foods to buy or avoid

[spectastic]

I think we're all inclined to buy the cheaper ingredients while grocery shopping, but I feel like there are certain products that nobody should buy, even if they have low prices. on the other hand there are ingredients that are both great for your health and wallet.

 

for instance, I've never had good luck with those bloated up chicken breasts. I think the "broth" solution that soakes them during processing allows them to be stored for a longer period of time, and every time I cook it, there's a putrid smell. I don't know the details, but my better senses are telling me to stay away from these meats.

 

another example is frozen vegetables. there are probably studies out there proving that frozen vegetables are actually fresher than the produce section, because their enzymes aren't 'active', so they don't age like thawed vegetables. there are also those bagged greens that have been prewashed, and pretty much good to eat out of the bag.

 

I'm wondering if others have input on my examples (particularly the enhanced chicken) or other examples that they can share. 

[DeafAudi]

Enhanced chicken? Do you mean like, the stuff from Costco? Please excuse my ignorance, haha. 

[sys88]

Most chicken you're going to find in the supermarket is injected with a saline solution. It's supposed to be for "juiciness" or whatever but really it's for weight.

[DeafAudi]

Ew, is anything sacred anymore (in terms of food)? 

[TakeruK]

I've not noticed any putrid or bad smells from chicken breasts. Ideally, I would try to buy whole chickens and separate the meat myself since you avoid the saline solution and also it's way cheaper! But my spouse and I eat a pretty limited amount of meat so a whole chicken isn't very practical. In the end, we still go with the supermarket chicken breasts since it's more convenient.

[aphdapplicant]

cheese - those cheap individually wrapped slices...nasty

merlot - I've had some great $5 bottles: others tasted like feet (hit or miss)

[AwesomeBird]

So, what I think is a really good option is buying fresh ingredients to make something that will last a little while in the fridge.

 

Like...

 

 butternut or acorn squash, carrots, turnips, apples...

 

squash in the microwave for a few minutes, then put everything on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with EVOO maybe some salt, pepper, cinnamon, roast for 10 min.s

 

heat up some chicken broth

 

put all the roasted stuff in a blender with a couple pieces of ginger, pour into the chicken broth and there's soup for the week!

 

Last Sunday I made some turkey chilli which is basically turkey, tomatoes, peppers, onions, a little bit of garlic, and spices and, again, good for the week!

 

It's an inexpensive and easy option that is also healthy.

 

I think the most important thing is not eating anything processed.  What, 70% of our immune system is in our gut? People don't realize the damage they do by ingesting all the chemicals in the majority of our food. It's why there's so much food allergies now a days... and cancer, and most other illnesses as well. 

 

I mean, I'm not a nut about it... I just ate an entire pack of graham crackers... but starting TOMORROW, no more processed food. Startiiiiing... now!

Edited March 26, 2014 by AwesomeBird

[spectastic]

 

Enhanced chicken? Do you mean like, the stuff from Costco? Please excuse my ignorance, haha. 

 

enhanced chicken

 

see how it's bloated up like a balloon?

 

 

 

and I think the meat industry is getting worse about this. 90% the meat you eat are probably packaged at 1 of like 3-4 companies in the whole country, whose whole incentive is to make money, and their monopoly allow them to pretty much do whatever the hell they want with their product. the good stuff from the farms, where chickens are raised humanely (eg. allowed to live on a farm as opposed to getting jammed into cages and forced to sleep in their own shit), are slowly disappearing. I don't work in the industry, but I think what you see in the news isn't that far off from reality. 

 

but nevermind that, I'll leave the advocacy role to someone else. I'm more worried about what they put into the food I buy. 

