Processed Foods Esposed: Your Guide to Eating Real and Feeling Great

Ever wondered how processed foods impact health, mood, and even longevity? In this episode of Wellness Connection MD, Dr. Jim McMinn welcomes Functional Nutritionist Rachel Olsen for a practical and eye-opening discussion about processed food and its far-reaching effects. Rachel joins Dr. McMinn to break it all down for you, and explain why America leads the developed world in chronic disease, even though it spends the most money on health care. Rachel offers actionable tips for turning your diet around and improving your overall health. 

Listeners will discover:

-The difference between whole, minimally processed, processed, and ultra-processed foods

-The disease risks linked to processed foods, from diabetes and heart disease to gut issues and mood disorders

-Why ultra-processed foods are so commonplace — and how food industry tactics, convenience, and economics shape what’s on our plates

-Which additives to watch for, food label red-flags, and the “halo foods” that sound healthy but aren’t

-Realistic strategies for parents, travelers, and anyone trying to make better choices—from smart swaps to label-reading hacks

-A fascinating look at how changing diets transformed the health of the Pima people, showing what’s at stake

-Stories of real-life transformation and what it takes to see results

-The ongoing debate about food accessibility, affordability, marketing, and regulation—plus the link between processed food, addiction, and the environment.

So, whether you’re a busy professional, a parent, or just working toward better wellness, join Dr. McMinn and Rachel for science-backed answers and inspiration.

Don’t forget to subscribe, share the show, and check McMinnMD.com for more resources and to connect with us!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Processed Food Crisis
• 6:37 Understanding Food Processing Categories
• 14:44 Health Risks of Ultra-Processed Foods
• 23:34 Navigating Food Labels and Marketing
• 32:57 Practical Shopping and Eating Strategies
• 42:29 Children, Schools, and Food Education
• 53:13 Success Stories and Future Outlook
• 1:02:41 Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Wellness Connection MD, your evidence-based podcast. I'm Dr Jim McMinn and I'm here today to bring you the latest and greatest info on a hot topic these days, and that is processed food. Ever wondered how processed foods impact health, mood and even longevity? In this episode, we welcome functional nutritionist Rachel Olson for a practical and eye-opening discussion about processed food and its far-reaching effects. Rachel breaks it all down for you and explains why America leads the developed world in chronic disease, even though it spends the most money on health care. Something's just not adding up there. But Rachel to the rescue, as she offers actionable tips for turning your diet around and improving your overall health. So, whether you're a busy professional, a parent or just working towards better wellness, kick back and enjoy the show.

Speaker 2: 0:46

Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD Podcast with Dr McMinn and Coach Lindsay, where we bring you the latest up-to-date, evidence-based information on a wide variety of health and wellness topics, along with practical take-home solutions. Dr McMinn is an integrated and functional MD and Lindsay Matthews is a registered nurse and IIN certified health coach. Together, our goal is to help you optimize your health and wellness in mind, body and spirit. To see a list of all of our podcasts, visit mcminnmdcom and to stay up to date on the latest topics, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast player so that you'll be notified when future episodes come out. The discussions contained in this podcast are for educational purposes only and are not intended to diagnose or treat any disease. Please do not apply any of this information without approval from your personal doctor. And now on to the show with Dr McMinn and Coach Lindsey.

Speaker 1: 1:41

Hello and welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast, the evidence-based podcast on all things wellness. We thank you so much for joining us today. I'm your host, dr Jim McMinn, and Coach Lindsay has a much-deserved day off. Today, however, we do have for you a very special guest, and that is functional nutritionist Rachel Olson, who will be telling us everything we ever wanted to know, and then some about the timely and interesting subject of processed food ever wanted to know. And then some about the timely and interesting subject of processed food. As always, we come to you to bring you commercial-free, honest, unbiased, up-to-date, evidence-based and outcomes-oriented information, along with practical solutions, in order to empower you to overcome your healthcare concerns, to optimize your wellness and mind-body-spirit and to become a great captain of your ship when it comes to your health and wellness. Before we get going, I have just a couple of brief housekeeping duties to take care of. Our podcast is one of the rare podcasts these days that remains commercial free. However, it does cost us money to produce these, so consider making a contribution to help us keep it coming to you. There are a couple ways that you can contribute. First, if you buy nutritional supplements and I'm not asking you to buy anything that you don't already take, then consider purchasing physician-grade supplements from our Fullscript dispensary at a 10% discount. You can see the link to Fullscript in the show notes, or you can go to mcmindmdcom and the link will also appear there at the bottom of the homepage under helpful links. It's quite simple Just click on the link and they'll guide you through the process. It's a simple Just click on the link and they'll guide you through the process. It's a win-win you get the high quality supplements at a discount and we get your support for the show, for which we are very grateful. You can also make a contribution directly to the show via credit card or PayPal at the support the show link which is in the show notes. And please don't forget to subscribe to the show and tell your friends and family about us so we can keep it growing. Thank you so much for your support. And now on to the show.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Our topic today, processed food, touches every plate, pantry and health conversation across America. According to the latest data, about 55% of the total calories consumed by Americans comes from ultra-processed foods, and that percentage jumps to nearly 62% for children and teens. Ouch, that's a lot of processed foods, and that percentage jumps to nearly 62% for children and teens. Ouch, that's a lot of processed food and, as we will discuss, that translates into a lot of disease, making America the very sickest of all high-income nations on earth in terms of chronic disease burden, life expectancy and preventable deaths, despite spending much more on healthcare per person than any other country. Now everyone seems to be concerned about health care costs, and I read an article just this morning that estimated that America could save $2.2 trillion per year in health care costs by focusing on prevention, and, of course, that starts with what we put in our bodies. As it turns out, many of the leading causes of death in the United States, like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke, are all directly associated with processed foods. So enough is enough, let's get after it.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Today, we're going to take a deep dive into the subject of processed food why is it so commonplace and how it impacts our health. Our guest, rachel Olson, will help unpack the science and offer actionable strategies for listeners looking to navigate the ultra-processed mind field. So let me tell you a bit about Rachel. Besides being one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, rachel is a functional dietician with an extensive educational background, holding both a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Alabama. She is certified by the Institute of Functional Medicine as a functional medicine practitioner and as such, rachel is recognized for her commitment to uncovering the root causes of health issues. Her unique approach bridges the gap between science and practical applications, empowering clients with actionable insights. Let me just add that if you're really interested in getting to the bottom of your nutritional needs, you're probably going to need to consult someone like Rachel.

Speaker 1: 5:19

Doctors get, on the average, about 15 hours of nutrition in their four years of training in medical school, and that is heavily weighted on things like biochemistry and nutrient deficiency diseases like rickets and scurvy. They literally get zero hours of training in applied nutrition or practical subjects like processed food. As I think back on it, I don't think there was ever a mention of it in medical school or residency. So you can ask your doctor about the diagnosis of scurvy or the molecular structure of vitamin C, but don't bother asking him or her anything about processed food. They probably won't have a clue. And it's not their fault. I've talked to them and they would love to learn this stuff. It's the fault of the medical education system that laser focuses on drugs and surgery, while minimizing the profound impact of diet and lifestyle medicine.

