I thought I understood what it meant to "Eat Real Foods". I'm a cheerleader for made from scratch foods, full of seasonal produce, whole grains, low fat dairy and lean protein. Then came the Ultra Processed Food critique with specific classifications of foods based on processing.
After years of neglecting processing of foods in the studies, evidence emerges showing an association between ultra processed foods and many non communicable diseases. The NOVA classification system, in a report from the United Nations, breaks down food into 4 classifications of processing:
- Unprocessed and minimally processed foods, include fruits, seeds, milk, leaves, roots, eggs, whole beans and grains and meat. This allows for processes that include drying, crushing, grinding, roasting, boiling, non-alcoholic fermentation, pasteurization, freezing, placing in containers and vacuum packaging.
- Processed culinary ingredients, include oils, butter, lard, salt, sugar. In isolation these are unbalanced, but rarely are eaten alone. Use these with Group I but not overuse.
- Processed foods, include canned vegetables, fruit and fish, fresh bread and cheese, processed meats to include bacon, ham and pastrami.
- Ultra-Processed foods include packaged snack, margarines and spreads, baby formula, ice cream, sweetened cereals, soft drinks, mass produced bread, energy drinks, fruited yogurt, stick meat and foods made with colors, flavors, thickeners, gels, emulsifiers and other sugars like fructose, fruit juice concentrates, maltodextrin, lactose and dextrose.
Aim for mostly Group I, some Group 2, a little Group 3 and few Group 4 Foods.
While I'm not entirely clear on where some of the foods in my menu plan fall, I understand the concept. Here's my version of a recipe I made with mostly Group 1 and 2 ingredients. Had it been last fall, my canned pumpkin (Group 3) would have been a seasonal fresh squash or pumpkin (Group 1). There are no Group 4 (Ultra-processed foods) in this recipe.
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