"Real" might be a punchy way to try to summarize a "diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants", but I think that word has too much baggage, with different people having their own ideas of what "real" means that don't necessarily have anything to do with the actual scientific analysis that was done here.

Pop-Tarts. (He has lived with me for most of his life). This morning I surprised him with some strawberry-cream cheese toaster strudel pastries, the kind he saw on TV with the bizarre lederhosened pop-up kid magically hovering at a breakfast table. Those commercials are weird - I would call 911 or, at least, Ghost Hunters, if a yodeling kid bearing toaster pasties just popped up unexpectedly
Grandson just came in and said they were gross, they tasted like chemicals and too much sugar, and please don't serve them again.
Yes!!!!!!!!!

I always feel so much better when I stick to my Atkins foods. Another plus is reaching the high 60's without a trace of diabetes, one or two, and blood tests showing everything medicare tests for just fine, along with low blood pressure. Not a family trait, my two aunts were five feet tall and about five feet wide, with all the problems I used to think just happened inevitably when people got older. I use plenty of butter and olive oil, too.

and like you, I do a modified kind of Atkins, with plenty of butter and olive oil.

"Shut up and eat your Genetically Mutant, Chemically-Saturated Foodlike Crapola Rations." - Big Science, Inc.


Published Monday, March 24, 2014 on Independent Science News:

How “Extreme Levels” of Roundup in Food Became the Industry Norm
By Prof. Thomas Bøhn and Marek Cuhra

http://www.independentsciencenews.org/news/how-extreme-levels-of-roundup-in-food-became-the-industry-norm/

Synopsis: Many GMO crops are resistant to the chemical herbicide Roundup (active ingredient: glyphosate). This allows farmers to spray the herbicide over the crop to control weeds.

As weeds in the US and elsewhere have progressively gained resistance to Roundup, farmers have been spraying higher doses of the herbicide and spraying them more often. By implication, there will be concomitant effects on food and the environment.

However, even though there is increasing concern about the health impacts of Roundup/glyphosate, little is known about current levels in food and animal feed. Now, a new study has found that glyphosate in GMO soybeans is at levels higher than many vitamins.

Looks like Michael Pollan had it right.

Who would have thought that if you put less chemicals and crap into your body that you'd be healthier than a person who consumes a generous amount of chemicals and crap??

Because it follows the same footsteps as the "low-fat" diet - the name massively oversimplifies the diet, and that name is all people are being taught.

So what happens? The food companies market their processed crap as low-(food component). Low-fat Pop-Tarts aren't healthy. Now that low-carb is the name of the recommended diet, we have Low-carb Pop-Tarts. They're still not healthy.

I have no idea why the folks making these recommendations are insisting on making the exact same mistake they made in the 1970s. "Let's do the same thing. I'm sure it will end up different this time!!!"

The same mistakes are made because it isn't the same "they". The folks that made the mistakes in the '70s are long gone and a new fresh set of folks are doing it again. Not studying the history of ones own profession is not all that uncommon.

First, I try to avoid gluten whenever possible.
Second, I get a big laugh at the carbs and net carbs per serving - 1/2 cup of ice cream? Shoot. Why bother. I always always calculate net carbs times number of servings so I can see what the damage is if I eat the whole damned thing.

Not to mention - as I got more entrenched in low-carb, I started buying less and less packaged crap.
Just as easy to make a smoothie with unsweetened coconut-almond milk, vanilla, stevia, and chia seeds than mess around with low-carb packaged and processed food. I can make a giant bowl of kale salad, add mushrooms and olives and tomatoes and Walden farms dressing - and live off of that for a few days. I can roast fresh asparagus and pour on the homemade Hollandaise sauce - and not have to measure a thing. pfft! to packaged stuff that says low carb. No need for it, really, too many chemicals, and the number of servings is iffy at best. Cook with almond meal and flax seeds. Skip the labels.

Short version - no need to buy processed crap no matter what "diet" you are on!

I'm another who low-carbs without all the processed food. It's not required, nor recommended (except by the people selling the crap). There are so many wonderful, tasty things to eat, who needs Pop Tarts? Or rice. Or flour/grains (whole or otherwise). Or potatoes.

I tried being a vegetarian, because my doctor recommended it. In a year, I'd gained 60 lbs, was hurting everywhere, mentally and physically worn out. Never again.

I did the low calorie/low fat thing for years. Gained more weight, felt even worse, nearly killed myself trying to lose that 60+ lbs. Never again.

My belief is that eating as naturally as possible, avoiding as much artificial stuff as I can -- and trying to grow my own/raise my own food to get rid of the rest -- is best. It's just that some of us can't eat carbohydrates. We get fat, and we get sick.