[rgrieselhuber]

Real foods to me means foods that our ancestors ate for millenia and it was perfectly clear. Another way of putting it would be, foods that don’t come in too much packaging and foods that our grandparents would recognize.

[p1necone]

I like "prefer buying stuff from the outer ring of the supermarket" as good general advice.

[have_faith]

Michael Pollan wrote about this concept in In Defence of Food. He's also known for the idea of "eat food, mostly plants, not too much". His book goes on to explain what he means by "food" and mentions only eating from outer part of the super market where the fresh meat counters and vegies are.

[jononomo]

Michael Pollan was incorrect about plants, though -- it turns out you can just cut plants out of your diet entirely and experience excellent health and fitness as a result.

[have_faith]

I follow enough to know that you can remove plants; humans have shown they can survive (thrive even) on a large variety of diets and lifestyles. Do you have any links to something I can read about that you should? that is, the benefits of removing plants entirely outweighs consuming some of them.

[jononomo]

I found this podcast interview with Dr. Georgia Ede convincing: https://www.peak-human.com/post/dr-georgia-ede-on-the-shocki...

[rgrieselhuber]

Hadn’t heard that one before but that seems like good advice.

[serf]

although I tend to agree with this concept applied to food and diet, I must state that I find it weird to refer to our ancestors for insightful wisdom when by nearly every record-able metric things have gotten steadily better in nearly every way.

[rgrieselhuber]

I don’t know about that. When I see the lean and fit people in photos from just 50 years ago compared to the walking inflammation I see around me in daily life, I question that assumption.

[astrange]

This may be bad advice for those of us whose grandparents are British, or the other European cultures whose foods are just potatoes, bread, cevapi, and other things all universally colored brown.

[rgrieselhuber]

Most other European countries seem proud of their food heritage, so it might be limited to England although I'm skeptical about even that as I've had a damn good English breakfast in London.

[astrange]

London should be thought of as a different country to the rest of it.

Former Yugoslavians I've met aren't particularly dismissive of their own food, but they do admit it's not got vegetables in it.

[rgrieselhuber]

Probably depends on where in former Yugoslavia you’re talking about. I’ve had many amazing dishes in both Slovenia and Croatia.