The hustle and bustle is upon us. Back to school season brings with it a calendar chockful of school programs, extracurricular activities, social engagements, homework and volunteerism. In the scramble to be on time and prepared, a major concern is what to eat — that’s fast.
Figuring out what to pack for lunch and snack as well as how best to prepare nutritious and delicious meals as life gets busy is of utmost importance.
It’s easy to turn to processed foods for the quick convenience they offer. Why spend three hours preparing and cooking lasagna from scratch when the frozen version takes less than an hour? Why buy fresh fruit, slice and dice it, pack it in lunch boxes and then hope it stays fresh when a four pack of fruit cups has a long shelf life and is ready to go in seconds?
For families who are “team processed food,” you may be feeling a little guilty. For families who are “team fresh food,” you may be feeling a little smug.
Let’s review what WakeMed’s nutrition expert, Meredith Ebersohl, has to say about how to navigate the nutrition messages you hear, especially when it comes to processed food.
What should you eat?
You may have heard some of these food “rules” before:
- Shop the perimeter of the store.
- Buy only foods with ingredients you can pronounce.
- Limit ingredients to five or fewer.
- Eat only whole, unprocessed foods.
But are those rules backed in science, or are they just catchy soundbites?
Let’s break them down:
Shop the perimeter of the store.
What’s the intention?
It is to encourage buying produce and healthy proteins while limiting snack foods, such as chips and cookies.
What’s the reality?
While this messaging may encourage buying fresh produce, there is no evidence that fresh produce is nutritionally superior to frozen or canned produce, so avoiding frozen and canned produce makes meal planning and preparation more time consuming without measurable benefit. This advice misses the mark for encouraging more fruit and vegetable intake.
By instructing shoppers to purchase their protein fresh from the deli counter, they miss the opportunity for shelf-stable protein choices, such as canned and dried beans, canned fish, nuts and seeds. All of those are nutritious pantry staples that aren’t available in the perimeter of the store.
Finally, there can be a big difference in cost between the perimeter of the store and the interior aisles. Spending more money doesn’t mean you’ll get more nutrition.
Only buy foods with ingredients you can pronounce.
What’s the intention?
It is to encourage consumption of more natural foods, with the mindset that ingredients you’re less familiar with are unhealthy.
What’s the reality?
Often if you’re familiar with something, you feel that it’s healthier. Maybe you saw the ice cream commercial years back with kids trying to pronounce ingredients of ice cream? It sounded pretty bad to think ice cream might have ingredients you’re not familiar with, but when the kids started reading off cream, sugar and milk, suddenly that ice cream sounded healthy.
With that in mind, if you were to pick up a product with trimethylpurine dione or trimethylxanthine as one of the ingredients, would you put it back on the shelf?
What if you knew trimethylpurine had potential side effects documented by the FDA: insomnia, jitters, anxiousness, fast heart rate, upset stomach, nausea, headache and dysphoria?
What if you knew these were the chemical names and documented side effects for caffeine, an ingredient you are comfortable and familiar with? Suddenly it may not seem so bad.
On the other hand, there may be chemical-sounding names that don’t have any toxic effects, but you don’t want to see them on the ingredient list because the names probably make you uncomfortable. You may feel similarly with identical ingredients that come from natural sources even though your body can’t tell the difference.
Limit ingredients to five or fewer.
What’s the intention?
It is to encourage eating whole foods. while limiting processed foods high in salt, sugar and fat.
What’s the reality?
Similar to the false idea that you need to be able to pronounce ingredients, this rule is not helpful. Think of a can of vegetable soup which might include half a dozen veggies on its ingredients list. Compare that to the three ingredients for potato chips: potatoes, vegetable oil and salt. I think it is reasonable to say that vegetable soup is going to provide more nutrition than chips, yet the “number of ingredients” rule would steer you to the chips.
Eat only whole, unprocessed foods.
What’s the intention?
It is to encourage eating similarly to the dietary recommendations: mostly fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains, while limiting added salt, fat and sugar.
What’s the reality?
This rule puts a health halo on some foods while unfairly demonizing others. It is challenging to define what exactly is a processed food using the NOVA system which has been criticized for its inability to consistently classify foods. Unfortunately, this system has led to many of the surprising headlines and soundbites about processed foods you may have encountered.
And, of course, as with the other food rules, they serve to confuse more than provide practical ways to make food decisions.
What’s a better way?
Let’s start from the beginning with general nutrition recommendations. More than 100 countries, from Kenya to Croatia to Cambodia to Canada to Cuba, have dietary guidelines, and there are common themes among many of them:
- Eat a variety of foods.
- Have plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- Include protein foods.
- Choose whole grain foods (also called whole grain cereals or whole or unprocessed starchy foods).
- Be mindful of salt, sugar and fat.
Should I buy this?
So now back to the original questions of homemade vs. frozen lasagna and fresh or canned fruit, the answer really depends. You may enjoy making lasagna from scratch or that may be the last thing you’d ever see yourself doing.
If you’d prefer frozen lasagna, pop it in the oven and turn to other foods to make the meal more balanced. Heat up some frozen or canned veggies to go with it or make a simple salad made from a bagged option. For school lunch, fresh fruit may have more fiber, but if you haven’t gotten to the store to get some or are running out the door, grabbing a fruit cup is a great option.
When deciding if you should choose a food, try to ignore all the confusing nutritional information you’ve heard and consider asking yourself a few questions.
- Taste
- Do I think this will taste good?
- Will I need to do anything to improve the taste?
- Quantity
- How often will I eat this? Daily, weekly, rarely?
- What are general healthy eating recommendations?
- Cost
- What’s the price of the food?
- How much time will it take to prepare it?
- Quality
- Does this have the nutrients I want to include? (ex: do the veggie chips have any fiber?)
- Is it worth it? Is the cost and taste worth the nutrition?
THE BOTTOM LINE
Enjoy eating food without worrying about confusing food rules. Focus on building balanced meals instead of labeling food as healthy or junk, and choose foods that give you lasting energy until the next meal.
About Meredith Ebersohl, RD
Meredith is a registered dietitian who teaches nutrition classes, offers one-on-one nutrition counseling and develops educational material. She is passionate about explaining nutrition research and helping people incorporate sustainable changes in their lives. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two young children and their middle-aged pets.
Outpatient Nutrition Services
Do you need help determining how to eat healthy or finding healthy choices for your family? Consider scheduling with our WakeMed Outpatient Nutrition Services.
Our licensed, registered dietitians in Nutrition Services are committed to providing evidence-based, scientific nutrition advice. They can help with weight management, healthful living and nutritional care related to bariatric surgery.
Disclaimer: The advice of individual medical providers serves as guidance from the specific provider and is not intended to establish standards of clinical practice or rules of law for WakeMed Health and Hospitals.
You must be logged in to post a comment.