 

 

 

 

and yes, I try to stay away from processed food too. But that's hard to do nowadays, due to the aforementioned points.,

Edited March 26, 2014 by spectastic

[DigDeep(inactive)]

Here are some foods and tips. I realize I only sometimes provide one paper, and that one paper is hardly enough. However, it's to at least show there is evidence, and if you are interested you have a source, of which you can use to do your own research:

 

diet sodas or sodas, in general

Canned tomatoes (see: Grumetto et al. 2008), but canned foods in general (Brotons et al. 1995)

bread (maintain bread consumption; you don't need it every day)

meat (maintain meat consumption; you don't need it every day)

be wary of corn (watch this excellent documentary)

white chocolate (see: Shiina et al. 2007; nothing against chocolate, just white chocolate)

artificial sweeteners (just use agave, honey, or blackstrap molasses in small amounts)

any sprouts (all types, they are constantly being recalled; just avoid them - google it)

Butter flavored popcorn (see: Hubbs et al. 2002)

Any foods with synthetic chemical dyes (Red3, Yellow 5 and 6: see Donovan and Hartz 2014)

Processed meats (do yourself a favor pay the extra for farm raised, hormone free meats, if you can get local organic farm raised meat then do so)
limit table salt use 

vegetable oil (see Kubow 1992)

farmed salmon (see Hites et al. 2004)

 

 

Other information:

 

Center for the Science in the Public Interest - directed by Dr. Michael Jacobsen

BarfBlog - Dr. Doug Powell's blog (Kansas State Univeristy) keeps track of recalls and such. 

Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity

 

Grains:

I have also have fun incorporating different grains into my diet, including:

 

Whole wheat oats

Quinoa (although, be cognizant of this)

bulgar wheat

Farro

Barley

Whole Rye

Freekeh

Sorghum

Amaranth
Kamut

Millet

Buckwheat

Whole wheat cous cous

 

good thread, will upvote tomorrow!

[themmases]

I agree about chicken, although I don't have a reason for it-- it just seems like a bad idea when I look at it. My partner and I try to only buy meat occasionally and prioritize maximizing animal welfare over avoiding additives. Usually there's a lot of overlap though.

 

I actually really like frozen vegetables. I keep them around and add to food I've already made to get more servings and fewer calories per serving. But you can't use them just like fresh-- there are texture issues-- and I've found that some things, like spinach, are worth buying the name brand. Most of the ones I use heat up great in soup or taste good if you scramble eggs into them.

 

Over-processed grains (packaged white bread, regular pasta, etc.) and sweetened quasi-coffee products (they just offend me) aren't in my diet. Actually sugar in general-- if my partner and I learn there is unnecessary sugar added to a food, we stop buying that food. That's disgustingly common, unfortunately.

[spectastic]

holy cow that's a lot of good information.

 

digdeep, what about the possibility that some of these studies are outdated?

[DeafAudi]

No wonder obesity is so rampant in North America. Even "healthy" foods are apparently unhealthy. I like the suggestion that someone made of buying whole chickens.

 

I also like frozen veggies and try to eat them often, mainly in chicken stir frys or even blended with fruit to make a smoothie. Another thing I like to do is make my own salad dressing because I would like to avoid those sold at the superstore. My favorite is equal amounts of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I also spend a bit more on organic bread with whole grains. 

 

Looking forward to other suggestions! 

[glm]

I'm hopping on the bloated chicken repulsion wagon. I can't do it.

 

Avoid:

 

canned tuna - The oceans activist in me says eat lower on the food chain: sardines!

"white fish" 

corn products

refined sugar

cheap honey - A lot of supermarket honey is cut with corn syrup and all nutritional benefits are lost

coffee that isn't rainforest alliance certified (i.e. most coffee) - My apologies for coming off as a preachy environmentalist, but I feel strongly about this. Most "shade-grown" coffee is grown under a uniform eucalyptus canopy, which is nonnative to South America and useless habitat for cloud forest species. I drink Cafe Vita's Woodland Park Zoo or Tree Kangaroo blend.

Any cheese labeled as "cheese food" - What does that even mean?

[ExponentialDecay]

Looks like we should all subsist on air...

[pears]

Looks like we should all subsist on air...

 

"Yeah, I'm a Level 5 vegan. I don't eat anything with a shadow."

[DigDeep(inactive)]

On 3/26/2014 at 9:19 AM, spectastic said:

holy cow that's a lot of good information.

 

digdeep, what about the possibility that some of these studies are outdated?

