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  1. How do I discern between processed/unprocessed food? If I go buy a tin of tuna for lunch - that is processed food isn't it? What is the rule of thumb here

  2. How accurate is http://www.clovegarden.com/diet/paleo.html ?

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The link to clovegarden is a pretty good big picture synopsis of Paleo eating as practiced by many on these boards. Many will quibble over some aspects but the main thrust is correct.

If what you are eating resembles the pre packaged item, it should probably be considered unprocessed...if there are no additives. Tuna in a can is unprocessed even though the tuna had to be processed to get it into the can to get it to you in a state unspoiled. Just watch out for tuna in a can packed with soybean oil...which is not a real food. Packed in water or olive oil is better.

Just use your intuition and read labels for additives. If you can't pronounce them or don't know what an ingredient is...be careful.

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Maybe "processed" isn't the way to think of it. "Additive-free"?

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I allow salt, seaweed, tubers and some dairy. Processed food isn't a helpful category. I like to think in terms of food that is nurturing and food that isn't. Coconut milk is a processed food but it is healthy and nurturing so I allow it.

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1) Look at the ingredients on the package. 2) Is there more than 1 ingredient? 3) If yes, then processed.

You could make exceptions for fish in water or something. That being said, it's probably better to skip the BPA-lined cans and mercury and just cook up some salmon or some other kind of fresh/frozen fish and transport it in a glass container.

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An apple is an unprocessed food. An apple pie isn't. A steak is an unprocessed food. A hotdog isn't..

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A cow is unprocessed. A steak is processed :) – Matt Feb 6 2011 at 13:30
Hmm, by that logic cutting off a bite sized piece of your steak is also processing. I prefer to think of it as reducing a cow to a manageable size to eat. In the past when hunting I often cut a slice off a kangaroo leg and chucked it in a pan. Not really processing IMO but I do think it's semantics. From Wiki: Food processing typically takes clean, harvested crops or butchered animal products and uses these to produce attractive, marketable and often long shelf-life food products. – Alan Feb 7 2011 at 3:09
sorry matthew. steak is not processed. a cow is not food because you cannot just walk up to a cow and eat it. steak is a piece of the cow that you can eat as unprocessed food. – Jack Kronk Feb 16 2011 at 17:18

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