Food list for minimally processed and whole foods?

[itsjustbasil]

Forgive me if this is already located on the site somewhere, but does anyone have a list or know where to find a list (a good one) of minimally processed and whole foods to eat and also the processed foods to stay away from? I'd like to get a good bunch together so that I can start eating less processed garbage and start getting into the low processed or no processed stuff. Thanks

[bagge677]

start with avoiding anything that has a commercial

[itsjustbasil]

Fair enough, anything a little more "official"? I've tried googling it but i'm not getting very good results which is why I'm here.

[BazingaO]

Minimally processed and whole foods?

Eggs
Meats
Poultry
Fishes (not smoked salmon or things like that if you want it minimally processed)
Rice
Any veggies
Any fruits
Oats
Nuts
....

[snorkelman]

Is it really that complicated?

If you can pick it off a tree or bush or dig it up from the earth it is unprocessed. Obviously if you kill an animal, like a chicken, and you eat that chicken flesh, it is basically unprocessed, so long as it hasn't been filled with "stuff." The more stuff it is filled with, the more it is processed.

Here is a visual:

An apple that you pluck from a tree, wash and eat is unprocessed.
If you crush that apple up and make applesauce, it is minimally processed. If you add sugar and preservatives to the applesauce, that is more processed. If you squeeze an apple and get apple juice, that is minimally processed. If you add sugar and other "stuff" to the juice, it is more processed.

If it is apple flavored drink, that is probably maximally processed.

Basically, look at the lable (if it has one) and the more stuff, the more it is processed.

[itsjustbasil]

Am I wrong in saying that most minimally/not processed foods list are basically the Paleo diet itself or is that completely off base?

[schroeds]

^^^^ agree. Also - think of it this way - if it has one ingredient, it's probably pretty minimally processed. Like for instance - canned tomatoes. Should only say "tomatoes". Etc. If you see things that you're not that familiar with on the ingredients list - then you might be looking at processed food. I see what you're point is though: you' want examples of things to eat that are minimally processed (thus better than processed).

[Mncdk]

Read the label. If the item has lots of ingredients that you can't even pronounce, try looking for an alternative.
I'm not saying avoid ALL processed food, but you can usually find an alternative, or at least get a "lesser of two evils" type deal.

[snorkelman]

Most of the approved paleo foods are great options for striving for unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods. However, paleo folks unnecessarily ban many great unprocessed (or minimally processed) options. Also, many paleo followers seem to think this is minimally processed:

[unstrong]

Try to buy 80% of your groceries from the produce, meat, and dairy aisles. Then fill in with other stuff.

The reality is that foods in the inner aisles can also be produced with little processing but this is a quick and dirty method to assuring that your diet is mostly comprised of whole and minimally processed foods.

[KobiDC]

Go for the stuff with the lowest amount of ingredients possible, as a thumb rule.

[itsjustbasil]

This is all great info...just surprised that no one has a list(s) saved anywhere that they go to

[SouthDakotaBrah]

Most of the approved paleo foods are great options for striving for unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods. However, paleo folks unnecessarily ban many great unprocessed (or minimally processed) options. Also, many paleo followers seem to think this is minimally processed:

this

lol @ people following paleo afraid to eat ****ing oats

[cls91]

whfoods.org

[Mncdk]

That site may have great information, but it really hurts my eyes and my brain to look at such an awful design. I'm still a little dizzy.
The squares really get stretched out on a 1920 px wide monitor.

[Connor1226]

It isn't that difficult. If you need a list then you don't know what a processed food is. Figure that out then the list will be common sense.

Snorkelman says it pretty spot on.

[cls91]

That site may have great information, but it really hurts my eyes and my brain to look at such an awful design. I'm still a little dizzy.
The squares really get stretched out on a 1920 px wide monitor.

I never access it from the main page, usually one of these two:

http://www.whfoods.com/nutrientstoc.php
http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

or just google what I want ie. "whfoods vitamin d"

[Mncdk]

Thanks, great tips.

[VmissileX]

Try to buy 80% of your groceries from the produce, meat, and dairy aisles. Then fill in with other stuff.

The reality is that foods in the inner aisles can also be produced with little processing but this is a quick and dirty method to assuring that your diet is mostly comprised of whole and minimally processed foods.

Yup. The rule is most of the time the perimeter of a grocery store will be your most minimally processed foods.

[MetilHed]

This is all great info...just surprised that no one has a list(s) saved anywhere that they go to

It really is simple enough that no one needs a list.