Episode 49: The one about processed foods ft. Brenna O'Malley

In this week’s episode Hannah and Ali talk all things processed foods. They are joined by the delightful Registered Dietitian and founder of The Wellful, Brenna O’Malley. Brenna specializes in helping people find freedom from diet culture, food guilt and being tied to the scale so that they can do the things in life they really love. Together we dig into your questions about processed foods, health and intuitive eating.

• Do food companies process foods to make them addictive? How can we say “all foods fit” when clearly there are differences between processed and whole foods?

• Should you avoid foods where you can’t pronounce items on the ingredient list?

• Do you need to be worried about protein powders with artificial ingredients and additives?

• Are the calories in processed foods different than those in natural foods?

• Do processed foods have more health risks associated with them than whole ingredients?

We know diet culture loves to reduce our relationship with food down to morality: is the choice good or bad, right or wrong, healthy or unhealthy… but as Brenna likes to say “guilt is NOT an ingredient” and there is so much more to our relationship with food than this narrow black or white view. In fact, in this episode Hannah, Ali and Brenna will show that health is about so much more than eating for nutrient value alone. Don’t worry, as always they provide the science and evidence to help you feel free to eat the rainbow! (Skittles pun intended ;))