 

Possible! But, I still follow the list I gave. One might be willing to argue about canned foods being ok, but I just stay away from them (but, there are still issues of less nutrition, and if punctured they can give you botulism). There's nothing wrong with white chocolate per se, it's just that chocolate (dark chocolate, particularly) has been shown to have positive affects (Etherton and Keen 2002;blurb in Nature), but white chocolate does not have any (therefore, it's just sugar). 

 

As for vegetables, it's not necessarily just about knowing what you're eating, but where it came from. Not just the country, either. I'm not hijacking this thread and making it about food sovereignty (but, you should know what that is: Dr. Devon Pena has a cool blog). Hell, I'm from east Texas. But, I do think as intellectuals, we should be cognizant of where our food is coming from and what chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, etc. are being used. We are and always have been guinea pigs for big food industry, and frankly, I'm tired of it, and I have chosen to try to change my post- WW2 inherited consumer behavior. 

 

I should also note that I do not look down on anyone who chooses to decide to eat anything I mentioned above (there's a lot of elitism around the healthy food topics, I have realized). I don't even eat healthy all the time (broke college student), but I try to. The amount of beer I drink probably counters all of it anyways

[zipykido]

There are some foods that I tend to stay away from though. Anything that would trigger allergies is a no brainer, which includes various dyes that are in most food. Also fish in large quantities. I think people are too overly concerned about the food they eat. Very few foods will ever have long term permanent health consequences as long as you eat them in moderation. The trick is to have a balanced diet and switch things up regularly. A 2012 Stanford study showed little benefit from eating organic food: http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/september/organic.html. Also if you do an energy balance on locally grown foods you'll see that they aren't much better for the environment than mass grown stuff. Although I prefer locally grown meats as they tend to be more humane and local processing at a butcher's shop is much better than a factory. 

[FestivusMiracle]

Food to buy: Butter. Great in everything, and probably not as bad for us as we once thought (see op-ed article in today's NY Times.

[pears]

Food to buy: Butter. Great in everything, and probably not as bad for us as we once thought (see op-ed article in today's NY Times.

 

Mmm, butter. Our love is a one-way street. But pasture butter is the greatest! Avocado oil is also nice. Really high smoke point, nice butter replacement if dairy fats aren't your thing.

 

Regarding scary chicken & "cheese(?) product": sometimes CSA programs offer cheese, egg, & meat shares! No saline, no pink slime, no curious orange paste, just tasty food that's actually food. If you live with a group of people, it can be pretty affordable. There's usually not too much of a price reduction from buying local organic products item-by-item, but it's nice if you know you regularly eat, say, a particular type of meat. Saves you the trip to the farm or the market, if they're a long haul.

[rising_star]

I like the idea of eating local food. But, I also lived out west for several years. Lots of produce is grown in Arizona, California, and northern Mexico, where water is increasingly scarce. I'm not actually sure that it's a good thing to buy some of the produce I like (broccoli, leafy greens, and other water-intensive veggies) under those circumstances. Same with buying local beef given the damage grazing has done to rangeland in the West. There are politics with everything.

 

Anyway, I just focus on buying things I like that are healthy. Yes, I buy processed food because I don't have time to make my own pasta, for example. I buy canned goods because I don't have time to can or cook my own lots of the time. I wish I did but, I don't. I'm realistic about my limitations. I buy frozen tortellini so I can make a quick dinner when needed. I buy Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice frozen dinners so that when I'm rushed for time, I have something I can pull out that's relatively healthy. I buy crackers so I can eat cheese and crackers as a quick snack. I buy pre-made hummus and pesto because I don't own a food processor and don't care to buy tahini or pine nuts and do that work. It is what it is. I don't grind my own peanut (or other nut) butter and no longer live close to a store where you can. But, I don't eat these things all the time. For the most part, I cook meals for myself, relying heavily on my slow cooker and quick recipes. Yes, that often means I'm opening cans of tomatoes or beans to put in but, that's just what it has to be. I buy frozen vegetables because fresh where I live now is both poor in quality and expensive in most grocery stores (and before you suggest the farmer's market, I'll just say that I do go when it's open, which is June to October).

