Study: Whole foods are much better for your health than packaged or processed foods

MoBeans said:
The whole food diet included sticky BBQ ribs!

Scientists Fed One Group of People Ultraprocessed Foods and Another Group Whole Foods, and the Difference in What Happened to Them Was Wild
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After my Alpha-Gal experience and having to read all ingredients on food, I totally agree with this. Even now that I can eat mammal meat again, I eat very cautiously and usually half of what others eat of the same portion. My stomach now let's me know when I have eaten something it's having a hard time digesting.
It's funny if you listen to your body, it does hint at what you need. I found myself staring at some dark curly lettuce one day (never bought it before) on impulse I bought some. Came home and ate the heck out of it for 2 weeks or more. Dr. says.. the Iron in it did you world's of good. I use to stare at candy and chips like most maybe do,
I don't even glance now at them as I get a flash of what my stomach is going to do if I eat it. It's sad it takes a health scare to make us eat right.
 
“Alarmingly, the ultraprocessed group were treated to foods that, on a surface level, looked comparable: commercial breakfast oat and fruit bars, premade ribs and rice with fruit snacks, and boxed salmon with potatoes and corn, and snacks made up of meal-replacement drinks, plant-based yogurt, and packaged wrapped oat bars.“

We seldom eat any processed food. Also I’m an avid label reader and it’s amazing to me that even in the “health food section” of the grocery store, the ingredients lists on most foods is long. Even if I skip the ingredients list, just scanning the nutrition info is revealing.

For example, the sodium count for a single serving sometimes exceeds the recommended daily allowance for a whole day. The calories are high and even though it’s not in the low calorie food section, there’s often an assumption that “healthy foods” will prevent weight gain.

What I quoted above mentions salmon. I’ve compared labels on boxed salmon vs fresh, both from Sam’s club.

Boxed
IMG_4920.jpeg
Fresh
IMG_4921.jpeg
 

Ronni said:
“Alarmingly, the ultraprocessed group were treated to foods that, on a surface level, looked comparable: commercial breakfast oat and fruit bars, premade ribs and rice with fruit snacks, and boxed salmon with potatoes and corn, and snacks made up of meal-replacement drinks, plant-based yogurt, and packaged wrapped oat bars.“

We seldom eat any processed food. Also I’m an avid label reader and it’s amazing to me that even in the “health food section” of the grocery store, the ingredients lists on most foods is long. Even if I skip the ingredients list, just scanning the nutrition info is revealing.

For example, the sodium count for a single serving sometimes exceeds the recommended daily allowance for a whole day. The calories are high and even though it’s not in the low calorie food section, there’s often an assumption that “healthy foods” will prevent weight gain.

What I quoted above mentions salmon. I’ve compared labels on boxed salmon vs fresh, both from Sam’s club.

Boxed
View attachment 441920
Fresh
View attachment 441922
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The sodium difference is definitely a bit shocking
 
IrishEyes said:
After my Alpha-Gal experience and having to read all ingredients on food, I totally agree with this. Even now that I can eat mammal meat again, I eat very cautiously and usually half of what others eat of the same portion. My stomach now let's me know when I have eaten something it's having a hard time digesting.
It's funny if you listen to your body, it does hint at what you need. I found myself staring at some dark curly lettuce one day (never bought it before) on impulse I bought some. Came home and ate the heck out of it for 2 weeks or more. Dr. says.. the Iron in it did you world's of good. I use to stare at candy and chips like most maybe do,
I don't even glance now at them as I get a flash of what my stomach is going to do if I eat it. It's sad it takes a health scare to make us eat right.
Click to expand...
You are what you eat has never been truer. I went through the same thing with a 6 month battle with Lyme and it took 12 weeks on a pure plant based diet to get me back in working order. This diet is simple, nowhere near that strict and is sustainable. Read the label and just don't eat junk.

I have been fighting Medicare for almost 6 months about getting me a piece of medical gear tests showed that I need. All intentional pure bureaucratic nonsense. After turning 70 and what I have been through with them I realize the American healthcare system will probably not be there for me when I seriously need them so I am trying to get in better shape. This is just what the doctor ordered. I am down 13 lbs in a month, exercising more and reading the labels. Now I know I can have sticky BBQ ribs!
 
I have been "clean" for 20 years or more. It is how I manage my weight. These days, it is called eating "whole foods". Okay.

This study is somewhat lacking. Only 50 participants, only six months long. Actually, not even that. They switched eating plans at three months, not very long. Also, they do not say how they managed or monitored what people consumed. Were they in a controlled environment? Did they just go by what the study participants told them? I perused the actual study. Not impressed.

Remember the famous women's health study? I knew somebody who was in that study. She told me that she often lied to their questions.

However, I do agree that one should avoid processed foods as much as possible. Titles like the one on this article, which have an odor of click bait, make me doubt these studies, even though I may agree with the end results. The "difference" was not "wild".

.
 
IrishEyes said:
The sodium difference is definitely a bit shocking
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I worked with fishery experts and one of them teaches seafood safety courses. What really stuck with me is when she said do not eat farm raised fish and only eat shrimp from US waters. She said if you go to buy some just picture it being raised and packaged in sewage and you won't be that far off.
 
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GoodEnuff said:
I have been "clean" for 20 years or more. It is how I manage my weight. These days, it is called eating "whole foods". Okay.

This study is somewhat lacking. Only 50 participants, only six months long. Actually, not even that. They switched eating plans at three months, not very long. Also, they do not say how they managed or monitored what people consumed. Were they in a controlled environment? Did they just go by what the study participants told them? I perused the actual study. Not impressed.

Remember the famous women's health study? I knew somebody who was in that study. She told me that she often lied to their questions.

However, I do agree that one should avoid processed foods as much as possible. Titles like the one on this article, which have an odor of click bait, make me doubt these studies, even though I may agree with the end results. The "difference" was not "wild".

.
Click to expand...
It was a bit click baity. That site has abbreviated articles so they try and make them interesting. The information in it was correct. It's not AI slop. There is a link in the article to the paper in Nature Medicine. Everything in that publication is peer reviewed. Common sense tells me the truth in it.

Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized, crossover trial - Nature Medicine
 
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MoBeans said:
I worked with fishery experts and one of them teaches seafood safety courses. What really stuck with me is when she said do not eat farm raised fish and only eat shrimp from US waters. She said if you go to buy either just picture it being raised and packaged in sewage and you won't be that far off.
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Thank you for that info, that explains why when I eat cold shrimp I get a stomach pain. I stopped eating them due to that. I will look for those in the US now and see it that makes a difference as I love cold shrimp on a summer hot day. (y)
 
GoodEnuff said:
Remember the famous women's health study? I knew somebody who was in that study. She told me that she often lied to their questions..
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Not sure I know the one you mentioned but why would someone agree to be part of a study and lie about their results? I lie on polls all the time because they are mostly nonsense. But studies are usually for a better scientific understanding. Makes no sense to me. There is an alarming number of studies where the scientists flat out lie or have AI slop in them but those would not survive being peer reviewed. This one was peer reviewed and published in one of the most prestigious scientific publications. That counts for something in my book.
 
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