buttons — our inborn preferences for sweetness and fat and salt. These qualities are difficult to find in nature but cheap and easy for the food scientist to deploy, with the result that processing induces us to consume much more of these ecological rarities than is good for us.”
Part of the problem is that in today’s overwhelming sea of brands, options, marketing jargon, and labeling loopholes, it’s not always easy to quickly discern what’s good for us. In fact, it’s downright confusing. After all, the processed food folks have billions of marketing dollars to tout “healthy” claims such as “all natural,” “a full serving of whole grains,” and “heart healthy,” while nutritious foods like spinach, tomatoes, and watermelon sit quietly on the shelf.
“The fate of each whole food rises and falls with every change in the nutritional weather, while the processed foods are simply reformulated. That’s why when the Atkins mania hit the food industry, bread and pasta were given a quick redesign (dialing back the carbs; boosting the protein), while the poor unreconstructed potatoes and carrots were left out in the cold,” Pollan wrote in an article for The New York Times.
One thing’s for certain, a fresh strawberry is a better choice than a “fortified” strawberry Pop-Tart, every time.
It’s what’s inside that counts
When it comes to packaging, presentation, and advertising, processed foods have the advantage ─ big brand names continue to make their packaging appealing to consumers (including children), and use just the right language to convince consumers that those colorful, marshmallow-y cereals are actually “heart healthy.” But the savvy consumer knows better—it’s what’s inside that counts. And among the many multi-syllabic additives, sweeteners, salts, chemicals, factory-created fats and colors inside processed foods, here are a few considered to be the most harmful (and most common) of the bunch.
Sodium – High levels of sodium are linked to high blood pressure, which is linked to heart disease and stroke, yet the CDC reports that approximately 90 percent of Americans eat more than the daily 2,300 mg of sodium recommended in U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Eating an average of 3,300 mg of sodium per day, Americans have become addicted to salt, without even picking up the shaker. The CDC reports that approximately 75 percent of the sodium consumed by Americans comes from restaurant and processed foods, with more than 40 percent coming from the following favorites:
1. Breads and rolls
2. Cold cuts and cured meats, e.g. deli or packaged ham, or turkey 3. Pizza
4. Fresh and processed poultry
5. Soups
6. Sandwiches such as cheeseburgers
7. Cheese
8. Pasta dishes*
9. Meat-mixed dishes such as meatloaf with tomato sauce
10. Snacks (e.g., chips, pretzels, and popcorn)
*The pasta dishes category does not include macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese is its own category.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) – Syrups and sweeteners like dextrose, glucose, lactose and maltose are big no-no’s for the health-conscious consumer, but HFCS is one of the most controversial and debated “ingredients” in the food industry today. It’s sweeter and cheaper than regular sugar and is also a preservative, so the food industry loves it. It’s everywhere ─ drinks, cereals, breads, pasta sauces, and more. HFCS manufacturers claim it’s nutritionally the same as sugar, but many researchers and medical professionals disagree, citing studies that link it to increased rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. In his blog, Dr. Andrew Weil writes, “High fructose corn syrup is definitely bad for you. It is also bad for the planet, and I believe that it is a major driver of the obesity epidemic.”
Even if HFCS is chemically similar to table sugar, the verdict is still out on whether or not our bodies are able to process it
as effectively. Additionally, it is medically undisputed that too much sugar (not just HFCS) can contribute to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and high triglyceride levels, all of which increase risk of heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. So, what’s a concerned consumer to do? Weil says, “Giving up products containing HFCS will benefit your health, help control your weight, and if enough people get the message, protect the planet as well.”
Refined Grains – “A growing body of research shows that returning to whole grains and other less-processed sources of carbohydrates and cutting back on refined grains improves health in myriad ways,” states The Harvard School of Public Health. Credited with lowering risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, obesity, and other health problems, whole grains ─ meaning the bran, germ and endosperm of the kernel is still intact ─ contain fiber and other important nutrients, such as selenium, potassium and magnesium.
Refined grains like white flour, white bread, crackers, and most baked goods, on the other hand, have been processed to make them look prettier and to extend their shelf life, which also renders them nearly nutritionally devoid. Fiber and other valuable nutrients are removed during the milling process and, while some products are “enriched” or “fortified” to replace lost nutrients like folic acid and iron, whole grains are still a better choice.
Although science now backs the idea that whole grains are much better for us than refined, it isn’t a new concept ─ one of Pollan’s favorite rules, which he borrowed from Italian and Jewish grandmothers, is “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.”
Trans Fats – “Consuming trans fat increases low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol. This risk factor contributes to the leading cause of death in the U.S. coronary heart disease,” according to the CDC.
Trans fats come primarily in two forms ─ naturally occurring (in small amounts) in the fatty parts of meat and in dairy products, and in the “artificial” variety which contains partially hydrogenated oil that is formed when hydrogen is added to liquid oil, turning it into solid fat. These are the trans fats commonly found in commercially fried foods, packaged foods, baked goods, and margarine. The labels usually won’t list trans fats, but rather “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oil.
