What I eat as a Nutrition and health coach and the Ultra Processed foods that I avoid - By @Pretty.wholesomecoach
‘Our willpower is outmatched by the science behind food’
– BRYAN JOHNSON, LONGEVITY EXPERT
As a trainee Nutrition and Health Coach, I’m often asked what I eat or more often than not I’m asked what I don’t eat. It is an understandable go to question but food is just one part of the much bigger picture of wellness.
For me that picture definitely includes nutritious food. I love food and I love cooking. Food is an important and enjoyable part of my life but it’s right up there with taking care of myself with good sleep, lots of exercise/movement and spending time doing things that bring me joy with the people I love most.
The one size fits all approach definitely does not work
We are all unique (thank goodness wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we were all the same) and our nutrition and health requirements are unique too.
The one size fits all approach definitely does not work, which makes writing for a large diverse group of people quite difficult. Some foods or practises will work well for some and not for others. Over the coming weeks and months as I share ideas and recipes with you, start to listen to your own bodies, discover what works for you. What makes you feel good, what gives you energy, what makes you thrive and dig into that.
I aim for a 90/10 balance
I aim to live a wholesome life most of the time (hence the name Pretty Wholesome Coach not Perfectly Wholesome Coach). Personally I aim for a 90/10 balance. 100% perfect all of the time would mean I couldn’t eat out with friends and no one would invite me to dinner anymore! You might want to aim for 60/40 or a 80/20 balance. Have a think and consider what is do-able for you as a starting point. I certainly did not start with 90/10 this is something that’s grown over time. The better I feel living a wholesome life the more I wanted it. Improved sleep, mood, energy and weight loss are just a few of the side effects. I crave that more than anything.
I avoid Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs)
So, in answer to the question ‘what don’t I eat’, I avoid Ultra Processed Foods (UPF’s) as much as humanly possible and I passionately recommend that to everyone. This also includes food products in my home cooking that contain emulsifiers, chemical additives or any other weird and wonderful ingredient that I can’t even pronounce the name of.
Until the 1950’s, we ate a whole food diet. We cooked from scratch with fresh ingredients. The real bonus of a whole food diet is the natural abundance of fibre, protein, healthy fats and natural sugars. It’s easy to eat a well-balanced diet when you consume whole foods. And there is no need to count calories as it’s extremely difficult to overeat. Have you ever had to stop yourself from overconsuming broccoli!
What are UPFs?
UPFs are ‘foods’ that have been highly processed and altered significantly from their original form by industrial processes.
They typically contain additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, artificial colours and flavours. They have a huge list of ingredients, most of which would never be used in home cooking. Due to the high level or processing and additives they will have a very long shelf like.
One of my lecturers currently has a loaf of bread that he’s kept in the packet for three years and it has not gone mouldy, hard or decomposed in anyway!!
UPFs = Huge Profits
Big food companies make ridiculously huge profits from these products. Getting us to eat more and more of them is their aim and they employ teams of scientists and specialists to ensure the we just can’t get enough of their products.
Foods typically have the perfect combination of salt and sugars to make them highly desirable and just the right level of softness so that we can consume large amounts as quickly as possible.
Even the feel of a packet before you open a product is taken into consideration not to mention the marketing. These foods are specifically designed for overconsumption and are highly addictive.
By the late 1970’s UPF’s were making regular appearances in our home cooking and now take outs, fast foods, pizzas, burgers, sugary bakes line every street in every town. You don’t even have to get out of your car to pick some up!
We are over consuming foods that our bodies simply can’t deal with. Foods made up of a cocktail of chemicals, huge volumes of refined sugars and a whole host of preservatives. It takes thousands to millions of years for our bodies to evolve to changes yet we’ve altered our nutrition, the building blocks for our health, rapidly in such a short space of time. We are struggling with obesity and becoming sicker and sicker.
Cooking with whole ingredients
Over the coming weeks, I aim to inspire you to cook using whole ingredients, to expand your knowledgeable around food labelling to enable you to make the best choices/swaps in the supermarket and to thrive on wholesome, nutritional and delicious food. UPF’s are such an interesting and important topic, please take some time to read and/or watch the following, it really is an eye opener!
My recommended reads and watches
An absolute must read:
Ultra Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken
Recommended watch:
Irresistible, why we can’t stop eating - BBC iPlayer.
The harsh reality of ultra processed food – YouTube
I’ll apologise now for the amount of time you’ll spend reading food labels during your weekly shop 😉…..