Speaker 1: 6:03

So my advice to you is, if you want to improve your health via your diet, connect with Rachel or find yourself your own nutritionist or health coach with a similar background in functional nutrition. And let me add that I'm not saying this to bash doctors, I'm just telling the unfortunate honest truth. As I said, most doctors would love to know more about this, but we're never given the chance. So, anyway, whether you're a busy professional, a parent juggling meals or just someone aiming for better wellness, this episode is for you. So, without further ado, let's dive in with Rachel. Hello, rachel, a warm welcome to you to Wellness Connection MD.

Speaker 3: 6:35

Thank you. Thank you for having me again. It's a pleasure to be here so.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Rachel, let's get started by getting on the same page with some simple definitions, explain what we mean by the terms whole food, minimally processed food, processed food and ultra-processed food, and please give us some simple examples of each so that we can all kind of relate to it.

Speaker 3: 6:54

Okay, absolutely so. Whole foods are going to be as close as to their natural state. I always tell my patients to eat what God or nature produced. So that would be a whole apple, a broccoli, fresh salmon. So plants, animals and derived directly from the plants and animals. Minimally processed foods they're going to be altered slightly, either for convenience or preservation. So frozen vegetables, for example. You don't pick them out like that, but they were made for convenience. Bagged spinach or plain yogurt, for example. Processed't pick them out like that, but they were made for convenience Bagged spinach or plain yogurt, for example. Processed foods are going to be transformed in some way, so you're going to cook it or can it mill it, so you transform wheat into a flour, for example, or wheat into a pasta. So canned beans, cheese. And then ultra processed foods they're different. They're going to be industrial formulations with additives, colorings, emulsifiers, things to preserve, to extend shelf life, to improve texture, flavor. So that would include soda, packaged chips, instant noodles and other commercial things like breakfast cereal, pop-tarts and things like that.

Speaker 1: 8:00

Things not found in nature. Right Correct, You'll never find a Pop-Tart tree, will you?

Speaker 3: 8:05

No, no Pop-tart trees.

Speaker 1: 8:07

All right, give us also some common ultra-processed additives.

Speaker 3: 8:13

All right. So it's interesting to note that the US allows more additives than, for example, europe would allow. This has been changing. Europe would allow. This has been changing. But, for example, things like titanium dioxide it's like a white powder that makes things white it's banned in Europe because there's possibility there are studies that show possibility to like DNA damage. Potassium bromate it's something that they put in bread to make it the texture better. It is banned in Europe as well as a potential carcinogen, and we know in functional medicine that bromide is in the halogens right and it could potentially be disruptive to your thyroid. Propylparaben, vha, vht all of these are food additives that are banned in Europe but they're still allowed in the food sources here in the US in ultra-processed foods.

Speaker 1: 9:06

And we'll get into some of those reasons why in just a bit. So help me understand this. Break it down. For me, for instance, if I ate some berries, that would be a whole food, not processed food, right, correct Right off the tree. Now if I took some of the same berries and put them in a blender and added some water and mix it up and drank it as a smoothie or a fruit drink, then that would certainly change the glycemic index of these berries, since they're already partially digested, and so would those then become a minimally processed food Correct.

Speaker 3: 9:34

That's minimally processed. You're breaking down the fiber. The sugars are going to be absorbed a little quicker.

Speaker 1: 9:39

And similarly, if I ate some whole oats versus oat flour that's been processed. It's the exact same ingredients, but on the other hand, one is whole and one is processed right, Correct.

Speaker 3: 9:49

You increase the surface area so you're going to absorb it so much faster.

Speaker 1: 9:57

Right, right, right right. So let's take that same berry smoothie I mentioned a minute ago and we'll add some artificial sweeteners, some flavor enhancer, a thickener and some coloring to make it look prettier, and that same smoothie becomes an ultra-processed food, right, Yep.

Speaker 3: 10:08

The moment you put those industrial substances in to engineer a specific taste, a specific mouthfeel, a texture or increase shelf life, then you've crossed the line into processed foods and that's where the risk appears right Gut health and all the things we're going to talk about. Okay, risk appears right, gut health and all the things we're going to talk about.

Speaker 1: 10:25

Okay, Well, so what puzzles me, especially now that we know how bad they are for us? Why are they so common in our diets, especially in the United States?

Speaker 3: 10:35

It's an unfair competition with natural foods because they're cheap, they're convenient, they're aggressively marketed. They were engineered to be hyper palatable. So there's. I want I don't want to say addiction because it's a strong word, but there is such a yearning for these foods. People can't. They crave them a lot. So for busy families they don't have a lot of help anymore.

Speaker 1: 11:00

But there's a hidden cost, right for health and so, for instance, is this mainly a mainly an American problem, or we're seeing this as a worldwide phenomenon?

Speaker 3: 11:09

It's global for sure. In the US, 60% of daily calories come from ultra-processed foods. That's over half of what people are eating In the UK it's about similar. In Germany it's about 46%. France is 36%. In Brazil, where I'm from, it's about 16.8% of calories. And I have a little anecdote to tell about this. It's funny Subway Bake. I should have looked up when it opened the first time in Brazil.

Speaker 1: 11:38

So the first time it opened, let's suppose it was You're talking about the Subway restaurant chain right, let's suppose it was like early 90s.

Speaker 3: 11:44

It closed like within months. Nobody understood the concept, nobody liked the food. Well, now it is everywhere because the palate has changed. People are busier and they're looking for those convenience, cheap foods. So it rose a lot in the last maybe 20, 30 years. So about one in every five calories of our diet there in Brazil comes from ultra-processed food.

Speaker 1: 12:11

Wow, yeah, yeah, I mean that figure you threw out earlier, the 60%. That's just staggering to me. Yeah, so what are the main health risks associated with the eating processed food and ultra-processed food? Oof.

Speaker 3: 12:24

Obesity and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, because the salt content of these foods is unreal. Cardiovascular disease, stroke, even certain cancers not directly linked but indirectly. Fatty liver, kidney disease, higher rates of depression, anxiety, dementia because of the gut-brain axis, autoimmune flare-ups because of all those additives. They're foreign to the body, right Acne.

Speaker 1: 12:51

The list goes on and on, wow, it does go on and on, doesn't it? That's daunting just to hear that. Yeah, wow. So what about other just everyday things like energy level, productivity, a sense of well-being? How do processed foods affect those things?

Speaker 3: 13:04

Tremendously. So they are mainly empty calories. Right, let's think about a bag of Doritos. Usually ultra-processed foods are going to be very heavy in carbs, with a bunch of additives and nutrients. Life force, vitamins, minerals, proteins, building blocks and actual life force energy are not present. The food is basically dead. So if you're not getting materials, what do you think the output is going to be? So there's going to be blood sugar spikes from the high content of carbs and low fiber. Brain fog, mood swings, inflammation, which can then lead to joint pain, overall pain, impaired sleep, impaired focus. Many additives mess with the brain. Replacing processed snacks with whole foods can really stabilize mental clarity, mood, energy levels, and both of us have seen this happen in our patients, I'm sure.

Speaker 1: 14:01

Are there any specific populations, for instance, children, athletes, seniors, etc. Who are more vulnerable to the effects of processed food?

Speaker 3: 14:09

All three of them for sure, children. They're growing, so they're building their little house, right, they need the construction materials and if that material is not high quality, the output of this child. When it becomes an adult, everything in their little bodies that was can be of lower quality and they're more prone to disease. But while they are children, you give them you know a Pop-Tart and send them to school. Well, all those additives and all those carbs, they're going to have a problem focusing at school. And sometimes it's not a mental illness diagnosis, it's just the breakfast that you gave them and they can't and certainly we have an incredible amount of obesity in our country, don't we?

