We often think of processed food, in general, as being not as healthy as fresh food.  But unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see processed foods as unhealthy with labels like, “reduced fat,” “natural,” or even “organic.” The truth is, while organic processed foods may be a little better for you than traditional processed foods, it’s better to minimize their consumption altogether.

A recent report published in the Journal of the World Public Health Nutrition Association has grouped processed foods into three types:

Type One Processing does not much alter the nutritional quality of food, and can sometimes even improve it. This type of processing involves cleaning, removing inedible parts, grating, squeezing, drying, parboiling, freezing, etc.

Type Two Processing involves extracting or purifying certain substances from the original food. This may include pressing, milling, refining, hydrogenating, using enzymes or additives, etc.

Type Three Processing involves the creation of durable, accessible, convenient, attractive, ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products that are excessive in total fat, bad fats, sugar and sodium, and low in micronutrients, other bioactive compounds and dietary fiber.

The report outlines how Type Three processed foods are the biggest problem when it comes to obesity, because the finished products, even though they are often presented as healthy, are by their very nature quite unhealthy.

Here is the report:

The Big Issue is Ultra-Processing

Share this Post...

consumption, Dietary Fiber, fat, food, fresh, healthy, micronutrients, natural, nature, nutrition, obesity, organic, problem, processed food, products, quality, sodium, sugar, unhealthy

“Renew You” Challenge – This week’s weekly challenge is perfect for the upcoming holidays as a way to keep your weight in check, and your body energized!

Fresh fruit and vegetable juice is full of phytonutrients that nourish the body head to toe. But if you have a vegetable juicer, you know that it can be a time-consuming process to make juice everyday. Here’s a great tip that can help you reap the benefits of the hundreds of nutrients found in fruits and veggies, without having to take 30 minutes out of every day!

You’ll still have to commit to juicing, but only once every week or two. Buy a huge batch of fresh fruits and veggies. Try to get a rainbow of variety. And don’t forget those leafy greens and detoxifying cruciferous veggies like kale, broccoli and cauliflower. Go ahead and make a large portion of juice. Drink some right away, and save the rest to freeze in individual servings. You can even pour some into ice cube trays and add those to smoothies as you go.

It’s the next best thing to fresh, as many nutrients are conserved when frozen. And if you don’t have time to juice everyday, it’s a delicious way to get those nutrients in.

Yum!

Share this Post...

benefits, body, broccoli, cauliflower, cruciferous, delicious, detoxifying, everyday, fresh, Fruit, head, juice, juicer, juicing, kale, leafy greens, nourish, nutrients, phytonutrients, rainbow, smoothies, time-consuming, toe, variety, Vegetable

“Renew You” Challenge – Be a part of my Weekly Challenge (I mean, opportunity!) to help set you off on the right foot for bringing health to your week.

So here we are right smack in the middle of another cold and flu season, and all I can hear in my head is mom telling me to eat my fruits and veggies. Why? Well, you know how a lot of folks take multivitamins every day? Fresh fruits and vegetables are like nature’s multivitamin—chock full of important nutrients and natural antioxidants proven to boost immune function and help keep you healthy—which brings me back to cold and flu season.

The best way to ward off seasonal illness is by being proactive. Don’t wait until the first sign of a sneeze or sniffle, but instead practice good habits all year long, and that includes (and you knew this was coming) eating more fruits and veggies. So that’s your challenge this week!

Now before you start to groan, just bear with me. The CDC has this great new website that helps you calculate how many servings of fruits and vegetables you need each day based on your age, sex and activity level, and from there it’s just a matter of being creative. And parents, pay attention—getting kids to gobble up their fruits and veggies may not be as difficult as you think. Just plan ahead, spend a little time at the beginning of the week slicing and storing, and soon the whole family will be on their way to better health. Here are some tips to help you get started!

 Dip bite-size veggies in low-fat dressing
 Spread natural peanut butter on celery sticks
 Spread hummus on celery, carrots or even whole-wheat pita
 Add pre-sliced veggies and even fruit to sandwiches & wraps
 Prepare individual salad servings for a quick grab-and-go lunch
 Top natural tortilla chips or pita chips with fresh, homemade salsa
 Mix berries or other fruits with yogurt, oatmeal & cereal
 Keep frozen fruit on hand for shakes & smoothies

For more simple, healthful snack ideas and recipes using fresh fruits and veggies, be sure to visit www.fiber35diet.com.

