7 Minimally Processed Foods That Are Safe for Your Heart Healthy Diet

How to Separate Fact from Fiction

Robin A Henderson
5 min readSep 19, 2022

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Two gold hands hold a red shaped heart.
Marek Studzinski | Unsplash

There is no shortage of opinions on how we should fuel our bodies.

It’s become almost impossible to distinguish the good advice from the not-so-good or even the downright atrocious.

Everyone thinks they know best, thus contributing to the growing pile of conflicting information.

“I eat healthily” has become one of the most misunderstood mantras of our time.

Some believe we should avoid starchy carbs because they’re bad, while others cling to the notion that raw foods heal every known ailment.

These are two extreme sides of a similar coin.

They both subscribe to a strict perspective regarding food: only a certain type of food is good, and everything else is terrible.

Reality is more complex than these narrow views of nutrition.

What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.

Yes, our nutritional needs are different. However, there is one common denominator that everyone subscribes to.

How do we follow a balanced nutritional path to a healthier lifestyle without setting ourselves up to fail?

Food manufacturers seem to have solved this dilemma: convenience.

How to Separate the Bad from the Reasonable

Science shows what happens when we outsource our health to companies with no stake in whether we live or die.

Functional medicine doctors use terms such as “Fast Food Genocide” and “Standard American Diet (SAD)” to describe the harmful effects of fast and processed food.

While these foods carry serious health ramifications, food manufacturers have adapted to consumer demands for more convenient and healthy alternatives.

Kind bars boast simple ingredients you can recognize. Grab-n-go hummus packs offer a lighter alternative to chips. Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat sell “good for you and the planet” plant-based meat alternatives.

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Robin A Henderson

I write about inclusive storytelling in Hollywood and diverse representation in wellness.