Our Nutrition Approach Step 2: Understanding food content
Once you understand the amount of food you are consuming (if you miss that article, you can read it HERE) and get into a good rhythm, you can start to toon into the content that is in the food that you are eating. My patient’s have probably heard me say “I’d rather you eat anything than eat nothing at all”. This is because depriving your body of calories is a tremendous stressor on your system. Most people already have a fair amount of stress they are dealing with, and this is something to address to ensure a calorie deficit is not contributing to perceived stress. However, tuning into the food you are consuming and paying a bit of attention to it can also go a long way. Understanding balance of macros within a meal can stabilize blood sugar, eliminating artificial ingredients like dyes, preservatives, and sweeteners can reduce inflammation, and identifying what I call “imposter foods” can save you money AND help you nourish your body with food it actually recognizes.
The world of nutrition can get so so so soooooo complicated. I have sat through hundreds of hours of nutrition education and everyone has their opinion that they preach as fact on this topic. I supposed this whole blog series makes me no different, however, I have come to a sense of knowing around what foods I want to maximize in my diet and what foods I want to minimize. The majority of my diet consists of things that are recognizable and have 1 single ingredient. For example: an apple, butter, chicken. These things don’t come in a package with an ingredient list a mile long. They also don’t have those eye catching labels on them saying they are “low in fat” or “sugar free” or “high in protein”. They just are what they are! Apples are a carbohydrate source, butter is a fat source, and chicken is a protein source. How simple is it when we just start to focus on the tried and true foods.
Here is a list of food items we always have on hand:
Protein
Ground Beef and Venison
Beef Roast
Whole Chicken, Chicken Breast, Chicken Thighs
Pork Shoulder
Breakfast Sausage, Italian Sausage
Seafood: Salmon, Shrimp, Canned Sardines or Tuna, Whitefish
Eggs (thank you to all of our friends with chickens!)
Dairy like greek yogurt, raw milk, cheese (I have a new found love of cottage cheese!)
Collagen Powder, Protein Powder, Gelatin
Produce
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Potatoes
Squash
A green leafy such as microgreens / arugula / kale / spinach
Tomatoes
Lemons
Limes
Apples
Bananas
Various in season produce throughout the year
Grains
Basmati Rice
Steelcut Oats
Corn Tortilla Chips / Corn Tortilla Shells
Dried beans / lentils
Fats
Grassfed Butter
The dairy products listed above
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Avocado Oil for high heat cooking
Nuts/Nut Butters and Seeds
Baking
Organic Flour
Organic sugar
Brown Sugar
Vanilla pods + Titos Vodka to make my own Vanilla
Sea Salt
Cinnamon / Nutmeg / Clove
Cacao Powder and Cacao Nibs
Maple Syrup
Honey
Using that list of ingredients we almost always have on hand, we are able to create meals quickly (like putting together a fish dinner, with roasted carrots, and rice) or a crockpot meal using a roast and any vegetables we have on hand. I also LOVE baking and always have homemade breads, cookies, etc on hand. Do they still contain sugar? Of course! But I hand curated every single ingredient in the things I back and therefore have the control over the ingredients!
Grocery Shopping
Growing up in the country with a big family, we would do a huge grocery haul once every couple of weeks which was a habit I maintained into adulthood just because it was what I knew! Even when I lived in Chicago and there were markets on every corner, I would still do a huge grocery haul - and then have regrets when I would have to shlep it back to my apartment My husband really helped me to change this behavior because not only would I over buy things we didn’t have a plan for eating, but we would have ingredients going to waste! This is your reminder to find your little local grocery store that you love (mine is Kingma’s). We make a handful of trips to the grocery store during the week on the way home from work or at lunch if needed to pick up ingredients we may be missing. Having the Farmer’s Market in the summer is the best because we have so many fresh ingredients, but the same rules apply! It is so easy to overbuy things you won’t use and will throw away (which is devastating!). Get a good idea of what you need for the week ahead when you go the the Farmer’s Market and when you get home, clean it with a water and white vinegar mixture to make sure it stays fresh.
Decoding Labels
It is inevitable that you will buy things that come in a package with an ingredient label. I like to look at them just out of curiosity and have found the more I do it, the better at it I get! Hint: this is NOT something we are taught is school as doctors. This is what you call “informal learning”.
The ingredient list on food packaging is your first clue to understanding what you're putting into your body. By law, food manufacturers are required to list all ingredients, but the way they're listed can sometimes be misleading. Here’s what to look out for:
Length of the list: Generally, a shorter list of ingredients suggests less processing and fewer artificial additives. Aim for products with ingredients you can easily recognize or pronounce.
Order of ingredients: Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. If sugar or its many aliases (corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, etc.) are at the top, that means it is one of the main ingredients in that item.
Hidden sugars: With over 60 different names for sugar used on labels, staying vigilant is crucial. Words ending in "-ose" (like sucrose or glucose) are usually sugars.
Artificial ingredients: This is any ingredient that sounds like it belongs in a chemistry lab. Artificial colors (like Red 40 or Blue 1), preservatives (such as BHT, BHA), and sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose) are considered artificial ingredients.
The Myth of "Health Foods"
The term "health food" can be deceiving. Just because a product is marketed as healthy doesn't mean it is. There are many different majors that train people to understand the psychology of what makes the consumer behave in a certain way. The health food industry is rife with experts in packaging, labeling, and flavor combinations to get you to buy their products. It can be easy to get caught up in purchasing these products that claim to be healthy and come with the price tag to prove it. More often than not, you are better off ignoring the health food claims and still checkin the labels on various packages to comapre. You’d be surprised!
Here's how to spot the imposters:
Health claims: Be skeptical of bold health claims on packaging. Phrases like "low-fat" or "high in fiber" may be true, but they don't tell the whole story. For instance, a "low-fat" product may be packed with sugar to compensate for the reduced flavor.
Superfood hype: While certain foods are nutrient-dense, no single food is a magic bullet for health. Diversifying your diet is more beneficial than relying on specific "superfoods."
Organic vs. healthy: Organic products can still be high in sugar, fat, or calories. While choosing organic can reduce exposure to pesticides, it doesn't automatically make a product healthier in terms of nutritional content.
In a world brimming with artificial ingredients and misleading health claims, becoming an informed consumer is your best defense. What is even better is gaining the skills in the kitchen to make as much of your own food with the freshest and simplest ingredients possible. By learning how to read and understand food labels, questioning the validity of health food claims, and prioritizing whole foods, you can navigate the complex food landscape with confidence. Remember, the goal isn't perfection but progress toward a healthier, more informed way of eating!