What is Real Food? (Video)

What is Real Food

There are a lot of ways to describe food: how many calories, plant-based, low carb, low fat, high protein, vitamin content, amount of fiber, and gluten-free, to name just a few.

Unfortunately, all of these labels lead to a common complaint about nutrition, “Why is figuring out what to eat so confusing?”

If you’ve ever yearned for a simpler way to make food choices, there’s good news. In recent years a new classification system, based on levels of food processing, has been attracting a lot of attention.  It’s called the NOVA system, and it categorizes food based on degrees of processing ranging from unprocessed to ultra-processed.

Most of the food we eat has been processed to one degree or another.  But ultra-processed food is in a class by itself, which is defined as “formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, typically created by series of industrial techniques and processes”. Basically, you start with something that came from a farm, break it down into its separate components, add some chemicals that have never been near a farm, such as petroleum products, mix it all together, make it look like food, put it in a box or bottle and sell it.

Once you understand what ultra-processed food is, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that there’s growing research evidence that foods with higher levels of processing, and particularly ultra-processed foods, are significantly detrimental to health.

On the other end of the processing spectrum is “real food”: food that’s either in its natural state (with no processing) or which has been lightly processed.

Examples of light processing include chopping, seasoning, cooking, and fermenting. These treatments retain the basic qualities of the food while making it more enjoyable to eat and more nutritious.

Fermentation, for example, is a kind of light processing which can increase the health benefits of the food.  Fermented foods include yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, miso, kombucha, and kimchi. Fermentation not only provides a natural way to preserve foods but brings along health benefits, making fermented foods a healthy alternative to conventionally processed foods that require chemical additives or preservatives to remain shelf stable.

It’s important to understand that a single type of food can be made available in many forms, ranging from natural or minimally processed to greater and great degrees of processing, with higher and higher levels of additives and artificial ingredients.

Take cheese.  All cheese is processed food, since it requires various steps and additives to turn milk into a solid. But there’s a huge difference between lightly processed cheese, which generally consists of just a few ingredients, and ultra-processed, brightly colored, shelf-stable “cheese products,” which contain multiple chemicals and preservatives.

Regardless of the traditions, habits, and social or cultural influences which may guide your food choices, a diet rich in real foods will be far healthier than one loaded up with ultra-processed foods.  A plant-based real food diet is better than a plant-based diet composed of ultra-processed foods. The same holds true for keto, gluten-free, high-protein, or any other diet you may choose.

Real food-based diets have passed the test of time, since many different societies and cultures have maintained good health over hundreds of years eating only real food. On the other hand, the rapid increase of so-called “diseases of civilization” like diabetes, heart disease, and elevated blood pressure coincides with the relatively recent widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods.

The bottom line? Focus on real foods to simplify your food choices and to create nutritionally balanced, diverse, and delicious meals.