The #1 Nutrition Principle

“Red wine is better than white wine!”

“Kale is better than spinach!”

“GRAINS ARE EVIL!!”

Ever feel like good nutrition is just too complicated?

If you’re really confused on what to eat to lose weight and/or live healthier, try this ONE habit:

Eat mostly (or at least more) minimally processed foods.

Most people would define this as choosing foods close to how they’re found in nature. Whole foods—sweet potatoes, broccoli, chicken, an apple—are a great example of this. Think of foods that you can grow in your garden. 

Why?

Reason #1: The greater the degree of processing, the more likely a food has:

👉Lost nutrition (fiber, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, other nutrients)

👉Gained additives (sugar and/or refined starch, unhealthy fats, sodium, preservatives, fillers)

Reason #2: Diets rich in minimally processed foods are linked to lower rates of heart disease, cancer, depression and type 2 diabetes.

Reason #3: Because minimally processed foods also tend to be richer in fiber and protein, and lower in calories per volume, these foods make it easier for you to manage your calorie intake.

Minimally processed foods are more nutritious, improve health outcomes, and help you regulate your appetite.

There’s just one caveat:

It’s REALLY hard to eat ONLY whole foods.

Imagine a scale for food, from the least to the most processed. It’s not just black and white; foods aren’t simply ‘completely artificial’ or ‘straight from the earth or animal’.

Most are somewhere in between.

This is why your favorite health coach encourages minimally processed foods versus only limiting yourself to whole foods.

Look at the foods you’re currently eating, and just try to move along the scale, choosing foods that are slightly less processed than what you’d usually eat.

Plus, some processed foods are awesome.

Grass-fed whey or vegan protein powder.

Tinned fish.

Those little emergency to-go packets of nut butter you keep in your glove compartment. (Snack attacks are REAL.)

I keep single serving bags of Skinny Pop popcorn in my car.

By the way, cooking, chopping and blending are all forms of processing.

So, it’s not that processing is “bad.”

It’s just that ultra-processed foods—star-shaped cereal puffs, electric blue energy drinks, and pretty much anything that’s shelf-stable for over a year—are usually specifically engineered to make these foods too delicious, and thus easy to overeat.

GoMacro Macrobars

I recently came across these bars—yes, they’re a processed food and contain some sugar. However, as emergency snack bars go, these are pretty clean. They’re Gluten-free, non-GMO, organic, vegan, soy-free, Kosher. 

The regular size bars have 11 grams of protein, and the minis have 4 grams of protein.

It’s a better option than hitting a drive-thru and will satisfy your snack attack.

Pre-gardening Update

Clearing my vegetable garden of debris is taking me days and days and days…

A word of caution: Beware of plants that spread. I’m trying to dig up every speck of peppermint that found its way into the dirt.

Dill, spearmint and Lily of the Valley are a few more invasive plants that you may regret growing in your garden.

Wishing you a beautiful week.

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

“Spend time with your food; every minute of your meal should be happy. Not many people have the time and the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a meal like that. We are very fortunate.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh