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Buy Food, Not Product

You invested time and effort at the grocery store into deciphering nutrition labels.

And, you made the best investment you could in purchasing nutritious food.

You even remembered to bring your reusable grocery bags.

Woohoo!

Here’s the bad news, what you just purchased may not be real food.

It’s a shocker, right.

Not everything available at the grocery store is real food.

If you had to scan the nutrition label for the salt, fat, or sugar content and tally up the calorie content on the side of the box, bag, or jar you didn’t buy food, you bought a product.

Here’s the difference between product and food.

The Difference Between Food and Product

Products begin as raw ingredients and are transformed through processing with the addition of preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and other additives for structure and texture, anti-caking agents, and emulsifiers. These are the words you can’t pronounce in the ingredient list.

Products are typically poured from a jar, a can, or taken from a box or a bag and simply warmed.

With these product choices, you’re getting everything you don’t need in your body and paying a manufacturer for the convenience of putting them there.

Consuming Food Product Contributes to Overeating and Weight Gain

Based on a recent study, researchers at the National Institutes of Health concluded that diets high in ultra-processed foods significantly contributes to overeating and weight gain.

What you might save in the time bank with convenience products may be causing massive withdrawals in the health bank.

The better choice is this: Buy food, not product.

Where To Find Real Food in the Grocery Store

Make a clear path through the grocery store beginning with the produce department. Pick up lots of fruits and vegetables. Next make a stop in the dairy and meat department. And then, perhaps the bakery for a loaf of bread.

These are the aisles on the perimeter of the store.

Turn away from the inner aisles where the marketers have become masters at luring you to include over-processed products in your baskets.

Shop only the inner aisles that have the staples and spices you need.

So the next time you leave the store, you will truly be happy and on your way to healthy.