It’s a new year, and I’d like to talk about why I write this blog. I want to make sure you understand how very big is the difference between real food and manufactured calories. Real food nourishes. At best, manufactured calories entertain. Manufactured calories also cause a great many serious medical problems. Like breast and colon cancer; diabetes, obesity, and arthritis; strokes and heart attacks. For starters. Continue reading
Category Archives: Ultraprocessing
Color Your New Year
It’s a new year, and I’d like to talk about why I write this blog. I want to make sure you understand how very big is the difference between real food and manufactured calories. Real food nourishes. At best, manufactured calories entertain. Manufactured calories also cause a great many serious medical problems. Like breast and colon cancer; diabetes, obesity, and arthritis; strokes and heart attacks. For starters. Continue reading
Michael Pollan Knows What He’s Talking About
From time to time, when my journey into the mysteries of disease prevention was just beginning, I would discover someone whose work really spoke to me, who helped to clarify the things I was beginning to see, and who became a sort of personal mentor to me as I continued on the path. One of these people was Michael Pollan, who was catapulted to fame with his insightful and riveting books, especially The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. He shared that Carlos Monteiro, a professor of nutrition at the University of São Paulo, was the first to label and define ultra-processed items. He said that whereas processed food could be made at home, ultra-processed items contained ingredients no normal person has at home, and required equipment you would find only in a factory. Touché. Continue reading
Candy for Breakfast
Today’s post, like many I share, is a story about how a nourishing grain-based food transitioned into a class of stripped-carb-based products that, despite that they did not nourish, still came to dominate the market over the course of just a couple of decades. Continue reading
A Recipe for Ultraprocessed Cupcakes
Today I want to spend a few minutes talking about why I feel so strongly about avoiding ultraprocessed items. I am going to share a story about an event that happened some years back, when someone I worked with decided one morning to pick up some cupcakes on her way into work. It was a very nice gesture, and I am sure that she had the best intentions. But this is an example of the fact that we must take personal responsibility for what we put into our mouths, because nothing will change if we do not. The only way Big Ultra Processed will stop selling these things is if we stop buying them. Call them items, things, or products, but you will see in a moment why they cannot be called food. Continue reading
Fat, A Celebration of Flavor
A few years ago I read a cookbook called Fat, a celebration of flavor by Jennifer McLagan. Luckily for me, there was plenty of sage growing in the garden behind my kitchen, so I decided to try the sage butter sauce recipe with pasta. Fry 30 fresh, whole sage leaves in two sticks of butter on medium heat for about 10 minutes, just until the butter begins to brown and the sage leaves turn crispy. Meanwhile, boil 3/4 pound of pasta in salted water and drain when done. Pour the sauce over the hot, cooked pasta and serve with a simple green salad. I added steamed beet greens to the pasta as well. I’m not sure what I was expecting but the results were startling in every way. The texture and flavor were beyond heavenly. Continue reading
Cottonseed Oil, Crisco, and Trans Fats
About ten years ago, some fifty years after concerns were first raised about a possible link between trans fats and heart attacks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that partially hydrogenated oils, the primary dietary source of trans fats in ultraprocessed food items, were no longer “generally recognized as safe” in human food. Processed food manufacturers were given three years to reformulate their products or to request an exemption. This action was predicted to prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks a year. Multiply that by 50 years to get an idea of the effect trans fats have on your heart. Continue reading
About Omega-3s and Omega-6s
This week I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned about two specific polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Let’s start with omega-3 fatty acids. These are compounds in the form of a long chain of carbon molecules with several double bonds, each of which acts as a pivot point. Flexible pivot points confer the ability to move in many directions, essential for movement and flexibility. Omega-3s owe their flexibility to all those double bonds, the last of which is located just three carbons from the tail, or omega, end of the molecule. That’s why it’s called an omega-3 fatty acid. Omega means end. In contrast, omega-6 fatty acids contain fewer double bonds, and the last one is located six carbons from the tail. Hence, omega-6. Continue reading
The Importance of Avocados, Olive Oil, and Peanut Butter
Today I’m talking about fats, one of the macronutrients. Protein, fat, and carbohydrate are the three major macronutrients in the diet. Water is sometimes included as a fourth macronutrient.
But first, I’d like to begin with a few words on carbs: The term carbohydrates refers to carbohydrate that comes from a plant that grows in the soil. Whether leaf or fruit or root or stem, this kind of carbohydrate is always, always rich in fiber and phytonutrients. Except for milk and honey, carbohydrate doesn’t really exist in nature without the fiber. This means that whenever you come across carbohydrate without fiber attached, humans probably made it that way. But we don’t call whole, or fiber-rich, carbohydrates “healthy carbohydrates.” In a blog about good health and nutrition, you can assume that I’m always talking about the healthy kind. And while it is true that we, as a society, are drowning in stripped, “unhealthy,” carbs, people do not feel the need to keep reminding themselves. Continue reading
Ultraprocessing Hits the Popular Press
I am thrilled to report that the discussion about ultraprocessed items has finally reached the popular press in a big way. This past week Jancee Dunn, a wellness columnist for the New York Times, wrote a week-long series about different aspects of ultra processing, beginning with her love of sprinkle-covered sheet cake. Then Reuters covered California governor Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order focusing on reducing consumption of packaged snacks and sugar-containing beverages, and investigating the effects of synthetic food dyes. This order cited a 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report showing that 73% of American adults aged 20 or older are overweight and/or obese, and 38% of children and youth aged 12-19 are pre-diabetic. Continue reading