Speaker 1: 14:46

with children, and so that plays into that as well. And type 2 diabetes used to be a disease of adults and now it's a disease of children. It is, it's crazy, you know. As far as populations, I'm also thinking of elite athletes.

Speaker 2: 15:02

One person who comes to mind is Novak Djokovic.

Speaker 1: 15:05

And you know, he's arguably the greatest of all time in tennis and he is hyper-attentive to his diet.

Speaker 3: 15:08

Yes, he is yeah and yeah, athletes can be misled by sports nutrition products. You know that are full of additives and they just are ultra-processed foods in disguise.

Speaker 1: 15:19

Speaking of vulnerable populations, let me share with the audience a really interesting and somewhat tragic true story. The Pima Indians lived for centuries in the area of what is now known as southern Arizona and upper Mexico, and they ate a traditional diet of beans, corn, squash and desert plants, and they had virtually no diabetes. But when the US and Mexico border split the tribe in half, their diets diverged. Us and Mexico border split the tribe in half, their diets diverged. The Pima Indians in Mexico kept eating their traditional food and stayed lean and healthy, while the US Pima Indians shifted to a diet based on white flour, sugar and other processed foods and within a few generations they developed some of the highest rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the world and diabetes went from basically zero to over 50% of the population having diabetes after the introduction of processed food. Wow, isn't that something? Wow.

Speaker 3: 16:09

Yeah, that's a powerful example of how environment will shape health right. The genetics were the same. They didn't change their genetics, but the food that each of them ate shows how diet quality can override strong genetic predispositions.

Speaker 1: 16:24

So what about our children, Rachel? Does poor diet, especially with a lot of sugar and processed food, play a role in their health, especially behavioral health and mood disorders in children, issues like ADD and hyperactivity disorder?

Speaker 3: 16:36

Absolutely. Diet will play a major role. High sugar in the ultra-processed foods and when I say sugar, it's not just sweet sugar, right? The ultra-processed foods and when I say sugar, it's not just sweet sugar, right? Most of the ultra-processed foods are going to be high in sugar and either starch, which is savory, or sugar, sugar, and it correlates with hyperactivity, irritability, shorter attention span, while a whole foods diet can stabilize their blood sugar, stabilize their mood, increase their focus, increase their attention.

Speaker 1: 17:05

And while we're on the subject of children, let me ask you about autism. From what I'm reading, it appears that processed food does not cause autism, but many families find that the symptoms of autism improve as processed foods are eliminated and they get on a healthier diet. Would you agree with that?

Speaker 3: 17:20

Rachel, yeah, correct, the ultra-processed foods won't cause the autism, but many parents will notice improvements in mood digestion focus when the ultra-processed foods are reduced.

Speaker 1: 17:32

Do ultra-processed foods actually affect epigenetic expression for the patient and for the offspring?

Speaker 3: 17:38

Yeah, I love epigenetics. Yes, absolutely. It will turn on and turn off genes. Diet is one of the strongest epigenetic signals we put, whatever we put at the end of our forks three, four, six times a day. However, time you're eating is sending a message to your body so you can turn on inflammation, obesity, diseases that you're predisposed to having, right and even more concerning. These effects can be passed on to children, so you can turn on your genes and pass it on to your offspring. So a nutrient-dense diet will support favorable gene expression across generations.

Speaker 1: 18:15

Yeah, I love the statement that food is not just calories, it's information for your cells right, and for your nucleon, for your DNA. And so just to explain epigenetics just a moment you can have the same two, exact, say, twin sisters, with the same genetic risk for breast cancer, and yet one gets it and one doesn't because of epigenetic expression due to things like stress, toxins and, to your point, diet is a huge one, right?

Speaker 3: 18:39

So we don't really have to go far. I have the FTO gene that has been linked to obesity and nobody can see me on camera, but you can tell them I'm very skinny.

Speaker 1: 18:51

She is very skinny. I'm learning Spanish, rachel. Let's see what is it called Flaco right.

Speaker 3: 18:56

Flaco.

Speaker 1: 19:00

Rachel, it's not flaco.

Speaker 3: 19:02

Yes.

Speaker 1: 19:03

It's coming along slowly. Anyway, are there some processed foods that people are eating and they may not even realize it?

Speaker 3: 19:09

Yeah, Some foods are disguised, as you know, processed foods. Some people actually don't stop to think that pasta is a little bit of a processed food. It's still okay to eat, but it is a processed food In excess. It could be a little bit too starchy, for example. So I think the main message, hopefully, that everybody will get at the end of the podcast is read ingredients Would you have that in your pantry? Do you have that in your kitchen? And, if not, put it back.

Speaker 1: 19:37

Yep, okay, now there are these foods they call halo foods. I think they get a halo random because they kind of sound good. You know sugar-free ice cream, or plant-based meats you know we talk about. You know plant-based diets, so we think those are all great for us. Or some of the protein bars that people eat, but actually they're full of ultra-processed additives, right, and so what's your lowdown on these products, rachel?

Speaker 3: 19:58

They're my biggest annoyance because it's already so confusing for people to eat. Nutrition in itself is very confusing, right? First, eggs are bad for you, now eggs are good for you. First, saturated fat is bad for you, now it. They'll put the halo on this food and it's still just as junky, but they'll put organic. My husband falls for this all the time, but this was organic. Organic does not mean healthy, it just means they didn't do you know certain things to the crop.

Speaker 1: 20:37

You can have organic arsenic right. It's not healthy for you. So anyway, yeah, yeah, okay, tell Joey he needs to clean up his head. It's not healthy for you. So anyway, yeah, yeah, okay, tell Joey he needs to clean up his head.

Speaker 3: 20:47

The swabs that they do, like sugar-free ice cream, but at the cost of what? What did they put there to keep that mouthfeel and that sweetness right? They're going to put an artificial sweetener that could mess with your gut, that could mess with your brain, that could mess with your thyroid. So again, read the ingredients if you don't recognize it.

Speaker 1: 21:05

Okay, Well, okay, Rachel, I have a confession to make. I got the ice cream gene from my dad. Yeah, it's my favorite food in the whole wide world and I've definitely cut way, way, way back on it. But I remember one time okay, I'm going to eat healthier ice cream, I'm going to get some of that sugar-free. And so I went to the store and I got the carton and I read the label. I thought, oh my gosh, that's awful.

Speaker 3: 21:26

I think I'll be better off having regular ice cream.

Speaker 1: 21:28

So that's what I do, but I eat wasteful.

Speaker 3: 21:32

I don't know if it's still on the market, but there was an ice cream called Naga Moo N-A-D-A Moo. That was really clean. Oh, wow, Cool yeah.

Speaker 1: 21:42

Yeah, I'll have to check it out, naga Moo. N-g-a-m-m-o-o, Since I'm not yeah, moo like in the cow, but it's not, as in Spanish, no cow, so you know, as I said, I stopped and I read the label on the ice cream and I put it right back. But can we trust food labeling? Is it accurate or is it really influenced by money and lobbyists?

Speaker 3: 22:02

It is influence. For sure we have to be savvy. They're going to disguise the names like brilliant, blue or something very attractive, right, so it's often misleading.

