Mic:
So, what does realistic healthy eating really look like? While eliminating entire food groups isn’t always necessary, we talked to nutritionists about the foods they never eat to give you a better idea of a well-rounded, nutritious diet. Ditch the soda and hop on the seltzer train and you, too, can be eating like a nutritionist in no time.
I don’t eat any of these of these except “processed meats”. No way I’m giving up bacon or sausage.
The items on that site are no-brainers.
As far as bacon and sausage go, you may have to search hard, but bacon is basically pork belly, a cut of pork, and it doesn’t have to be processed. I found one brand that is dry-rubbed with a few natural seasonings, and has no added nitrates, or nitrites, plus, no added sugar. We have a local health food store which has a meat section. They make their own sausage fresh daily from carefully selected pork and other natural ingredients.
Hugely important items missing from this site’s list are: sugar (I mean ANY kind of sugar—organic, cane, fruit sugar, honey, coconut water, etc.), fruits and even vegetables high in sugar, vegetables in the nightshade category such as tomatoes and eggplant, and food with appreciable mold content such as mushrooms and coffee.
David Asprey’s “Bulletproof Diet” book goes into extensive detail and theory regarding his own personal research into what exactly is good nutrition. We’ve adopted most of his recommendations into our lifestyle for over a year now, and we’re enjoying natural weight loss, better energy, and simply more vitality. Highly recommended.
I don’t eat meat, but unprocessed meat alternatives to are out there as you mentioned.
I’m not familiar with Asprey, but I’m going to grab the book now. Thanks for the suggestion.
Reading that list:
1. I’m not a yogurt guy but… avoid flavored yogurt and eat only unflavored yogurt? That just seems nasty. Skip yogurt altogether in that case.
2. Nailing cereals because there’s very little protein… duh. They’re cereals.
3. Low fat foods. Yep, that’s the trade-off. There used to be South Beach shakes. The only kind you could find in stores were the low-fat ones, and it kind of defeated the point.
4. Frozen dinners. The comment about salt is worthwhile. The complaint about small portions is part of the point. If you’re on a diet, you kind of need to get used to not eating a lot of bulk. Get used to smaller portions. You will get used to them, and your future self might just thank you.
5. Soda, yes these are on top of every diet no-no. But seltzer water? That’s the worst suggestion of the list. Just switch to something else. Drink tea.
6. Donuts and pastries are pretty obvious. Sad but obvious.
I buy the plain yogurt and add my own fruit. Much tastier and bonus – I get more fruit! 🙂
“duh. They’re cereals.” Why can’t cereal have protein in it?
Because cereals are grains? I mean, they could ADD protein items to it but wheat, rice, etc are by their very nature carbs.
I eat some things on that list here and there, but sparingly. One of the issues with the no cereals admonition is that they overlook why those exist – they’re a fast, easy breakfast item. If you remove bacon and sausage, remove cereal and pastries… what’s breakfast?
I have the same thing every morning: breakfast meatloaf made with pork, almond flour (in place of bread crumbs) and seasonings; chopped green peppers and mushrooms; roasted sweet and white potatoes; an egg; and spinach. Pan-fried together with a little olive oil.
It’s a great list, yet it barely scratches the surface regarding healthy nutrition.
I’ve been a whole-food vegan (yes, there’re such things as junk-food vegans!) for the past 10 years and have been able to reverse/avoid a couple of chronic illnesses (diabetes and heart disease) that run in the family. As a bonus, I’ve lost over 50 lb in the 1st year and look way younger than my 40+ age. It’s really about what you eat. Daily exercise helps, but not as much eating only whole unprocessed plants (no salt, sugar, flour or oil — yes, olive oil is a refined food) and drinking only water. There are literally thousands of edible plant species on earth, so I’m still discovering things every day.
Thanks for posting this. As geeks, we often end up totally out of shape and high on a diet of caffeinated drinks, donuts and pizza. This doesn’t have to be the case and good nutrition is actually a fun technical challenge to tackle. ?
In the US, generally, “nutritionist” means nothing and has no real connection to knowing anything about actual nutrition or diets.
Dietitians are certified with education requirements.
(Some of the sources there are RNDs, so that’s fair.
But when they talk about sodium like it’s Just Bad rather than “bad only for people with very specific health issues”, they lose credibility.
Also when they conflate “artificial” with “somehow bad”, like a hippie.)
Dry sugary cereals have a longer shelf life, and therefore more profitable for food companies. As the article mentions, oatmeal is a healthier (and cheaper) alternative.