Dr. Michael Aziz, author of the book, The Perfect 10 Diet, says, “Trans fats are really like plastic…and when we eat them, they incorporate in our cells and the cells cannot communicate or talk to one another. In turn, hormones are disturbed, weight gain follows, but more troubling, the risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, infertility goes up.” One Harvard nutrition expert called trans fats “the biggest food-processing disaster in U.S. history,” due to their artery-clogging tendencies. Regardless, trans fats are inexpensive and they can increase a food’s shelf life, and help with stability and texture, so food manufacturers continue to put them into processed foods.
Food Dyes and Additives – Let’s face it, brown and white food is boring. Kids are drawn to colorful foods like red and green cereals at Christmas and neon yogurt, packaged in even more colorful boxes…so parents buy it. Unfortunately, the naturally colorful food they should be eating, like fresh fruits and veggies, aren’t promoted by our favorite cartoon characters.
Unfortunately, the dyes and additives that make yogurt, cereal, butter, cheese, hot dogs and many other foods (for kids and adults) so attractive may not be as much fun once they’re consumed. Child psychiatrist John E. Huxsahl of the Mayo Clinic says there are studies indicating that food colorings and preservatives such as sodium benzoate, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 10 could be linked to increased hyperactive behavior in some children. While the specific combination of additives hasn’t been identified, Europe has proactively banned many food dyes that the U.S. continues to put into its food supply, opting for natural dyes from carrot juice, blueberry juice extract, paprika and beet juice.
Despite pressure from many consumer groups, the FDA has no immediate plans to proactively alert consumers of the potential dangers. So, in the meantime, buy organic (never any artificial dyes) and avoid products listing any colors (e.g., Red 40). Who needs neon yogurt anyway?
Eat plants
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” This seven-word catchphrase from Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food sums up his position on America’s obsession with what’s in our food (a sort of food religion he refers to as “nutritionism”) and offers simple advice on what we should be doing instead of analyzing the chemical content of our food. In a nutshell, we should be eating “real food.”
When Chandler resident Vanessa Watne goes to the grocery store, she tries to buy foods containing five ingredients or less (and only ones she can easily recognize), less than 12 g of sugars, no HFCS or partially hydrogenated oils, and sugar isn’t listed as the first or second ingredient on the label. “I started eating and cooking healthier when I became a Mom. The more I read, the more I realized how important food is. I wanted our kids to be healthy.”
With a background in education, and a passion for nutrition and cooking, she has the motivation, the knowledge, and the skill to ensure her family of six avoids processed foods almost 100 percent of the time, but it was a long journey, and one that isn’t realistic for every family. But every little change makes a difference, Vanessa says. “Buy simple foods like grain-fed meats, pasteurized eggs, sprouted bread, and start eating more meals at home. Do some research and become a label reader, and include one green or orange vegetable with every dinner,” she recommends. Vanessa buys from farmers’ markets and local co-ops as often as possible but says, sometimes, the supermarket is just more convenient, and eating veggies that were grown with pesticides is still better than eating canned or no veggies at all. She does, however, adhere to the Dirty Dozen list when shopping.
It is this kind of lifestyle Pollan is referring to—the kind that is no longer the norm. “As a cook in your kitchen, you enjoy an omniscience about your food that no amount of supermarket study or label reading could hope to match. Having retaken control of the meal from the food scientists and processors, you know exactly what is and is not in it….To reclaim this much control over one’s food, to take it back from industry and science, is no small thing; indeed, in our time, cooking from scratch and growing any of your own food qualify as subversive acts,” he writes.
The science behind it all, and the way in which it’s presented, continues to unveil new challenges, discussions, and warnings, and to further confuse consumers, but one thing has remained constant ─ eating whole, unprocessed foods is the healthiest way to go. You just have to educate yourself. Do your research and read the labels, and maybe take a little of Michael Pollan’s advice to heart: “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
EWG’s Dirty Dozen
The fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residues that are the most important to buy organic:
1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Sweet bell peppers
4. Peaches
5. Strawberries
6. Nectarines – imported
7. Grapes
8. Spinach
9. Lettuce
10. Cucumbers
11. Blueberries – domestic
12. Potatoes
Aimee Welch is a freelance writer, marketing consultant, and former advertising executive. She writes advertising copy, magazine and web articles for her company, 17,000 Feet; and for herself, she runs, snowboards, travels and hangs with her husband, two kids and four dogs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from The Ohio State University.
Bravo for this! It’s important to know that not only are hyperpalatable foods — those foods that pack a lot of calories from sugar/salt/fat into each irresistible bite — addictive, but they destroy dopamine receptors in the same way that cocaine and alcohol do. Switching to a whole food diet rich in B-6, combined with other activities, can regenerate the blitzed pleasure and impulse control centers of the brain. Just when it feels like you can’t live without cupcakes, there is the science and the method to make hundreds of things more attractive than the cupcake.