In Defense of Processed Foods with The Nutrition Tea

Jess: So you blew up on Instagram by making , by making nutrition posts that are very relatable and also funny, right? Yeah. Um, and your posts have a message and specific, specifically, you talk about intuitive eating and health at every size.

So I'm wondering, did you always view nutrition through this lens? And if not, what made it change for you?

Shana: Yeah. So no, I did not always view, um, nutrition like that. I was very much, um, I guess you can say I reformed the way, the way I thought for sure. Like I became a dietician in 2018, like I used to work in fashion.

Um, and so I was very much with that weight centric lens and all about the diets and, you know, just eat healthier, like all. You know, all that stuff that I talk about now. And so I didn't even know about Intuitive eating until I went to fci. Um, that year. It was like in Philly. Um, and then they were giving the talk and I remember thinking, what is intuitive eating?

And then I think it was just something just clicked right? And I. I was just, I don't even remember exactly what it was, but I remember it being very relatable and rethinking everything that I just learned in school. And also reading anti-D diet, like one of my coworkers. So I work, um, for public health and one of my coworkers.

Actually recommended anti-D diet. And that, I think that was the change. That's when I realized, oh, maybe I didn't learn everything. Maybe I need to rethink some things. And that's sort of when I began shifting. Um, cuz I always tell people if you scroll down, like all the way down, like I know I have a lot of posts, but if, if you start all the way at the beginning, you can see where I was like telling, you know, I wasn.

about fad diets, but I was definitely with that. Oh yeah. It's just so easy to eat healthy. Just like I don't, I don't even know what I was posting, but it definitely wasn't what I was saying now, . Yeah. And I keep those up on purpose because I tell people it's a change. Like we all don't start, you know, just coming out of the womb being, you know, intuitive eating , so Yeah.

Jess: Yeah, for sure. Mm-hmm. , same, same, same, same. Um, follow up question to that. You, like I said, you, you blew up on the

Shana: gram . I dunno how that, I dunno. by the way, like, yeah, like, do you get trolls or like, oh my gosh. How, how is it being, it's ridiculous. , it's, well, what I do act, what I started doing is limiting my comments.

Um, oh, so in order to comment, you have to follow , which I know, which sounds so, so smart. You know, and I'm all about having a dialogue and discussion, but unfortunately it's sort of necessary. Um, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me. Like I follow people. I don't agree with a hundred percent of the time, but I think.

That really definitely stops, like the trolls and the people who are just looking to ruin your day, you know? Yeah. And, um, because I, like, I, it's just me managing. I don't have like a social media manager or anything like that, so it kind of helps me. Sort of keep the comments in line, because what I notice is people also like to go after people who also comment.

So it's not just me. It's like, oh, they're, they start commenting on other comments. I'm like, okay, this needs stuff. Oh, . So I just limit the comments and I don't care. It, it works for me. . Um, I know people think that's like a cop out. I, I do not care. Um, it's, I don't think so at all. I think it's

Wendy: preserving your sanity, because I think also with these like threads, they kind of take a life of their own and then Oh yeah.

You log off for five minutes and you come back

Shana: and literally five minutes. Yeah.

Wendy: It's like there's like monsters that have been created, you know? Yeah. With within the span of a few

Shana: minutes. So that's

Wendy: a great idea

Shana: actually. Yeah, that's a really good idea. It's just, it helps. Yeah. And it, it's, it's not a perfect solution cuz of course people will just follow, just to comment, but it definitely helps because not many people do

So that's, that's sort of the solution that I have. Yeah. Do

Jess: you now, because I know you mentioned you work in public health and I've seen on your page that you mentioned that as well. Do you still work in public health and have this thriving

Shana: account? Yes. Yes. I work full-time. Yeah, I have like a nine to five.

Um, I work for the Department of Health actually. Oh,

Wendy: that's how Jess and I, uh, first started. Yeah. Had started, yeah. Like 10 years ago or something.

Shana: Where are you guys? Um, what is that program? The Stellar Market? Yeah. I saw something. Yeah, I did that also. Oh my God.