Speaker 3: 22:14

And the term natural, organic gluten free. They'll put it in the front of the packaging. Don't ever be fooled at the front of the packaging, because that's where they want to sell you the product. Turn it around, read the ingredient list and if the name literally does not correspond to something in your fridge or in your pantry, I would say either look for something else or put it back on the shelf.

Speaker 1: 22:36

It's played through a lot of fights over these labeling and names and stuff like that. For instance, at one time I think I heard them talking about maybe labeling ketchup as a vegetable and pizza as a health food or whatever. So I think that you have your industry, money and your lobbyists in there at the table making changes in these labels.

Speaker 3: 22:58

Tomato sauce in pizza at schools counts as a vegetable.

Speaker 1: 23:02

Isn't that bizarre?

Speaker 3: 23:03

Yeah, and the serving sizes. That's the thing that gets me the most. You'll look at the nutrition facts label and it says sodium 150. And you're like that's not too bad, but the serving size is. People don't eat that serving size. It's like two popcorns.

Speaker 1: 23:19

Popcorn's a bad example, because it's actually okay, but you know, so we can wrap our heads around this. Is this a big deal? How much money is involved here? Is this like a huge, powerful, influential industry or not?

Speaker 3: 23:31

It's a multi-trillion dollar global industry. Yeah, absolutely the shareholders. You know they're pushing for more and more profits and they're trying to make it as cheap as you can, and then that's where the additives come in. They're trying to make it as cheap as you can and then that's where the additives come in. To replace expensive mouthfeel of actual fat, they'll put hydrogenated fats. Right, that's cheap. That is a byproduct that was going to be thrown away. So yeah, the marketing budget is also astronomical to try to push these products. You're going to watch a football game. How many of the commercials are about food, fast food, especially right and snacks and beverages and electrolyte drinks and the energy drinks.

Speaker 1: 24:13

So yeah, so what are the some things we need to look for on food labels to spot ultra processing?

Speaker 3: 24:19

Long, long lists are usually not a great sign. There are a few exceptions to that, and then things again that you don't find in your home kitchen or your fridge or your pantry. So hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, corn soy protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, maltodextrin, carrageenan, artificial colors that are going to have like blue one, red 40, yellow, three artificial sweeteners. Emulsifiers Carrageenan is an emulsifier, but polysorbate 80. A good rule of thumb. Grandma wouldn't recognize it. You probably don't eat it in your body. There are resources out there. I really like this lady called the Food Babe. She has a wonderful website that you can search each additive and then she'll tell you the science that's out there. For that, I want to say the Environmental Working Group has a search tool for that as well.

Speaker 1: 25:15

Yeah, I'll look up the Food Babe and put her on the website McMenMD under resources for you. What is the role of deceptive marketing play in this problem?

Speaker 3: 25:24

It's huge right. They will make the food look so appealing and push it in our faces all the time, and it's in outdoors and it's in the TV commercials and prime time. So the budget for this is just so big. Can you imagine how much money they're making off of the product if they have so much money to push on marketing right? And then kids are so vulnerable to that? They're the future us, they're the future country. This is the first generation that is probably not going to live as long as the current adults are going to live as long and we have more obese people now, children now, than we have malnourished children.

Speaker 3: 26:05

That's crazy in the whole world. So they'll use marketing, will use the buzzwords, you know, whole grain, fortified, made with real fruit, organic, again gluten-free and use cartoon characters to target children. You know, creating brand loyalty since infancy. So it's going to be hard to control that for sure.

Speaker 1: 26:28

And showing young, healthy, athletic people out there doing fun things like surfing or whatever.

Speaker 2: 26:33

And so we all want to be like that person, right?

Speaker 1: 26:35

Maybe if I ate that food I might look like that and have that kind of fun, right?

Speaker 3: 26:40

What about?

Speaker 1: 26:40

social media that's a whole new thing. And influencers are they playing a role in all of this?

Speaker 3: 26:48

whole new thing. And, you know, influencers are they playing a role in all of this? Absolutely, they're playing a role, and it's double, it's double right, it could be a good role of, like the food babe, for example. Like us, you know we're trying to share the best information, but it's also people that are getting paid to show certain products. They're not so healthy. Or, on the other side, they're showing this perfect life, maybe body dysmorphia, maybe, you know, try to lose weight and eat just this product. So they're creating confusion. I think not because they want to, I guess, but it is creating confusion. There's people with so many different messages. It's hard for especially the young people to sift through what's good information. Who should I follow?

Speaker 1: 27:31

So, rachel, I'm just asking for your opinion on this. But years ago, when I was so young, cigarettes were not regulated. But then, after lots of lobbying and many fights and whatever, it became regulated, and then alcohol is somewhat regulated. What about processed food? What do you think? Should that be regulated or not?

Speaker 3: 27:49

Oh gosh, people are going to hate me, but yes, I think so. The impact is just so severe on everybody, you know, mainly children. I mean it should be better regulated, especially in schools. Vending machines should not be allowed. I don't think Sodas should not be allowed in school, that is an environment to learn, to grow, to become a better person.

Speaker 3: 28:14

Let's bring back gardens. Let's bring back cooking classes, but not to make cookies. They'll have cooking classes but they'll teach cookies, you know, like let's make a cake or a cookie. Let's empower these children to know how to make a real meal Easy. You know, for the little ones, there are things that you can learn how to do that don't even require heat or cutting. You can make, like, little power balls with protein, you know. They can make little gummies with gelatin and real juice. It's not that hard. But, yes, I think that we have to save people from themselves. Now, it's actually this Like we have to. I think the government should step in and save people from themselves and if they still want to make that choice, then okay, but maybe increase taxes on those foods or make it not covered by food stamps. You know people still have a choice to smoke and drink right, and they can still have the choice to drink or eat those things. But I think a little extra barrier would really be helpful.

Speaker 1: 29:16

Yeah, the next thing I want to ask you about is the concept of food deserts, and just to explain that just a bit, you know I live here in Birmingham, which is a pretty good-sized city, and so within just a few miles I have some wonderful options as far as grocery stores where you can get pretty much anything you want. However, if you go to small-town Alabama, their only option is the local, say, dollar General or something like that, and I got to hand it to Dollar General. I think they are trying to they are better, they're trying to get better and they're trying to provide better foods. But I'm just saying in some places you don't really have that many choices. What do you think about that concept of food deserts and how can they try to eat better in those situations?

Speaker 3: 29:58

Yeah, it is really, really hard. I work with a patient population that some of them can only shop at dollar, and it's not even a Dollar General. It's one of the other dollar stores that don't have a frozen section. Because, depending if they do have fresh I mean frozen veggies and fruits I would say let's start there. If not, then maybe the canned vegetables, and then you rinse that out to try to get rid of that excess sodium. It's hard, it's almost impossible. It's shelves upon shelves upon shelves of ultra-processed foods. So the smarter thing to do would be grow your own chickens, have your little vegetable garden. You know, I would love for the cities to come together and bring farmers markets to those locations. We only find farmers markets in the affluent places. It's like a trendy thing to do, you know, go to the farmers market and shop very expensive arugula.

Speaker 3: 30:54

But if you would take it to these communities and try to sell it to them at a better price. I mean, there is no excuse. Here in Florida the weather will grow anything.

Speaker 1: 31:05

Yep, okay, I got to brag on my wife here a little bit. Dr Cheryl, yeah, she has started a program at the local women's shelter, which is the largest women's shelter in the country, and she started a garden there.

