Real food versus "stuff we eat" | Haylie Pomroy

Real food versus “stuff we eat”

Posted on December 3, 2013

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I get lots and lots of questions about why some food items aren’t part of the Fast Metabolism Diet. In particular, lots of questions about packaged and prepared foods like “energy” bars, cereals, and supposedly “healthy” cookies. But my definition of food is simple: Food is something that was once alive and came from the land, sky or sea. If it doesn’t fit that basic definition, or if you’re not sure, then it’s probably better to skip it.

Foods should have a name that doesn’t sound like the answer to a chemistry exam.

Food has names like mango, avocado, chicken, steak, asparagus.

The other day, I flipped over a can of tomato soup — and found “monopotassium phosphate” on the label. Guess what that’s also used for? It’s an industrial fertilizer, an additive in cigarettes, and a fungicide. What’s it doing in SOUP?

Our commercial food industry uses all kinds of these chemicals in our food. These unpronounceable ingredients are used to add color, enhance visual appeal, and give items a shelf life long enough to outlast the zombie apocalypse. But to my mind, those foods are only fit for consumption by actual zombies.

Bottom line: If you scan the ingredients can can’t pronounce them, steer clear.

Real food was once alive.

That goes for our meats, fish, vegetables, nuts and fruits. If an ingredient was cooked up in a laboratory, it’s not food. If something that once started out as food has been  irradiated, genetically altered, atomically pulverized or has been messed with on a cellular level, it’s no longer food.

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