 

Foods to avoid: most seafood, especially most farm-raised seafood. Or really all seafood if you think about it. Probably also most meat, anything with soy or corn, anything sprayed with pesticides, anything grown outside the USA... I mean, if you're trying to be responsible then you'd need to avoid all those things. I don't actually avoid all those things, though I only eat seafood or other meat rarely. Other than Girl Scout cookies, I don't eat packaged cookies, though I do make my own on a regular basis.

 

Foods to buy: avocados (assuming you can find good ones), fresh fruit and vegetables (again, where possible and affordable), dried beans and lentils, sustainably wild-caught seafood (MSC certification), chevre, plain yogurt (not Greek yogurt given its environmental impact), and organic meat.

 

It's probably impossible to make food choices that are environmentally, socially, and ecologically responsible simultaneously for most of us. *shrug* I accepted that long ago.

[GreenePony]

I buy pre-made hummus and pesto because I don't own a food processor and don't care to buy tahini or pine nuts and do that work.

See if your grocery store has an in-house-made brand. Harris Teeter has one kind of hummus that has the exact same ingredients I put into my own hummus without DH having to suffer through the cooking chickpeas (he hates the smell and I hate the texture of canned chickpeas.) Less dishes to wash, I know what went into it, and poor DH's nose is spared.

[rising_star]

Oh, I have a brand I buy that is organic and contains no weird ingredients. I wasn't saying that I buy crappy pre-made stuff, just that I do buy premade/pre-packaged food.

[Vene]

I think we're all inclined to buy the cheaper ingredients while grocery shopping, but I feel like there are certain products that nobody should buy, even if they have low prices. on the other hand there are ingredients that are both great for your health and wallet.

 

for instance, I've never had good luck with those bloated up chicken breasts. I think the "broth" solution that soakes them during processing allows them to be stored for a longer period of time, and every time I cook it, there's a putrid smell. I don't know the details, but my better senses are telling me to stay away from these meats.

Strange, I've never noticed a problem with chicken. Although, I do tend to buy frozen chicken and when me and my wife do buy the refridgerated chicken we end up cutting it into smaller portions and freezing it anyway. I do agree that do not eat it if it smells putrid.

 

another example is frozen vegetables. there are probably studies out there proving that frozen vegetables are actually fresher than the produce section, because their enzymes aren't 'active', so they don't age like thawed vegetables. there are also those bagged greens that have been prewashed, and pretty much good to eat out of the bag.

 

I'm wondering if others have input on my examples (particularly the enhanced chicken) or other examples that they can share.

I am definitely a fan of frozen veggies.

An aside that pops into mind from the chicken is that a meat thermometer is a wise investment. It also means you can cook things like pork to a safe temperature without cooking it dry.

[seeingeyeduck]

I think Michael Pollan's advice still holds up - "eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I think someone did a study of all diets and found that no one diet had superior benefits:

http://m.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/science-compared-every-diet-and-the-winner-is-real-food/284595/

You're doing pretty well if you don't over eat, avoid processed food and sugar, and have a mostly veggie diet. (I once saw a stat that the average American eats 90lbs of sugar a year, most of it through sodas and corn syrup in foods that you wouldn't think had corn syrup in them.) It's good to change things up a bit too. A nutritionist once told me that sometimes you can start to develop food sensitivities from simply eating the same food all the time with no variation. I don't know how true that is but there's no harm in having a varied diet.

I don't consider things like cheese or yogurt or hummus to be processed foods since the processing seems to be mostly physical, not chemical and is more about saving you time. Eating premade hummus is a far cry from eating Cheetos!

As for chicken, has anyone heard that there's trace amounts of arsenic in most of it from the processing? Somehow the FDA doesn't regulate it or so I've read. I'd like to see a serious study on it though...

Edited March 27, 2014 by seeingeyeduck

[Vene]

As for chicken, has anyone heard that there's trace amounts of arsenic in most of it from the processing? Somehow the FDA doesn't regulate it or so I've read. I'd like to see a serious study on it though...

This? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/business/fda-bans-three-arsenic-drugs-used-in-poultry-and-pig-feeds.html?_r=0