06/17/2025
Striking, when you take a moment to notice, how inundated we are with "food" advertising.
All of these consumables are just pretty-packaged molecules (the building blocks of all "things"). Each molecule (that we ingest, breathe in, apply to our skin) will impact the cells of our body in some way. That impact can be harmful or helpful!
I often encourage patients to consider all consumables on a scale of 1-10:
1 = actively causing harm (e.g. Doritos, Mountain Dew)
4-6 = relatively neutral (e.g. a turkey sandwich, milk)
10 = actively improving health (e.g. avocado, black coffee / tea)
Most packaged, ultra-processed foods and beverages, from which the average American receives 70% of their daily calories, are in the 1-4 range. That's right, 70% of the calories the average American consumes are on the "harm" side of the scale, leading to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, dementia, cancers fatty liver disease....I can keep going....
My advice? Aim for 90% of your daily food and beverage intake to land in the 4-10 range- a target that ensures how you're feeding your body is actually nourishing it too!
🍤 Focus on protein to build metabolically-healthy skeletal muscle
🫘 Focus on fiber to nourish a health gut microbiome
🥑 Eat a diversity of plants- aim for 30 different plants per week
🍩 Just say no to processed / packaged "food"- full of chemicals and processes that strip whole foods of their health components
Looking for a doctor to keep you healthy and prevent chronic disease? Come see me!
