Going Off Processed Foods for 30 Days: A Call to Action

What does it mean to eat an unprocessed food diet? For starters, it means no longer do you have a long laundry list of unpronounceable ingredients affixed to your meal, no excitotoxins like monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup. An unprocessed food diet is one comprised of whole foods: vegetables, fruits, healthy grains, brain fueling essential fatty acids in the form of oils, grass fed, all organic meats and dairy products. It means you enter the grocery store in the produce section, purchase a very large bulk of what you are going to eat, make your way around the outer rim of the store, taking one trip through spices because you definitely want your food to have great taste and one trip for grains but deviating very little from the outer edges of the store.

What would it mean to go 30 days without processed foods? What would it mean for your health and your body?

I always enjoy a challenge and recently came across a fantastic web site which encourages a 30 day elimination of processed foods and asks the visitor to join in on this pledge. Their description of unprocessed food is quite acceptable. It is as follows:

[Excerpted from www.eatingrules.com]

Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients.

It doesn’t mean that you have to be able to make the food — but that the food could be made in a home kitchen by someone who knows what they’re doing. If it needs high-powered, industrial equipment, or could only be made in a laboratory, then it’s out.
Here’s a good example. Look at the ingredients for a PowerBar Triple Threat®

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisp:

CORN SYRUP, SOY CRISPS (SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, RICE FLOUR, ALKALIZED COCOA), CHOCOLATEY COATING (SUGAR, FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, COCOA, WHEY, NONFAT MILK, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR), WHOLE OATS, DRY ROASTED PEANUTS, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, INULIN (FROM CHICORY), NATURAL FLAVORS (CONTAINS PEANUT, MILK, SOY LECITHIN), RICE CRISPS (MILLED RICE, SUGAR, SALT, BARLEY MALT), SALTED PEANUT BUTTER, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, AND LESS THAN 2% OF PEANUT FLOUR, ALMOND BUTTER, SALT, SOY LECITHIN, MINERALS: CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, FERROUS FUMARATE (IRON), VITAMINS: ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), VITAMIN B6 HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1).

Compare that to the ingredients of a Cashew Cookie Lara Bar:

CASHEWS, DATES.

I’m absolutely certain that a cook with average skills could make something comparable to the Lara bar in your kitchen. But the PowerBar? Not so much.

Okay, so let me toss out a few other specific foods that I’ve been asked about:
Chocolate. Yup, it’s okay, because it’s possible to make chocolate at home.
However, if the store-bought chocolate contains extra emulsifiers, flavorings, or other additives that you wouldn’t use if you were make it at home, it’s off the list.
Coffee. Yup. Try this fun project: Buy some green coffee beans (they’ve already been cleaned for you), and toast them in your popcorn air popper. (Skip the little yellow, blue, or pink packets and the powdered creamer.) Or you could grow your own coffee plant, and then wet-process the beans yourself. Totally doable at home (how much time do you have?)

Beer. Yup, I’ve got quite a few friends who make beer at home (one even grows his own hops — he makes truly incredible beers. Just saying.)

Wine. Yes, I’ve got quite a few friends who make wine at home. There is the question of sulfites, though. My winemaker friends usually add sulfites (sourced from winemaking suppliers, not from your regular grocery story, I believe) — so you’ll need to decide for yourself if you’ll seek out sulfite-free wines.

Vodka, Gin, and other Spirits. Although I don’t recommend distilling your own (and it may be illegal), it’s certainly possible to do this at home. Just skip the gimmicky flavored ones and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Of course, it depends on how picky you want to be. You may wish to consider what sugars/starches are being used to feed the fermentation process. If you want to research this some more, please report back!

Bacon and Sausage. As long as there are no additives (nitrates, flavorings, etc.), and it’s a high-quality product, you’re probably okay here. Maybe this is a good opportunity to get to know a local butcher.

“Veggie Burgers “and “Fake Meats.” Most of these should be avoided, as they usually contain a lot of textured vegetable protein (which I’m almost certain you couldn’t make at home). But if you are in a pinch, you can probably find something that’ll work. You’ll really need to read the ingredient list: An All-American Flame-Grilled Boca Burger is definitely out. Dr. Praeger’s Gluten Free California Veggie Burger is certainly better, though it’s got a couple of ingredients that are questionable. (Personally, I’m going to do my best to avoid these).

Cooking Oils. It is possible to press your own oils at home, though it would be a rather inefficient process. I would expect that nut oils would be easier (just grind them up and let them separate, like your jar of peanut butter, right?). Also, these old oil press instructions and drawings are fun.

Salt. Depending on how refined it is, this may or may not be okay. Stick with the natural, unprocessed salts such as the fabulous Fleur De Sel .

Sugar. Usually, the term “sugar” refers to bleached table sugar, those fine-white granulated crystals that come from sugar cane or sugar beets. The bleaching is done with sulfur dioxide, an ingredient that hopefully isn’t in your pantry. Next!

Turbinado Sugar (“Raw” Sugar) is the same stuff — but it hasn’t been bleached. I think it would be possible to make turbinado sugar crystals at home, if you had some sugar cane stalks ready to go. Although there are a couple of steps in the commercial process that you couldn’t do, I’m guessing you could still get the crystals if you’re patient enough (perhaps a countertop food dehydrator would help evaporation).

Honey. Good to go; in fact, this is probably the most “unprocessed” sweetener available.

Agave Nectar. You’re probably okay with this one. Some agave is simply heated (at relatively low temperatures). It may also be enzymatically processed. Any agave experts out there want to weigh in?

Corn Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Both of these are too complicated to make at home. Off the list.

Flour. As long as it’s 100% whole grain flour, it’s okay. You could certainly grind whole grains in your kitchen. As Bob’s Red Mill says, one pound in, one pound out. Refined flours, however, have had the germ and bran removed (leaving just the fluffy endosperm) — and are likely bleached or brominated, and may be enriched with nutrients that had been previously removed.

[Flour Update: Refined flour, as long as it's unbleached and unenriched, actually would pass the Kitchen Test. Check out this flour followup in the forums.]

Corn Meal and Masa. Again, if these are made with the whole grain (such as the whole grain cornmeal in my Bob’s Red Mill giveaway), then it’s all good.

Butter. Yup, you could certainly make real butter at home, if you’re so inclined.
Cheese. Yup. In fact, I already make cheese at home. Skip the “pasteurized processed” cheeses, or “cheese foods,” of course.

Nut Butters. Look at the ingredient list. If it’s just “Nuts & Salt” (or better yet, just Nuts), then it’s great. But if it’s got stabilizers, sweeteners, and oils, it’s a no-no (Skippy, I’m looking at you!)

Spices. Yup, these are okay. You could certainly grow them at home, dry them, and then grind them as needed.

Breads. Again, it’s all about the ingredient list. The best option, of course, is to make it at home. But if it’s store-bought, read the ingredient list. The flour should be whole grain (avoid these pitfalls), and there shouldn’t be fillers, preservatives, artificial sweeteners (yes, they sometimes add those to 100% whole wheat breads. Oroweat, I’m looking at you and your acesulfame potassium!)
I think you will find that your health has improved so much by the end of the 30 days, your taste buds more alive than ever before, most likely you will never return to the center aisles of the grocery store!

If you want added incentive, get informed about what is in your food by watching an informative DVD like Food Matters or Food, Inc. Both extraordinary documentaries which will permanently open your eyes to the importance of changing your diet.