Speaker 1: 31:16

She's a master gardener started a garden there where they grow a lot of their vegetables and herbs and stuff like that, and so that's been pretty cool. That is awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now some people actually go so far as to say that demonizing processed foods is elitist and it's unrealistic for many people to transition away from processed food due to cost. Any thoughts on that?

Speaker 3: 31:52

I can see where that is coming from. If you do shop the so convenience processed foods that are healthier for you, right, that have cleaner ingredients, they are way more expensive, right? If you're buying a high quality sourdough bread that's already done for you, it is way more expensive than white, regular, full of stuff bread. That is correct. That is correct. However, if you shop the perimeter veggies frozen vegetables or fresh for the person to realize how important that is and the effort to learn how to cook with ingredients that are actually real and not just open a pack of Lunchables but it is possible to eat healthy on a budget.

Speaker 1: 32:38

You know I love your process there, the knowledge and attention and stuff like that. But I think change starts with awareness and that's what we're trying to do today is to bring awareness to people that this stuff is awful for you and it's responsible for a lot, a lot, a lot of awful, terrible diseases cancer, heart disease, whatever. So that's our goal here today. But then if people can take that to the next step and then move forward with knowledge and intention and that kind of thing, then that's where we want to go. Is there any such thing as addiction to processed food? Are they designing these foods to give you this kind of dopamine hit so you get hooked on them? I've read that the food industry is making some foods what we call hyperpalatable. I think you used that word earlier. So we can't stay away from them and we'll come back to them over and over and over. It's almost like regular food seems bland and unpalatable, like after you've had a Dorito chip. Then a slice of apple tastes pretty darn boring.

Speaker 3: 33:33

Yep, that is it. They will spend fortunes on finding the bliss point, the exact combination of salty to sweet, to crunch, to mouthfeel, texture and even color. You know it's attractive to look at something that's bright orange. Or to me it's not anymore, because I just I don't even see it as food anymore. But I can understand a child that grew up eating this. They're going to become the adult that craves those things. So again, I don't like to use addiction, because addiction is a strong word and it's disrespectful, I guess, to people that actually have an addiction. But it is something that is a very strong craving and it causes binging.

Speaker 3: 34:16

It does we see people that just cannot stop you know, and they are making these foods hyper palatable and it is the taste buds are being hijacked. So that amount of sweetness is not found in nature, it's not natural. And so you're eating a blueberry and really doesn't taste, doesn't taste good, but it's quick, your body does recover quick. You just give it a chance and it you will start craving real food because you'll feel the energy. Food that comes from the earth has life source in it.

Speaker 1: 34:50

And it's nothing woo-woo.

Speaker 3: 34:51

It's mitochondria ATP producing. You know, it's nutrients yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:57

Yeah, great. Yeah. Years ago I read this interesting book called the Dorito Effect. Did you read that?

Speaker 3: 35:02

No.

Speaker 1: 35:03

I didn't. It's interesting, and the author points out, that the food industry uses chemical flavorings to make the bland food taste exciting. It would be otherwise bland, but you add all these chemicals and it becomes exciting. And these flavors trick our senses, creating the illusion of nutrition when there really is very little nutrition. It's really kind of interesting that over millions of years, mother Nature designed many of our most flavorful foods to be also our most nutritious. For instance, a good orange is bursting with flavor, it's also loaded with vitamin C, when in fact ultra processed foods are just the opposite. You know, they taste great, a lot of flavor, but basically no nutrition.

Speaker 3: 35:42

Yeah, and the danger in that is that it really breaks apart that connection between taste and nutrition. Right, it's just empty, empty calories. A moment of pleasure.

Speaker 1: 35:56

So let's get practical. So you're in the grocery store and what are some strategies for healthier shopping? When it comes to minimizing processed foods, I think you mentioned earlier like stay on the outer aisles, right?

Speaker 3: 36:06

Stay on the perimeter. So start on the perimeter with your produce, so veggies, your fruits, your starches from there, and then the meats. And then, of course, the aisles have very important things Olive oil, extremely healthy for you. Go, grab me some in a dark bottle, in a dark glass bottle, and then make a list, stick to it. Don't go in that aisle with the chips. Why do you need to go there?

Speaker 1: 36:35

There's nothing else for you in there.

Speaker 3: 36:36

So just don't go in there. And if you don't have it in the house, you won't have it. Leave it for a special occasion. You go to somebody's, we're going to go watch a tailgating, do something. There's chips. You eat the chips there. But if you have it at the house, the likelihood that you're going to resist it, especially women in their luteal phase. It's going to be very hard. Read the ingredients when you're going in the aisles, because, of course, in the perimeters there are no ingredients, right, it's one whole food. But if you are in the aisles, read the ingredients, not the front of the package, because they're trying to sell you the fruit. Flip it over and read the list, right. This is your superpower, this is where your purchasing power is in action. And then buy frozen, If you, you know, if you're just one person cooking for oneself. Frozen fruits, frozen vegetables they keep forever, they cook faster and the nutritional content is very similar, very similar. It's a little bit less and it doesn't have all the additives that a canned vegetable would have.

Speaker 1: 37:31

You know, years ago I used to tell people that one of the key things to do is just keep it out of the house. Don't trick yourself that you're going to buy it at the grocery store and bring it in the house.

Speaker 1: 37:40

And eat just a little bit, and so when the bad food's there, it's going to call to you in the middle of the night to come have a Dorito or whatever. So, anyway, you've got to keep it out of the house. What about some quick and easy swaps or substitutes? So, for instance, instead of a sugary cereal, try what.

Speaker 3: 37:57

You can do. Some People hate these substitutions because it's not going to taste the same right, but nuts, fruits, dates are so, so sweet. You can have two dates filled in with little almond or walnut butter or like an actual walnut inside it. For me it tastes like a sweet treat from heaven and it's packed, packed, packed with nutrients. Make your own burgers at home. It takes like two seconds.

Speaker 3: 38:23

You know there are healthier for you brands out there that once you read the ingredients you are going to recognize all of them. It is processed in the form of flour, but it's still going to give you that crunchy, salty mouthfeel that people crave. There is not a substitute for that. You know you can do carrots and hummus and cucumbers and hummus all day long, but you're still going to want that dry, crunchy thing. Then look for the better brands that are going to have very few ingredients. Unfortunately, siete was just bought out by Pepsi and I think they've already started changing out their little ingredient list. You can make your own cookies with real ingredients. They're going to taste just as heavenly. You can cube your own toast and make your own croutons. It's whole foods, real foods.

Speaker 1: 39:13

Right, right. What about any strategies for going out to dinner? When you go out, you never know what's in that food, right, it could have MSG or who knows what else. So any strategies for that?

Speaker 3: 39:23

So there are. There's actually one place in Birmingham that advertises no MSG. It's that Korean place by the Aldi there. I forget their name, but few. In the bigger cities, the more health conscious cities. You can already go to apps and find companies like the fruit, the true food kitchen, the flower child. They're not going to cook with seed oils. So it's coming. It's a movement that has been gaining heat and that's great, but in a regular, you know small town that you're not going to have any of that. I would say pick a meat and choose two sides of vegetables. So it's. They're always going to have a source of protein a chicken, a beef, a fish, any kind of animal and then pick two sides of vegetables and start with a side salad.

Speaker 1: 40:03

So what about folks who travel a lot and you want to stop and get something to eat? You're in a hurry, and so how do you navigate the fast food joints?