Share this Post...

activity, age, antioxidants, berries, better, Boost, calculate, carrots, CDC, celery, cereal, challenge, chips, cold, creative, eating, Fiber35 Diet, flu, fresh, frozen, fruits, function, good, habits, Health, healthful, healthy, hummus, ideas, illness, immune, immunity, kids, low-fat dressing, lunch, more, multivitamins, natural, nutrients, oatmeal, parents, peanut butter, pita, plan, proactive, salad, salsa, sandwiches, season, seasonal, servings, sex, shakes, simple, smoothies, snack, sneeze, sniffle, tips, tortilla, vegetables, veggies, whole wheat, wraps, yogurt

“Renew You” Challenge – Be a part of my Weekly Challenge to help set you off on the right foot for bringing health to your week. You could even add it to your calendar. Join us! This week we’re focusing on eating better for your heart.

We all know that what we eat has a lot to do with how healthy we are—especially when it comes to heart health. But with all the talk about things like trans fats and saturated fats being linked to high cholesterol and heart disease, a lot of folks overlook another important dietary factor that can have a pretty big impact on your heart: carbs.

Recently scientists in Australia conducted a study about how certain types of carbohydrates can affect healthy cardiovascular function—and not in a good way. The guilty carbs are those with a high glycemic index that can cause blood sugar levels to skyrocket, like processed snacks, cereals and baked goods loaded with refined sugars, along with white bread and even potatoes.

Basically, the rapid rise in glucose (blood sugar) contributes to plaque buildup in your arteries and has been linked to dangerous inflammation and even blood clots. Not only that, but scientists think that women may be even more affected than men by heart-hazardous carbs, which is a scary thought considering the number one cause of death among American women is coronary heart disease. So I bet you can guess what’s coming next, right?

This week—and I’m looking at you, girls!—let’s focus on choosing the right carbs for a healthier heart. Start by replacing things like white bread, white rice (and pasta), sugary low-fiber cereals, processed snacks and baked goods with whole grains, oats and brown rice. Ditch the potatoes and eat more beans instead, since beans are one of those good carbs that are digested slowly by the body and won’t cause a sharp rise in blood sugar.

Overall, stick with foods that are high in fiber, and be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. When you’re thirsty, pass on sugary fruit juices and soft drinks and opt for purified water and unsweetened herbal teas instead. Your heart will thank you!

Share this Post...

American, arteries, baked goods, beans, blood clots, blood sugar, body, brown rice, buildup, carbohydrates, carbs, cardiovascular, cereals, choosing, coronary heart disease, dangerous, death, digested, eat, fiber, fresh, fruits, glucose, glycemic, good, Health, healthy, heart, heart disease, herbal, high, high cholesterol, index, inflammation, juices, levels, low-fiber, oats, pasta, plaque, potatoes, processed, purified, refined sugars, right, rise, saturated fats, scientists, smart, snacks, soft drinks, sugary, teas, trans fats, veggies, water, white bread, white rice, whole grains, women

“Renew You” Challenge - Be a part of my Weekly Challenge to help set you off in the right direction for bringing health to your week!

Sure it’s easy to talk about healthy eating, but sometimes actually doing it is a different thing altogether. Maybe work gets too busy, or your daily to-do list gets so long that by the time you even think about lunch it’s easier just to head to the nearest fast food joint.

And if you have school-age kids, forget it! Along with worrying about after-school activities, homework and everything else, planning and packing lunches every day can seem nearly impossible. But the reality folks is that we’re trading in our health for an easy shortcut, and over time the consequences can add up.

Most fast food options—including many of our nation’s school lunch programs—are loaded with processed sugars, unhealthy fats and unnecessary additives and preservatives that can take a serious toll on our digestive system and our overall health. America’s growing obesity problem is just one example! So I say it’s time to make a change for the better.

