Diet With No Processed Foods

A diet high in processed foods can affect your energy, your weight and your health. Modern staples like refined grains, sugary drinks and salty snacks provide minimal nutrition and, usually, a lot of calories per serving. The Harvard School of Public Health, among other health organizations, recommends switching to a less-processed, plant-based diet that emphasizes watery vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, fish and poultry.

Features

A diet that shuns processed foods emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and unsaturated fats. Processed foods usually come in cartons, wrappers, boxes, cans and bags with long ingredient lists. If you cannot identify everything on the label as a natural food, chances are it is a highly processed product. Avoiding processed foods also means limiting restaurant visits--especially to chains and fast food establishments. Breakfasts may consist of oatmeal, berries and low-fat milk, lunches of grilled chicken, vegetables and brown rice and dinners of baked salmon, sweet potatoes and a green salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Snack on low-fat, plain yogurt, fresh fruit, raw nuts and cut-up vegetables with homemade hummus.

Foods to Avoid

Limit your intake of saturated processed meats like hot dogs, sausages and commercial deli meats, these contain nitrates, sodium and, often, high amounts of saturated fat. Cut out all trans fats, which are manufactured fats that both raise your bad cholesterol levels and lower you good levels says the American Heart Association. This means avoiding any food that lists "partially hydrogenated" on the label--even if the nutrient panel lists zero for trans fats. Manufacturers are only required to list amounts higher than a 0.5g per serving. Stay away from highly refined flour products like white pasta and bread--choose whole-grain varieties instead. While dairy and fruits contain natural sugars, avoid products with a high added sugar content--skim the label for ingredients like cane sugar, honey, agave nectar, molasses, corn syrup or brown rice syrup.

Misconceptions

Foods that label themselves as "healthy" are not necessarily unprocessed. Organic cookies, cakes and chips are still highly refined, even if they are made with products that do not contain pesticides. Some whole-grain products are made with white flour with a minimal amount of whole grains added, make sure your ingredient lists whole grain flour, bran, barley, oats or another whole grain as the first ingredient.

Strategies

Eat five to six times per day to maximize nutrition intake and keep hunger under control. Go for three meals and two to three snacks. Every time you eat, include a source of protein low in saturated fat, fresh fruit and/or vegetables, and a whole grain. Drink plenty of water a day, the magazine "Clean Eating" recommends 2l per day. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where the fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats tend to be located.

Considerations

If you are cutting out processed foods to lose weight, remember that you still have to control portions and calorie intake. Eating too many calories of any food--even non-processed varieties--will cause weight gain. Avoiding processed foods means you have to be prepared. Carry natural snacks with you in a cooler or your bag to always have unprocessed options available.