Eating For Health

Everyone has heard of “processed foods”.   But now they talk about “ultra-processed” foods.   When teaching nutrition we did talk about why processed foods can be unhealthy but only recently has the term “ultra-processed” foods come into vogue.   In a previous blog post, Should You Avoid Ultraprocessed Food? , I noted that some of my students say that to eat healthy one should avoid “processed food”.   What they did not seem to understand is that most of the food we eat is processed to some extent.   Whole wheat bread is a healthy choice but bread is a “processed food”.   They harvest the grain, mill the grain, make the flour and then make the bread.   Cereal, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, 100% juice – all are processed to some extent.   But now there is “ultraprocessed food”.   These foods are not only highly processed but often contain a lot of added sugar, salt and fat as well as preservatives and many have artificial coloring ...

Nutrition in the news talks about how exercising can help you eat a healthier diet and maybe you should enjoy that dessert and not skip it.   March is National Nutrition Month so learning more about nutrition and good health is a key focus this month.   Time has some interesting articles discussing food this month.          1.   Exercising Might Help You Make Healthier Food Choices – a recent study has found.   How does increasing your exercise help you eat better?    A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that those who exercised on a regular basis ate healthier.   Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin studied 2,680 adults who were not exercising or on a diet.   After starting an exercise program, the study participants started to eat healthier.    They chose lean meats, ate more fruits and vegetables and cut back on fried foods.   They also cut back on the ...