Top 10 Real Foods Worth Eating

For the last couple weeks I’ve been trying to see how easy it is to follow the diet advice from the book “In Defense of Food”

Eat food, mostly plants, not too much

I took this advice to refer to what I call “real food”. That is anything that grew out of the ground or came out of a mother. The basic spirit is that you eat the food the way it was made in nature with minimal processing. Of course, there are many caveats to this definition which I will write about further when I try to implement it for longer than a week.

In the meantime, now is a good time to make a list of the best (as in easiest to obtain and eat) real foods to eat.

Top Real Foods

Apples – A convenient choice, perfect for after a workout. They’re also great because they last a long time before they spoil. Unfortunately, apples are a bit messy. Fun to joggle however.

Bananas – Great for replenishing electrolytes (potassium). They taste great and are easy to eat too. Spoil faster than apples but you can tell right away by their color.

Carrots – Full of vitamins and simple to eat. Just take them out of the bag, wash, cut off the ends and you’re done. Better as a pre-workout snack. If refrigerated, carrots can last many weeks.

Corn – Corn is great, especially when it’s eaten off the cob. But even a bowl of corn zapped in the microwave tastes great and is full of good carbohydrates. It’s less convenient to eat on the run but still a great choice for dinner.

Grapes – These are like little pieces of natural candy. Of course, you’ll want to eat the seedless versions as they are the easiest to eat. Grapes are a little messy if you get the juice on your hands. The other downside is that they go bad fairly rapidly.

Lettuce – There’s not much nutrition in lettuce but there also isn’t much that’s bad about it either. If you want a little more taste, try spinach. Excellent for snacking during the day.

Peanuts – You will need some protein and peanuts can get that for you. Plus, peanuts taste great. Forget about the fact that they are high in fat & calories. Real calories are more difficult to digest so your body can’t absorb them all like it can when you eat a candy bar. Peanuts last a long time too making them a great option.

Potatoes – You can’t eat these without cooking them but they are easy to make. Poke a few holes in them with a fork, wrap in plastic wrap and zap in the microwave for 3-5 minutes (depending how big they are). If it’s a good potato you just need to add a little salt. Great choice.

Strawberries – These taste great and are fairly easy to eat. All you have to do is wash them and cut off the green, leafy caps. I could eat pounds of strawberries at a time. The only downside to them is that they spoil rapidly. These are practically a buy then eat food.

Tomatoes – Some people like to eat these just by themselves but I’m not a huge fan. In a salad they are great. They are also packed with vitamins making them an excellent real food choice.

There were a few that didn’t make the list but I just have to mention them.

Green beans (just eat ‘em raw), Cucumbers, and Watermelon.

What are some of your favorite real foods? Leave us a comment and let the rest of the joggling community know.