What Is Real Food?

Be kind to your body by taking extra care of what you put into it. By following these few simple guidelines, I guarantee you will start to feel and look healthier in just a matter of weeks. Plus, learn all about the amazing benefits that eating healthy, unprocessed food can have on your short and long-term well-being.

The words real food, whole food, unprocessed food, healthy food, or fresh food get thrown around a lot these days. A few years ago, I was one of those people trying to be witty with comments such as, how can food be fake then? All while being a vegetarian who would only eat “things my mom could grow in her garden, and nothing else”. To make a long story short - I was ignorant to what the words real or whole actually meant.

What Is Real Food?

Real food shouldn’t be complicated. It’s food that’s found in nature, is nutritious, gives our body energy and helps it to repair itself. It quite literally is the food that my mom would grow in her garden.

Real food makes us feel good after we eat it, not sleepy, lethargic or even ill, and it makes us feel good long-term. And, it’s downright delicious.

If you’re ever in doubt of what real or whole food is or isn’t, just consider if what you're about to eat is something you would be able to produce on your own. Does it come from a seed or an animal? Would you be able to prepare it in your own kitchen?

Here's a quick overview of what whole food is:

• Fruits & Vegetables: Always seasonal, locally grown and organic when possible
• Whole Grains: 100% whole-wheat and whole-grains; gluten and wheat-free grains when possible
• Beans & Legumes, including green peas, snap peas and lentils: Fresh and organic when possible; buy BPA-free cans
• Nuts & Seeds: Raw, unsalted, unsweetened and organic when possible
• Unrefined, Virgin Cold-Pressed Oils & Fats: Coconut oil, olive oil, grass-fed butter and ghee
• Spices, Herbs & Seasonings: Fresh or dry; minimally processed and organic if possible
• Natural, Unrefined Sweeteners: Maple syrup, agave syrup, honey and coconut palm sugar
• Beverages: Water, naturally sweetened tea and coffee, natural juices, milk, alcohol, limited to wine if possible; in moderation
• Dairy & Eggs: Always free-range, grass-fed, pasture-raised, locally sourced, directly from a farmer when possible; in moderation
• Meat & Seafood: Wild, grass-fed and humanely raised without hormones and antibiotics; in moderation

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What Real Food Is Not

Instead of listing what you shouldn’t eat, I encourage you to fill 80% of your day with real food. This way you’re doing something good for your health without overthinking what foods you should be avoiding.

Focus on what you should do, instead of what you shouldn’t do.

My goal is not to provide you with a special diet plan, or any sort of strict guidelines you would need to follow to be healthy. Cutting out processed foods, refined sugar, trans fats and alcohol has proven itself to be the best way to stay healthy, maintain a healthy body weight, and look younger.

Filling your day with real food will make it easier to avoid:

• Processed foods, made with chemicals and additives, artificial flavours and colours
• Refined sweeteners, such as white sugar, any form of corn syrup, cane juice, or artificial sweeteners, such as Splenda
• Deep fried foods and fast foods
• Refined grains, such as white flour or rice
• Processed oils and fats, including trans-fats, partially hydrogenated and/or polyunsaturated vegetable oils, such as canola, soy, sunflower, safflower, peanut, soybean, margarine and non-butter spread and sprays

Reasons to Eat Healthy Food

Real food is good for your skin. Studies have shown that eating more vegetables, fish, beans and olive oil may help reduce wrinkles, loss of elasticity and other age-related skin changes. It may even help to prevent or reduce acne.

Blood triglyceride levels are strongly influenced by food intake; they tend to go up when you eat sugar and refined carbs. Minimising these foods in your diet can help lower triglycerides.

Eating patterns based on whole, unprocessed foods, especially the Mediterranean diet, have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. 

Real food contains antioxidants. These are compounds that help fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage your body’s cells. Antioxidants are found in all real foods, but especially plant foods, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and legumes.

Real food can be beneficial for gut microbiome, the bacteria that live in your digestive tract. Many real foods function as probiotics, such as garlic, asparagus, coco, and more.

Sugar and refined carbs are known to promote dental decay by providing food for the plaque-causing bacteria that live in your mouth. Eating unprocessed food, which is very low in these components, can often lead to having healthier teeth in the long run.

You’re the only one in control of what you put into your body. So choose wisely.