The Food Filters

By Kamil Prokurat

3 questions to tell real food from a factory product, fast. Use them as a rough guide to what deserves a place in your shopping cart.

Try it on a food

Pick one, or type your own, then answer the 3 filters.

Filter 1

Did it grow in the ground, on a tree, or have a mom and dad?

Not sure? Backup questions

Filter 2

If I ate only this for a week, would I get sick?

Not sure? Backup questions

Filter 3

Can I count the ingredients on 1 hand?

Not sure? Backup questions
0/3

Answer all 3 filters

The filters, one by one

Sometimes you can't answer a question straight. Maybe you do not know how nutritious a food is, or someone told you it's bad for you. Every filter has backup questions for exactly that.

1

Did it grow in the ground, on a tree, or have a mom and dad?

In other words

Is it food, or a product from a factory?

Why it matters

Factory products are usually worse quality than real food. Some are fine, so treat this one as a warning sign.

Back-up questions
  • Does it even have an ingredient list? No list usually means real food. The only ingredient in chicken breast is chicken breast.
  • Would my great-grandparents recognize it?
  • Is it sold around the edge of the supermarket (meat, fish, eggs, dairy, fruit, veg) or in the middle aisles?
2

If I ate only this for a week, would I get sick?

In other words

Does it feed your body, or is it just empty calories (energy with almost no nutrients)?

Why it matters

Some foods give you calories and very little else. You get enough calories (energy) but not nearly enough micronutrients (vitamins, minerals...). That leads to nutrient deficiencies. Nutrient deficiencies = lots of issues.

Back-up questions

This is the one people get wrong the most, so here are the easy versions.

  • Is it meat, fish, eggs or dairy? Animal foods have the most nutrients per bite.
  • Is it the whole food, or 1 part of it? A whole egg is better than a carton of egg whites. Fruit is better than fruit juice. Steak is better than protein powder.
  • Does it keep me full for hours? Real food does. Junk makes you hungry again soon.
Trick answers
Looks bad, passes

Eggs, red meat, butter and full-fat dairy have a bad name, but they aren't the problem.

Looks healthy, fails

Fruit juice, "healthy" cereal and granola bars look healthy, but they fail. Protein shakes are a supplement, not a meal.

3

Can I count the ingredients on 1 hand?

In other words

Did a factory wash the nutrients out of it?

Why it matters

More ingredients usually mean more processing, and processing washes out nutrients.

Back-up questions
  • Do I know what each ingredient is and where it comes from?
  • Can I pronounce each ingredient?
  • Could I make this in my own kitchen with what's on the label?

Bonus: my snack list

I grab these between meals or at the end of the day when I watch a movie. Each one passes at least 2 filters, with 1 thing to watch.

SnackWhat to doWhat to watch out for
FruitEat whole fruit, not juice.Fruit fails filter 2 on its own, so it is a snack, not a meal.
Greek yogurtBuy plain, full-fat yogurt.Flavored yogurt has added sugar and a long label.
Cottage cheese or kefirSame rule as yogurt.The label should be short.
SardinesOpen the can and eat. Choose olive oil or water.Skip sunflower or "vegetable" oil (seed oils).
Hard-boiled eggsBoil a batch on meal prep day. They stay ready all week.Nothing. An egg passes all 3 filters.
CheeseReal cheese is milk, salt, cultures and rennet.Processed cheese slices fail filter 3.
NutsBuy plain nuts, raw or dry-roasted.Skip nuts roasted in sunflower or "vegetable" oil.

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