Speaker 3: 40:12

Yeah, that is my husband for you. I used to pack a whole bunch of stuff and it would come back uneaten. So it is proteins and veggies, and you can find that anywhere. You're going to have to remove buns. Just know that preparation is much better, right? If you can prepare and take your own snacks with the ingredients that you know, that's great. That would trump everything else. If you cannot, then gas stations now have boiled eggs. They have veggies that are cut up. They have fruits and fruit cups. If you make an effort, you can find real food, even in fast food joints. Now they put stuff in it to preserve, to make it look better, but it's still better than eating the deep fried, super, super heavily processed things. So I would say salads and grilled meats, burgers, without the buns, what else? And then, honestly, gas stations are going to be. They're getting better and better at that, at having actual whole foods.

Speaker 1: 41:17

You know, I used to tell my patients you can walk in McDonald's and you can order a burger, fries, a shake and a Coke yeah. Or you can order the Asian salad with chicken right, yeah, In the same place, right. But it's all about making choices, making wise choices, yeah. So as much as you can sort of be in charge there and do that, then that's good, all right. What about social gatherings? You know, you go to a friend's party or whatever, and you're surrounded by badness, and so any strategies there, boy?

Speaker 3: 41:46

It's going to. So I think once you establish that this is a priority for you, it becomes easier. In the beginning it's like any learning curve it feels awkward. So what I do nowadays is I will go eat Like I will eat at the house and I will just nibble if there is anything. If there's a veggie plate, I will nibble on that. If there's a salad, I will nibble on that.

Speaker 3: 42:08

But I'm not going to go there hungry, because I know that when I'm hungry, you know I'm going to have to. I'm going to feel forced to eat things that are not healthy for me. However, if 80% of the time you're doing everything right in your house, there is no problem for you enjoying the 20% with your friends and not be that person that's not going to eat. So that's fine. Just go and eat without your guilt. But if it's something, if you're one of those people that entertain all the time and now the 20% is not 20% anymore then it does require some planning. You either eat before or you're the one that's going to take the healthy dish, so hopefully you'll find a protein and some kind of veggie. Usually you'll find a protein right and if you can find a veggie or a fruit stick with that and nibble on the other things, just not to be unpolite.

Speaker 1: 42:56

And so what are your advice for parents who are trying to navigate this world full of ultra-processed food and options for their kids? You know, every time you go through the checkout line right there at child eye level, you have all this stuff and then you're doing pretty good at home but they go over to Johnny's house for a birthday party and then all coke and cake and whatever. So I've seen some parents just kind of give up and let the kids have their way and have whatever they want and others kind of fight the good fight. So any thoughts for those parents and how they can navigate that?

Speaker 3: 43:27

I would say do everything that is in your power to fight the good fight. So I have a example for you guys. My sister and I are 20 years apart and we have the same mom and dad. My mom and my dad when they had me, they were very young. And my mother, like I said, my genes are not great. I have all the genes for diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and my mother made such an effort to not feed me the sugar until I was like not let me have anything and it was kind of natural. I don't think I was suffering that much, except for when she sent me like tuna and beet sandwich to school and that I thought that was a little bit much. But anyway, she would pack my own lunches, blah, blah, blah, blah. She didn't have any help. We didn't have, you know, somebody to do that. It was her and she still worked full time. So I'm sure it was a lot of effort. When, years later, they have my sister and they're older and they're tired and they just whatever. And also, my sister was born in America, which is a little harder. I was born in Brazil. Nowadays, I feel like my sister has so much trouble making better choices and she loves Coke and she loves chips, and it's just harder for her to have a healthy eating pattern, which for me, comes naturally.

Speaker 3: 44:41

So if parents can conjure up the energy to make your own snacks and they can be yummy you can make gummies, like I said. You can use gelatin and juice. You can make power balls with dates and nuts and nut butters. You can make sandwiches using high quality bread. There are high quality deli meats out there Plainville, applegate, applegate is your best friend for kids. Okay, if you have kids, look up Applegate. They'll have like corn dogs, They'll have chicken nuggets, they'll have turkey ham all with way, way, way, way less additives. Lesser Evil is a brand that has crunchy, salty snacks that are less worse for you. There are options out there. You just have to look for them, and working with somebody that already knows this stuff and you're not trying to navigate everything from your own, can be really helpful. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 45:29

Yeah, and Rachel, you know doctors have almost no training in nutrition, and so if somebody needs help with this because I think even if somebody has gone down the path of diabetes, I mean you can turn this stuff around right, but you're going to need help from somebody like you it's going to be almost impossible to do on your own, and so I recommend people get hooked up with a good functional nutritionist like Rachel. I think, of all the things I ever did with patients, probably one of the most powerful was changing their diet.

Speaker 1: 46:03

You can hit a lot of things If you look in America's favorite snack foods. Rachel, let's see. It's M&M's Ritz crackers, oreos antivirus and chips. Is there anything that's really a healthy snack?

Speaker 3: 46:18

There are healthy for you snacks. Like I said, lesser Evil does have some crunchy, salty things that can be a little bit less worse for you. I like high quality jerky. So if you're thinking about a healthier snack, you want to think about protein and fiber more than the carbs, and that's exactly the opposite of everything that you just listed. M&m Ritz crackers those are carb, carb, carb on carb right. So Primal Kitchen, paleo Valley, epic have very high quality jerky apple with almond butter or sunflower butter, any veggie you like, with hummus or guacamole, a handful of nuts and seeds, plain yogurt with berries, hard boiled eggs, deviled eggs. And it's about shifting the mindset of I'm going to put in my body what nourishes me, and it can be tasty. You just have to let your body clear all of that hijacking that the ultra processed foods have done to you and I always remind people.

Speaker 1: 47:16

You're not just feeding yourselves, you're feeding your microbiome right.

Speaker 3: 47:19

Yep.

Speaker 1: 47:19

So getting the wide variety of vegetables in there can help that, and then that results in much better health in many ways. And before we leave the issue of kids, Rachel, I have a confession to make In an attempt to help my kids.

Speaker 1: 47:31

Years ago we had just moved here to Birmingham from out of town and we were literally unpacking and this truck starts to pull down the street and it was ringing bells and playing music and I looked and I saw, oh, it's the ice cream truck. And so my daughters were out there with me and there were I think maybe four and five at that age and they had never seen a truck like that. And so they asked me Daddy, what's that? It looked pretty enticing. I said run, girls, run. It's the immunization man in the shot truck. I love that. So they went high-tailing it in the house and hid under their bed. For the next two years I never had to fight the fight with the ice cream man.

Speaker 1: 48:09

Every time they would hear that truck, they would come running in the house. Finally, one of their friends told them what it really was and they kind of got mad at me. But oh well, yeah, so all right Now, rachel. I don't have chips very often, but when I do, my favorite is called a sweet potato chip. And here are the ingredients Organic ground white corn, organic sunflower oil, organic sweet potato powder and, let's see, organic sugar and sea salt. So let's break it down. For me, that is obviously a processed food, or is it an ultra processed food? And with such a chip a couple of times a month, would it really be all that bad for me?

Speaker 3: 48:43

Not a couple of times a month, not at all. But we can break it down right. The first ingredients is processed, because it was ground corn, but it's very minimally processed. You just increase surface area. So you're now having a little bit high glycemia, and then you took a whole food sweet potato and you turned it into a powder. That's another level of processing. My one thing here would be that sunflower oil. Nowadays there are chips that are flat fried in avocado oil, so that is what I'm looking for when I want to eat chips. I love chips as well, but in the grand scheme of things, if you're going to have this chip twice a month, once a month, it really will not make a dent. It's what you're doing every day, consistently.