This week, let’s all do our best to brown bag it. You may need to plan ahead and make a grocery list, but I think taking a little extra time out of your week is worth it for better health in the long run. And don’t be fooled by pre-packaged meals and snacks that claim they’re good for you but really aren’t any better than what you’d get at the drive-through! Your best bet is to stick with fresh raw foods, whole grains and lean meats, and whenever possible, opt for organic. Here are some ideas to help you get started!

• High-fiber fresh fruits and veggies
• Homemade hummus or low-fat cream cheese
• Whole-grain breads/pita (no high-fructose corn syrup)
• Organic peanut butter (no sugars/trans fats)
• Lean protein sources such as chicken, turkey and fish
• Low-fat cottage cheese and yogurt (watch sugar content)
• Homemade quesadilla slices (great for kids!)
• Natural trail mix, granola, and snacks
• Unsweetened applesauce
• Air-popped popcorn
• Hard-boiled eggs/egg salad

Once you get started, you’ll see just how easy it can be to make a few healthier choices every week, and soon you’ll be a brown bag expert!

Share this Post...

additives, better, breads, brown bag, challenge, change, chicken, choices, consequences, cottage cheese, dairy, digestive system, eating, egg salad, fast food, fats, fish, food, fresh, fruits, granola, grocery list, hard-boiled eggs, Health, healthier, healthy, high-fiber, high-fructose corn syrup, hummus, kids, lean, low-fat, lunch, lunches, meats, natural, obesity, options, organic, peanut butter, pita, plan, popcorn, pre-packaged meals, preservatives, processes, protein, quesadilla, raw, school lunch programs, school-age, snacks, sugars, trail mix, trans fats, turkey, unhealthy, unsweetened applesauce, veggies, weekly, whole-grain, work, yogurt

My Weekly ‘Renew You’ Challenge - Eat a rainbow everyday! Sounds pretty goofy, doesn’t it? But be honest, it’s not the first time you’ve heard this piece of advice, so why not give it a try? In fact, it’s such a good tip even I’m going to jump on the bandwagon!

Eating a diet that includes of a rainbow of colors (and we’re talking natural colors folks, not those scary chemical additives they use to make neon-bright candy and other foods) helps to ensure that you’re getting a wide variety of phytonutrients—important nutrients found in fruits and vegetables that we need to stay healthy.

Phytonutrients include carotenoids, flavonoids, lignans and polyphenols, all of which include their own nutrients (for example, anthocyanins found in purple and deep red plant foods are a type of flavonoid) that work in a multitude of ways to keep our bodies in great shape. Mostly known for their antioxidant properties (which helps protect healthy cells), phytonutrients also promote a strong immune system and help with detoxification.

So your challenge (and mine!) this week? Let’s try to eat a rainbow every day—and remember, that doesn’t mean a bag of Skittles®! I mean fresh, colorful, natural plant foods. You might think you’re doing a good job by eating a salad every day, but if it only has lettuce, cucumbers and carrots, you’re missing out on the red, yellow, blue and purple ingredients. Toss some raisins into your salad, have some red and yellow bell peppers with dinner, and snack on some blueberries for dessert. Oh, and don’t forget white—cauliflower, white beans, white eggplant, and even jicama can make your rainbow complete, so let’s get started!

Share this Post...

anthocyanins, antioxidant, beans, bell peppers, blueberries, carotenoids, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, detoxification, diet, eating, eggplant, flavonoids, foods, fresh, fruits, healthy, immune system, ingredients, jicama, legumes, lettuce, lignans, nutrients, phytonutrients, plant-based, plants, polyphenols, rainbow, raisins, salad, vegetables

‘Renew You’ Challenge – It may sound like funny advice when we’re talking about taking a trip to the grocery store, but “stick to the perimeter” is one of the simplest and smartest things you can do to make sure you’re eating the right foods for your body.

What am I talking about? Well, think about it—if you stay out of those middle aisles in the grocery store (you know, the ones stocked high with processed foods and sugary snacks) and just go around the perimeter of the store, what do you find? It’s where all the fresh foods are!

So this week, your challenge is to do just that… and ONLY that. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and don’t even go down those middle aisles. Make it an unprocessed week and be creative with meals and snacks. Try new things and see what you come up with!

Share this Post...

challenge, food, fresh, fresh foods, grocery store, natural, perimeter, right foods, shop, unprocessed