How does this sound? Eat as much food as you want, feel totally satisfied, feel confident and comfortable in your body, and achieve the results you want. Too good to be true? Not at all. It’s absolutely possible! There’s just one small catch, you need (get) to eat real (delicious) food instead of the fake stuff. Today I’m sharing a study that demonstrates the dramatic impact swapping out highly processed food for more nourishing real food will have on your overall health and goals.
Things you should know about me: I’m a high performance health coach, veterinarian, and a nerd. I like science, learning, and using that information to help my clients and patients feel their best. That means I spend a lot of my free time checking out the latest trends, research, and studies on health and fitness topics. Even if you’re not into science and research, I think you’ll find this study really interesting! Let’s dive in.
In this randomized controlled trial, participants stayed at a NIH research facility for 2 weeks. During that time they were able to eat as much food as they wanted. Pretty good deal, huh? The participants were divided into 2 groups:
- One group was offered highly processed food
- One group was offered unprocessed food
The food that was offered to them was otherwise matched in terms of calories, macronutrients, fiber, sugar, and salt.
At the end of the study, the group that consumed the highly processed food consumed an average of 500 more calories PER DAY compared to the unprocessed food group. That’s a huge difference!
While the unprocessed group consumed less calories, they actually felt more satisfied! How did they determine this? When they looked at the unprocessed food group, they found their levels of the appetite suppressing hormone, PYY, increased compared to the highly processed group and their baseline. When they looked at the hunger hormone, ghrelin, that decreased compared to their baseline. In simpler terms, they weren’t hungry.
Here is what I would love for you to take away from this study:
- If the only thing you do is focus on swapping processed food for more whole food options, you’re naturally going to consume less while feeling more satisfied.
- If you’re currently focusing on calories or macros, you’re missing out on a really important factor: the micronutrients in your food.
Food is fuel and provides the building blocks for how our body functions. By incorporating more real food options, you’re naturally going to consume more nutrient-dense fuel. As a result, you’ll be getting more antioxidants and nourishing vitamins and minerals. All those nutrients will have a hugely positive impact on your energy levels, ability to focus, and the way you feel in your body.
Life Boost Challenge:
This all sounds pretty great, right? It is! Instead of reading this and then forgetting about it, I want you to start putting this into practice today. There’s no reason to postpone supporting your body in a way that helps you to feel more satisfied and fuels you for success. Choose one meal or snack today that tends to be more processed and make an effort to make a swap for a more real food option.
Exciting News!
If you love the idea of incorporating more real foods into your diet, but you’re busy or overwhelmed with where to start I have exciting news! I have an amazing five week jump start program coming out that’s designed to help you fuel your body with nourishing food even when you’re super busy and don’t want to spend time meal prepping or hunting for odd ingredients. Not only that, it focuses on decreasing stress and boosting happiness so that at the end of the program you’re feeling incredible both in your body and mind. You’ll leave feeling empowered with the resources and knowledge you need to continue to get results long after finishing the program. Stay tuned and make sure to follow me on Instagram for a flash sale coming up soon!
Start getting the results you want now.
Ready to start getting results now? Sign up for a complimentary strategy call with me! When we work together 1-on-1 I have your goals and preferences in mind constantly as I’m reading the latest concepts and studies. That means I sort through all of the confusing information out there and keep you motivated by only delivering relevant ideas and resources to you to help you finally start getting sustainable results. During the call, we’ll discuss your specific challenges and goals and whether we would be a good team to work together to optimize your health, happiness, and success!
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