Speaker 1: 49:25

Okay good, and so then it may be okay to have some ultra processed foods in moderation, or should we be aiming for a zero tolerance policy?

Speaker 3: 49:36

here. I think there's a nuance there, because there is a spectrum of ultra-processed foods. I honestly do not think that the artificial colors and the very bad additives should be consumed, even minimally but, that's just me right Now. Will I eat a chip with three ingredients every once in a while? Yes, I will. So I think that there is a spectrum of how bad this food is for you and we can aim towards zero tolerance, but I don't think that that's feasible for the regular person.

Speaker 1: 50:12

So yeah, so. So tell me about some ultra processed foods that are like super bad and others that are maybe less bad and we could have now and then.

Speaker 3: 50:20

Yeah, I'm going to start with sodas. Right, those are just sugar sweetened beverages are. I think they're going to be the worst for you, not just because of the high, high, high, high, high sugar content. And then you're like, well, but I drank diet, yeah, but then the sweetener is a chemical that, depending on what chemical it is, it can be bad for your gut microbiome, it can be bad for your thyroid, it can be bad for your brain, it could be potentially cancer forming. So it's just so many empty calories with a ton of chemicals. So that would be like on this end of the spectrum, like really, really bad. Then I would say Doritos and all of those, because of the added colors, it's more the chemicals than it is the deep fried, you know, not so healthy for you thing.

Speaker 3: 51:07

So on the end of the less bad, you would say like a sourdough bread, a whole grain, something Like the deli meats. I eat the Applegate deli meats almost twice a week because it's for the days that I'm rounding with the doctors and I can't, you know, prepare my breakfast a little bit more thoroughly. So pasta sauce is a processed food, but it's just tomatoes and seasoning. Some of them will have sugar, some of them won't. It's just reading the labels and you will know intuitively. You will know that bread number 40 plus polysorbate 80 is worse than something that says corn, salt and oil, right.

Speaker 1: 51:46

You know, rachel, speaking of Cokes and Diet Cokes, oh my gosh, I've had some patients who are absolutely addicted to diet drinks. They would have back in the old days they would have a tab and they would drink, you know, seven to ten a day and Diet Dr Pepper, Diet Coke, whatever. They seem to be just absolutely addicted to them. Yeah, have you seen that?

Speaker 3: 52:06

Oh, absolutely. I see it all the time and it's hard to pry it off their hands.

Speaker 1: 52:11

Yeah, yeah for sure, like fruit juices and energy drinks. What are your thoughts on those?

Speaker 3: 52:17

I want to say they're just less chemical versions of soda, but in the terms of sugar content they can be even worse. So I just say don't drink your calories. That's like the best rule. Don't drink your calories. It's going to be so aggressive on your blood sugar and you don't want to be doing this, and this I'm doing with my hands. You don't want to go up and down, up and down with your blood sugar all day long. That's just not good for a variety of reasons.

Speaker 1: 52:45

Okay, Rachel, let's see. Can you share with us some real life success stories or case studies of a client who improved their health dramatically by reducing processed food?

Speaker 3: 52:53

of a client who improved their health dramatically by reducing processed food. Being a dietician and working specifically with food, right that is my biggest tool in my toolbox. I honestly cannot pick one client, because 100% of all the now more than 400 people that I've seen has not come back and told me huh, I wish I'd never took out those deep, heavy processed foods. All of them felt better, to varying degrees, of course. Ones were more strict and felt better, ones could not be as strict and didn't you know feel as better. But none of them ever came back saying boy, I really regret removing those foods.

Speaker 1: 53:32

And so give me a ballpark of once somebody makes the change, how long does it take to kind of reset their health and start to feel better?

Speaker 3: 53:40

It's so quick, how the body. It's so beautiful. You just give it a chance and your body recovers. Of course, it's going to be related to two things how bad in shape you are when you come right and how strict you are following the plan. So it could be things to weeks. People can feel better in weeks, two months to several months, but I would say average, in three months everybody is going to be feeling much, much, much better.

Speaker 1: 54:08

You know, there's an old saying that I like. It's something along these lines the body really wants to be healthy and tries to be healthy. We just have to get out of the way and stop poisoning it with junk and undermining it. So anyway, all right, let's see. I have a nice story to tell you. It's a true story. I had a good friend who lost a bunch of weight I think about 30 to 40 pounds, and I asked her how she did it.

Speaker 1: 54:28

And she said briefly that I just ate whole foods, that's it. And then she elaborated and said if it comes in a box, I don't eat it. If it doesn't run, swim, jump, fly or grow on this earth, I don't eat it. And wow, it's really amazing to hear her say that. And so it was so simple and so honest. And yet, just by doing that, she achieved her goals within a pretty short period of time. And wow, 30, 40 pounds. I was super impressed.

Speaker 3: 54:52

Yeah, that's a perfect example. It's not about a complicated diet, it's just eat real food, what you would see grow on the earth or walk, fly, jump, swim, right. It really is. It doesn't have to be complicated at all and you'll start craving those nutrients you really would. You're like my gosh. I want a vegetable like right now.

Speaker 1: 55:14

So, rachel, look in your crystal ball for me and, from your perspective, what does the future look like if our society continues to emphasize, increasingly rely on heavily processed food?

Speaker 3: 55:20

It's unsustainable. It really is. It's a healthcare crisis. We already seen this Type 2 diabetes in children, fatty liver in children, my gosh Heart disease and children Heart disease and children. It's just really bad.

Speaker 1: 55:35

Yeah, these poor kids, poor, poor, poor kids.

Speaker 3: 55:38

Not a future that we have to accept, though you know we can change it.

Speaker 1: 55:41

Speaking of sustainability, what about the environmental angle? Are ultra-processed foods as bad for the planet as they are for our wastelands?

Speaker 3: 55:47

Yes, very, very, very bad. Because of deforestation they have to tear down all trees and to make commodity crops that are very used in ultra-processed food, like soy and palm oil and things like that. Loss of biodiversity from farming only one crop. It's so energy consuming to process and transport these things globally. Right, it's going everywhere now. And the plastic, all these ultra-processed foods, they don't come off the tree, they come off a box, a package, a plastic, a bottle. It's the most unsustainable thing really.

Speaker 1: 56:26

So, looking to the future once again, how can we better educate our next generation about healthy food choices? This is somewhat controversial, but, in your opinion, should schools play a role in nutrition education or should we leave it up to the parents, who are obviously doing a terrible job?

Speaker 3: 56:40

Yeah, and it's hard for them, I mean, but schools do need to help. You know, bring back the gardening, bring back the cooking, bring back things that children will actually use in their daily lives and not, you know, things that they, that they bored them to death, and it's the kids will like this, they will enjoy this.

Speaker 1: 57:04

Yeah, we. My local elementary school has a garden and the kids love it.

Speaker 3: 57:08

Those children know where food comes from but most children, don't? They think it comes from the grocery store.

Speaker 2: 57:12

Really.

Speaker 3: 57:12

They've never been to a farm. Let's do field trips, you know, taking them to local farms and to see how animals are raised and to make them appreciate it too. You know, a life has to be lost to feed us, and they have to appreciate that too you know, right, right, right, and so we're going to wrap this up here, rachel.

