Nutrition experts encourage people to shop the perimeter of the supermarket and skip the packaged foods found on most of the aisles. The idea is that this type of shopping will reduce refined flour and cut sugar.
Highly Processed Foods Account for Many Calories:
Despite this recommendation, highly processed foods make up more than half of the calories in the American diet. A new study published in the journal BMJ Open utilized information from the National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2009 and 2010. Approximately 9,000 people answered detailed questions about their dietary habits.
Ultra-processed foods such as soft drinks, snacks, baked goods and breaded chicken or fish nuggets contributed more than 90 percent of the added sugars these people consumed. The researchers concluded that eating fewer processed foods would cut sugar intake and improve the American diet.
Why You Should Cut Sugar:
Reducing excessive sugar consumption is a top recommendation of most of the guests we have interviewed on the subject of a healthy diet. Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. David Ludwig, Dr. David Perlmutter and Nina Teicholz have all explained how the nutrition establishment went astray decades ago in demonizing fat. The result of that mindset was that the food industry developed low-fat, high-carb convenience foods.
Eat Real Food:
As the research shows, this type of ultra-processed food now makes up a huge proportion of the calories we eat as a nation. These foods raise blood sugar quickly, boost insulin levels and promote fat storage in susceptible individuals. This has most likely contributed to the national obesity problem. How to overcome it? Cut sugar and concentrate on real food rather than ultra-processed packaged foods.
