Holiday meals are central to celebrations that are upon us. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become staple in American cuisine and entering the food environment fully aware of the opportunities and consequences may be helpful.

In contrast to UPFs, foods categorized as minimally processed are made from ingredients that contain the whole food. They can be peeled, sliced, diced, chopped, pureed, fermented, cooked, and even powdered. They can be combined with minimally processed foods and retain their minimally processed label and all the nourishing benefits.

These foods have nothing extracted from them such as the bran and germ from refined grains. Similarly, they have not been extracted from anything else, like the sugar, salt, oils, and juices from their natural sources such as sugar cane, the ocean, vegetables, and fruits. The foods and ingredients described here are considered processed. And, when combined with minimally processed foods, they become highly processed.

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But UPFs are processed even beyond that. Briefly, UPFs have ingredients that consumers typically cannot purchase or make without the highly industrialized methods required. For they could easily and accidentally add them to foods in untested high quantities and become gravely ill. The food industry adds no more of these ingredients that would cause acute and immediate illness.

And, UPF ingredients do have their place. A number of innocuous purposes include adding nutrients back, increasing shelf-life, enhancing color, and keeping foods soft and pathogen-free.

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But mostly, UPF ingredients enhance flavor, disrupt satiety, addict consumers, and provide a conduit for excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates, fats, and sodium.

This wreaks havoc on Americans’ bodies. Therefore, the US having the highest rates of chronic illness with over 73% living with overweight status or obesity is not surprising.

To illustrate the current state with a contrasting one, consider the US diet as one lane of a bowling club. The bowling ball rolls down the alley ultimately hitting pins labeled diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity, gallstones, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, stroke, cancer, depression, eating disorders, and dental cavities. Most have a strong and necessary dietary component to them in order to develop.

The lane next to it appears identical but its pins are disease free. This lane represents the path consisting of fully natural, minimally processed, whole foods.

These “scratch” foods can be equally as delicious and satisfying, but absent the disease.

All of my education and training as an RD led me to this profoundly simple conclusion from which nobody should be deprived. To consume anything less than dishes made from minimally processed whole foods is deprivation from food bliss and a truly healthy relationship with food. There truly are no better lanes than that.

Although the solution seems simple, attaining this path can be difficult. Having been born into a food culture wrought with UPFs, behaviors have become hard-wired to pursue them. Our culture even supports it and to not engage can feel awkward.

Fortunately, many registered dietitians are trained to help those struggling with aligning their food choices to healthy outcomes. They can assess food preferences, schedules, food availability, time commitment, family needs, and the like and develop a program aligned to healthy outcomes.

Patrick Traynor, PHD, MPH, RD, CPT is a registered dietitian with an insurance-based practice, MNT Scientific in South Lake Tahoe & Sacramento, CA, Minden, NV, Ashland, OR, and does telehealth. Appointments can be requested online at MNTScientific.com. Inquiries can be directed to Dr. Traynor at (530)429-7363 or info@MNTScientific.com. Instagram: @dr.patricktraynor; TikTok: @dr.patricktraynor.com; FB: dr.patricktraynormntscientific