Speaker 1: 57:30

So what are some of the big myths or misconceptions about ultra-processed food you'd like to debunk today?

Speaker 3: 57:35

All right. So first one is you're not failing. Okay, the food system, the marketing, the way the food was engineered is designed for you to fail, so it's not about willpower. You're going to just have to start reading ingredients and listening to something like this, realizing how important it is for you to nourish your body rather than feed it calories. And your body has an incredible ability to heal. Just give it a chance. Remove the processed foods, try it. Try it for a week, just listen, you know, to this podcast and then try it tomorrow. Start small. You don't have to change everything at once, so pick the one thing that you eat the most and just make that one swap. Read the ingredient list. Read the ingredient list. Read the ingredient list. Cook at home as much as you can.

Speaker 1: 58:23

Yeah, I agree, rachel. For some of us that are starting small, there are people who are so darn sick they need to be more aggressive. I think I know in the past I've had I remember I had a nutritionist she would actually go to their house with them, clean out the cupboards and go shopping with them, you know and bring in new stuff, because it's in the cupboard, they're going to eat it, right.

Speaker 1: 58:41

So they had to kind of clean out all the bad stuff. So what are some of the really key take-home points that you'd like our listeners to be thinking about? Moving forward?

Speaker 3: 58:55

Well, the main thing is that every bite is a message to your body. Right, you have to choose foods that speak the language of health, not of disease. And did I say, read the labels ingredients.

Speaker 1: 59:09

And so is there anything I have not asked you about that you'd like to share with us today, or have we covered it?

Speaker 3: 59:16

I think there was one question about the elemental diet and I do want to go and comment on that because it's funny. I use the elemental diet a lot because in my practice I specialize in gut health, right, so people come to me so messed up, and the elemental diet is just like a reset.

Speaker 1: 59:33

Do you want to explain to everybody? Let's back up a little bit. Explain to people what is the elemental diet.

Speaker 3: 59:38

Please explain to them what it is.

Speaker 1: 59:40

Well, you are the expert, but I'm going to stab at it.

Speaker 1: 59:44

But basically, because I was on it for a long time myself, it's basically complete nutrition broken down into most elemental forms. So, for instance, a lot of times with gut health, what is causing the immune reaction or the inflammation is the proteins or protein fragments. So what this does? It just gives you all the important amino acids, which are the components of proteins, but broken down into the most elemental form, the amino acid itself. So there are no intact proteins or protein fragments, so that cannot cause inflammation or an immune reaction and it allows your gut to have a rest. And so people with certain situations, like since it's SIBO, for instance, I think it's like a huge cure rate just with elemental diet alone, the SIBO. And so that's my concept of the elemental diet. What did I get wrong there, rachel?

Speaker 3: 1:00:28

No, you didn't get anything wrong. So, yeah, so the elemental diet is elemental because all the macronutrients and we have three of them the fats, the carbs and the proteins. Dr McMahon explained the proteins. The carbs are going to be broken down in either dextrose, like smaller pieces, right, and then the fats are going to be usually in medium-chain triglycerides. So the body just needs to absorb it. Basically, you don't depend on digestion, you just have to absorb it. It's a great reset, it's a break for your gut if you have inflammatory bowel disease. But anyway, even in the elemental diet.

Speaker 3: 1:00:59

So I went to this conference and they gave me a big tub for free. And these elemental diets are expensive, you know that right. So I come back home. My husband always struggles with a million things. He has long COVID and I'm like, oh, let's get you on the elemental diet. And he starts taking it. And gosh when I read the back 90 grams of carbohydrates per serving, yeah, a lot of sugar, a lot of glycemic index yeah, but there are other ones that don't. So even me as a professional, I did not turn the thing around, I just trusted because it was a medical product. It was, you know, there at the expo, and they gave it to me, and nobody needs 90 grams of protein per serving or then 90 grams of carbohydrates per serving. So I do find other brands that have way less than that.

Speaker 1: 1:01:49

Well, and since it's kind of predigested, then you get this huge glycemic index from that.

Speaker 3: 1:01:53

Oh huge. Or you can inflame the person you want.

Speaker 1: 1:01:56

Right. Do you happen to know what the brand is that you would recommend, for it has the least carbs in it.

Speaker 3: 1:02:00

Yes, one of them has a horrible taste. It's called Vita-Aid and it's got a keto line. It tastes awful but it is very, very good. There is one that tastes really good. It is from Dr Ruscio and he has a low-carb version, so you have to look for the low-carb. And the other one that I use that is my favorite. It's called the website is Listen to your Gut and it's called Absorb Minos. So Absorb has two lines one with like about 50-ish grams, which for my skinny, non-inflamed, just like just gut disease, I can use the regular one, but then they have an aminos line that is just way less carbs.

Speaker 1: 1:02:46

Yeah, and Dr Ruscio has that right on his website. He's got a web store there. It's his R-U-S-C-I-O Years ago. A quick story I was having some terrible gut issues and went to see my doctor and he diagnosed Crohn's disease it's no fun right. And he actually did biopsies which showed inflammatory bowel disease and he started me on an elemental diet 5-N-X at that time, which is awful tasting, but I was so sick I stayed on it for three months, which I would never recommend my patients do, because I was just so afraid to go back to real food because they were messing with me, and so usually we use an elemental diet for about maybe you know Two weeks. So then after three months I transitioned back into normal food, step by step, and I came back six months later and scoped again Crohn's gone.

Speaker 3: 1:03:36

Wow, and you never had a flare, it's never come back.

Speaker 1: 1:03:40

Okay, rachel, with your permission, I'll have your bio posted on the website at mcmindycom, along with some contact info. Is that okay?

Speaker 3: 1:03:46

Yes, that would be great.

Speaker 1: 1:03:47

Wonderful, and so it's time to wrap this up, folks. Thank you so much, rachel, for bringing us your passion, your experience, your knowledge about nutrition, especially about processed food. I found this so informative, and I hope that our audience did as well.

Speaker 3: 1:04:00

I hope so too. I hope you guys can get some good takeaways.

Speaker 1: 1:04:04

Well, that about does it for this edition of Wellness Connection MD. Thank you so much for listening. I hope that we were able to share with you something that informed you and inspired you. If you did find this episode interesting, then please share it with others and help the podcast grow. We're trying to build a tribe of people who are passionate about optimal health. If you'd like to reach out to me to comment on the show or to make recommendations for future topics, then you may do so at drmcminn at yahoocom. Since Coach Lindsay is not with us today to leave you with one of her wonderful pearls of wisdom, I'll do my best to fill in for her.

Speaker 1: 1:04:36

Imagine if you had the fastest race car in the world that ran on jet fuel, but one day you mistakenly filled it with diesel fuel. It certainly wouldn't win the race. Chances are it would sputter and spurt and die out, leaving you stranded. Your body's kind of like that race car. It was designed over millions of years to run on a certain kind of fuel, which is called whole food, and not on artificial chemicals like MSG and red dye. Number three. And if you keep feeding your body fuels for which it was not designed, just like that race car. It too will break down and leave you stranded, often with catastrophic health consequences. Let that sink in for just a bit. Well, that should do it Until next time. Stay curious, stay informed, keep it real and remember small actions can lead to big changes. Take that first step towards better health. This is Dr McMinn signing out. Take care and be well.