Ep 004: One Piece of Advice All Diets Have in Common
Have you ever been caught in the crossfire of conflicting diet advice, with each plan seemingly pushing you in a different direction? In a world saturated with health trends and fad diets, navigating the nutrition landscape can feel like trying to complete a puzzle with pieces that don’t fit together.
The good news is, amidst the chaos, there's a fundamental piece of advice that resonates across diverse approaches—the emphasis on whole foods over processed foods.
This short episode will explore the common denominator that unites various diet approaches.
We’ll explore why opting for whole foods over processed counterparts might be the key to unlocking a healthier, more balanced relationship with what you eat and improving your health.
To conclude, you’ll walk away with an easy tip you can apply this week.
Learn more about the Mediterranean diet, a healthy whole food eating plan ranked overall best diet for seven years in a row.
Show Transcript
Please note, the following transcript is AI-generated and therefore may contain grammar, formatting, and spelling errors.
One Piece of Advice Every Diet Has in Common
Imagine walking into a library or bookstore and going to the health and nutrition section. What you're going to see. There is shelves on shelves of diet books, and they all seem to be giving different advice, which can be really frustrating and overwhelming for a lot of people. Like, how are you supposed to know what to do when all these diet books are telling you to do different and sometimes even opposite things. Well, the truth is that most diets are actually more similar than they are different because they start with the same foundational principle. And that's what we're going to talk about today.
The one thing that all diets have in common.
Welcome to the Wholly Well Journey podcast. I'm your host, Stephanie Hodges. Join us for weekly faith-based conversations on holistic health to uncover practical tips for how to thrive and apply biblical wisdom to our busy modern lives. From fitness to food to fasting, we're here to discover what it means to have a healthy spirit, soul, and body.
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This is a quick tip episode where I'm going to give you something to walk away with in just five to 10 minutes. And today we're talking about the one thing that all diets have in common. And it's true. Like we said, that if you start to look at different diet books, they seem to be based on different principles and they start with a specific premise for why people are unhealthy or why you're gaining weight.
And they'll explain that problem, propose a solution. And then they cite some research studies or epidemiological patterns that seem to support their point of view. But maybe once for vegan eating and you pick up another book that has a similar format, but it's all about, Carnivore diet or about omnivore eating. So, how do you know what to do with that? Well, if you take those same books and you open them all up to the back, they usually end with a section where you'll find food lists, meal plans and recipes. And this is where you see when you're actually laying those books side by side.
They have some more similarities than they do differences. And the key similarity is that they emphasize whole foods over processed foods. Let's define what that means. So, processed foods refer to food items that have undergone different changes from their original state. And processing can be helpful. That means cooking in some cases. And processing can be things like freezing or drying or canning. That allow us to Ship food around the world, which we need to do But the problem comes in when they're adding lots of preservatives and flavor enhancers, things to extend shelf life and enhance taste.
And sometimes these processed foods are really high in sugar. They're high in unhealthy fats or sodium or. Artificial additives and dies. And just some examples of these types of processed foods that are not necessarily the healthiest for you are sugary breakfast cereals, soft drinks, and. Beverages with added sugar, fast food, packaged foods like chips and candies and crackers.
All of those snacky foods that we like to eat because they're convenient. And they're easy to just grab something on the go. And then you also have your frozen meals and maybe some canned soups and things that have a lot of added sodium. Well, you don't see these items recommended on any diets. Nobody's saying, Hey, for snack, you should eat half a bag of chips. No, they're all going to have whole foods in all of those meal and recipe and diet recommendations.
And I'll have to say, I know there's the exception of the Twinkie diet. I know that's a thing, but that was really kind of a fluke for the most parts. All diets agree on this point of focusing on whole foods because in contrast to processed foods, whole foods are coming straight from nature. And they're not changed or they're minimally processed.
So that's something like you might take a whole avocado and eat at whole, or you might just mash it up and add some other natural ingredients like lime and cilantro and onion to make a guacamole. But that's still really. For the most part in unprocessed food, when you're making that yourself. And so whole foods include fruits and vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds, whole grains. And animal products like meat, milk, and eggs. And these foods are good for you because they have fiber protein, nutrients, there's vitamins and minerals and phytochemicals, and naturally occurring plant compounds that we don't even always understand why some of these foods are as good for us as they are. But when you're able to focus on those whole foods, they do fill you up.
They usually have fiber in them. They usually have more protein. And so they're able to keep you full for longer. While at the same time, giving you more nutrition. So here's three problems with processed foods. One is that they're calorie rich and nutrient poor, which is the exact opposite of whole foods.
That means for. Any food that you're eating. In the same amount of quantity. It has more calories, but less nutrition in it. So when you're thinking about eating something like a handful of cheese puffs versus an apple. They both may fit in your hand. But the apple is going to give you more nutritional value. The second thing about the processed foods is that all of those additives can build up in your body and they lead to disease and dysfunction and weight gain. And usually those things aren't obvious right away, it's over time as they build up in your body.
