Listen to episode 196:

Whole, processed and ultra-processed foods: What's the difference?

October 13, 2024

Whole foods... processed foods... and ultra-processed foods (UPFs)... What's the difference?

I'm not the first to ask this question.

In fact, the NOVA system assigns foods to one of four groups, based on how much processing they have been through:

Group 1 - Unprocessed or minimally processed foods

Group 2 - Processed culinary ingredients

Group 3 - Processed foods

Group 4 - Ultra-processed food and drink products

In this episode, you'll get examples of foods from each group.

Unsurprisingly, I also talk about one food in particular: sugar.

You'll also hear about my take on the NOVA classification system as a whole (no pun intended!).

And finally, I'll give you my definition of "food", and where you can learn more about which foods work for YOU.