“What’s breakfast?” You mean “What’s breakfast in the Western world?” Most parts of the world don’t have breakfast cereals, eggs or bacon in the morning.
Totally right about nutritionists — Specially those who are TV/Youtube personalities & paid to promote “magical” supplements.
Yeah, I know other countries eat different things for breakfast. Thanks for the unneeded condescension. However, I live in the US, not elsewhere as do, I’d bet, most of the readers of this post and of that linked article. So, while I could research and adopt other foods, my question is rather obviously in the context of Western/US habits and easily found foods.
Um, also? Oatmeal is a cereal. It has less sugar, but it’s not anymore protein rich than other cereals, so if the lack of protein is the knock against them it’s equally a knock on oatmeal.
You’re ignoring the other reason to skip boxed cereals. As the quote said:
“I never recommend dry cereals to clients. Instead, I recommend nutrient-dense complex carbohydrates, such as oatmeal or whole-grain toast.”
…common boxed cereals may taste fine but they are nutrient light. You’re better off with nutrient-dense complex carbs, which are lower on the glycemic index (GI) list and thus cause you to pump out less insulin, which is a limited resource in your body. pump it out too often and you become insulin resistant, and then diabetic. A real, rustic wheat bread has a lower GI value than say, a pastry or Wonder Bread or whatever, and has more nutrients to boot. Thus better.
Thats the problem with most boxed cereals — theyre mini pastries and little else.
As for TV dinners and portions — it may surprise you but even for losing weight (fat, actually) you want to eat a lot of protein. Too deep to go into, but protein aids in muscle building and it all helps with fat burning. Most people should add weight training and work to build more muscle, which means eating more protein.
Yogurt — yes, flavored yogurt is for suckers; adults looking for candy-tasting yogurt so they can pretend it’s good for them. Meanwhile, 25g of sugar per serving. Errrrnnnt. Fail. Yoplait and all that crap is disgusting, it’s why the immigrant who came to american said “What the hell!?” and marketed greek yogurt and boom, new hit. Instead of sugar, normal unflavored good greek yogurt has 20-25g of protein, which is infinitely more useful to the body than sugar. We dont need more sugar, nearly everyone gets plenty from western diets.
Going w/ processed low-fat foods is not “the trade-off”. Eating real foods, with fats, is a fine option, if you’re eating correctly, which means not all the crap. Cooking with butter is fine. Eating fats is fine. Eating more calories than you need, eating nutrient-light food, and eating lots of sugar is not fine. Unfortunately they often all together — crappy food thats light on nutrients but heavy on sugars.
Seltzer water is fine — it’s water, it’s fizzy. It doesn’t boil the enamel off your teeth.
I was a diet soda-holic for a long time, and I’ve weaned myself off of it now for a while, with the occasional very rare exception. We have seltzer water in the house (my brand is La Croix) but I worry that when I drink it, even though it has nothing in it, I’m not getting hydrated. Perhaps because it tastes a little salty? Perhaps the fizz? Perhaps the gas makes me feel full earlier and so I just don’t drink as much? I don’t know that it is or isn’t hydrating, it just doesn’t feel like it to me.
what’s wrong with seltzer water?
you’re probably taking in quite a bit of HFCS too, you just don’t realize it (even if you don’t drink soda)
You’re defending your deliberate limitation of what constitutes a decent breakfast, and you’re offended by “condescension”?
Oatmeal also is packaged in a box. Ergo boxed cereal, and to be avoided. So is shredded wheat.
The list, drawn from the personal choices of a number of individuals who are nutritionists, is just that a very general list of personal preference.
Cereal: a grain used for food, such as wheat, oats, or corn. Hence mainly carbs.
Is there a reading problem on this thread? I didn’t deliberately limit breakfast, I pointed out that most people reading that DO live in the West and so it’s irrelevant what someone in, e.g. Japan typically eats for breakfast
The other point I made is that the nutritionists didn’t offer alternatives that most people can easily take advantage of in the real world. It’s easy to say “Avoid cereals” and then to say you should avoid bacon and sausage… but that doesn’t leave a lot of alternatives that most US based readers can use in real life.
Sure, we can do things like this: https://food52.com/blog/19412-3-different-takes-on-shakshuka-all-are-winners and it sounds tasty, but it’s a cooking project and takes at least 30 minutes in the morning.
Is that clear enough?
It’s certainly clear that you don’t believe most US-based readers are capable of finding alternative food for breakfast that doesn’t involve a cooking project.
i’m not giving up my soda. sorry but nope.