Over time.
You may start to find yourself having problems like insulin resistance and type two diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. So many of these issues. All come back to what we eat. The third thing about these foods is that it's hard to control your portion sizes because they're so tasty and they're specifically engineered to be delicious.
They have that perfect blend of sweet and salty and crunchy. That somebody has been designing to make you want more. So it's just like that chip commercial says it's hard to eat. Just one. It truly is hard. So the first step in transforming your diet and meeting your health goals is to focus on whole foods at every meal. And avoid processed foods as much as possible. Now that doesn't mean you have to label foods as good and bad, or you can never have those good and tasty foods that taste awesome.
But the focus needs to be first on the whole foods first, getting in that good nutrition that has to be the foundation for your diet. And then when you choose to have a process food, you're doing it in moderation and you're aware of what you're doing and why you're doing it.
So next, you may still have questions about the best specific diet for you. Well, there's no one size fits all. Despite what the latest book may tell you. You have to be an active participant. In figuring out the best diet for your body, because you're unique. You have a unique set of genetics. You have a unique environment you have in unique personality and tastes and preferences. So you're going to have to actively look at what works for you and think about it.
Like being a scientist, a scientist is going to conduct experiments and make observations. And then they're going to continue to tweak and try it again and observe how that changes things. 'cause most diets are about what you eat and how much you eat. And we kind of covered the, what you eat in a big, in general way.
When we're talking about whole foods versus processed foods. And the second point is about how much you eat. And that's where it's true, that you can have processed foods and a diet. If you can control how much of those you eat. The problem is it is hard to stop eating those processed foods and they don't always fill you up. So when you're eating more vegetables in your diet and more of those whole bulky foods that have good nutritional content, you're going to feel fuller most of the time. And it's also going to help you to control your cravings and your blood sugar.
So now let's say maybe you have cleaned up your diet a little bit. And you're focusing now on whole foods. But you still need to know what exactly is the best diet for you out of all those options out there. Well, you could be sensitive to gluten. You could be someone who thrives on a vegan diet. But a lot of people don't. And you might be sensitive to certain items.
If you have a health condition or a digestive condition, or you have a certified allergy. And so there are some people that they just cannot digest. Certain vegetables, seeds, things like dairy, shellfish, gluten and wheat. That's just to name a few. But it also wants you to remember that even if you don't actually have a food allergy, you might be sensitive to something, Or maybe it just doesn't agree with your body.
Maybe after you eat a certain food, you get really bloated. You have a lot of digestive distress or you feel really lethargic and your energy goes down in the afternoon when you eat. A certain thing for lunch. Just be aware of that, because those might be things that you need to cut out of your diet for time and then see how you feel. And then reintroduce them and see what works for you then. So in the same way, you might find you need a different proportion of protein or fat or carbohydrate.
Some people can eat a lot of carbohydrates as long as they're in a whole natural form and feel great. But some people don't, some people thrive off a low carb diet. So you're going to know your body best, but the first step is you got to clear the decks. You got to clean things up because right now, if you're eating so many different things all the time, You can't tell what's causing a certain reaction or what's causing you to feel a certain way. But if you can go back to that one common denominator, eating the whole foods. And eliminating the process foods. That's your first step to finding your optimal nutrition plan.
So one change for you this week. Here's a little challenge for you. Is to transform your snacks and make sure that all of your snacks for this week are whole foods. Things like raw vegetables or whole fruits. Maybe some trail mix or nuts and seeds at a mommy roasted chickpeas. Those are just a couple of ideas for you. But snacks are where we tend to eat the least healthy items
That might be where our energy is plummeting in the afternoon.
And we want to reach for a candy bar or sugary latte or a soda. So just try instead to transform those snacks this week, make them whole foods. And see how you feel. And then from there you can start to go meal by meal. And look at what you're eating and look at how you can put more whole foods in. And fill up on those things that are so nutritious and so good for you that you're not even missing the other stuff.
So I hope this is a helpful tip for you, and I hope it provides some clarity and sorting out all of that different diet advice out there.
It can be complex and it can be nuanced. But sometimes all you need is just a simple start to get going in the right direction.
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Wholly Well Journey podcast. Please be sure to subscribe and you can also head over to whollywelljourney. com to check out the show notes and the whole podcast library. That's also where you'll find information about our health and wellness coaching, which you can participate in online from wherever you are in the world.
Just a reminder and disclaimer that this. Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice or professional counseling. Please be sure to consult your doctor before making any changes to your diet or exercise plan or starting to fast. If you're interested in more information about fasting and spiritual disciplines, check out danielfastjourney.com. Thanks for joining us on this journey to becoming wholly well.