Jess: It's like everyone started in Stellar .

Shana: Yeah,

So, um, so now I just work for, eat, well play hard, but, um, oh, nice. Okay. Yes. So I still work for Department of Health, public Health, um, which is why I'm always talking about like social determinants of health and all those things. Yeah. Because it's near and dear to my heart, nice. Amazing. But. . Mm-hmm. . I love that.

Well,

Wendy: today we're gonna be talking about processed foods and you wrote this amazing article. Wanna break it down a little bit? So let's start by talking about what processed foods

Shana: are. Cause I think there's a lot of confusion. Um

Wendy: mm-hmm. , there's different types of processed foods. Um, should we make distinctions?

Tell us a little bit more about the.

Shana: Sure. So I think that there's always, um, confusion just because of how it's presented in the media. It, you know, the media, um, whenever we're talking about articles or even just, you know, folks writing posts or whatever they're. , they're scare tactics, right? That's how it grabs someone's attention.

So even something well-meaning, you know, saying, well, yes, we want people to eat healthy. We want people to be the healthiest they can be. It can sort of be misconstrued into, oh my gosh, this. , these foods are horrible, they're toxic and you know, they're, they use language such as that. And my hope is just to show people that yes, there are different levels of processed foods, but that doesn't mean that we have to demonize these foods and they don't have to be scary.

Um, I think. . There's also, cuz I'm, I'm not a food scientist myself, but I like to follow food scientists because that's their job, . And I think that's, it's important to know where you're getting your information from. Um, because like I mentioned before, I wasn't always in this realm of thinking. I was, I was one of those people that was scared of like, I don't know, red dye, you know, number four and, you know, all of those things.

I, myself was like, why is this in our food? And then I started. learning and absorbing the knowledge and realizing, wait a second, it's not all scary. Um, you know, and so that's, that's why I write so much about processed foods. I encourage folks to follow people, um, who are in this field as much as possible.

But processed foods are basically any food that has been. , um, handled, right? Even if it's our produce, like even if it's our organic produce that might have, um, something on it in order to protect it or as long as it's handled, that's what we call processed. Um, unless you are, and I always use this example, unless you go to an apple orchard, pick the apple and eat it right there, your food is processed, right?

So, , which you might not, they're different. Wanna do,

Wendy: I wrote an article about that cuz there might be, you know Right. VCs on there. So

Shana: Yeah. It's side note, it's and that's, yeah. Well, and that's why we processed the food, right. To make it safe, to make it, um, and also to get off like, inedible parts, like all these things that's part of food processing.

And um, that's, that's sort of why I, I wanted to write the article, why I always talk about it, because process doesn't have to be a scary word, . Um, and we made it a scary word. And yes, there are different types. There's minimally processed, right, which is the produce. Um, and then there's ultra. Ultra processed.

Um, which I think now people are starting to say, okay, that's the scary one. Like that's what we're gonna concentrate on. But even then you have to realize like, oat milk is ultra processed, right? Our tofu or meat alternatives, if you're vegan or you know, not vegan, if you're using that, that is ultra process.

Those are still nourishing foods. They're still providing nutrients, but they're still ultra processed so we don't have to use these scary words. Um, so that's my hope. Um, that was a lot of rambling, but that's overall like what my goal is whenever I'm talking about this subject for. ,

Jess: yeah. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.

Mm-hmm. , what do you say to people who are like, well, oat milk is ultra processed, but it's fine. Mm-hmm. , but having, uh, what is something, I dunno, like a twinky, like that's different. Like, do you have any thoughts on that?

Shana: Yeah, and I always say they're not the same and, and no one is saying they're the same.

You know, like I think in the article, Um, what foods did I compare? I think it was like a can of soda and like oat milk or something like that. And no one is saying that those two are the same types of foods. They're not providing the same nutrients at all. But at the same time, we just have to stop using ultra process as a scare tactic.

Yeah. Um, and I think that even with soda, am I recommending it be, you know, should you drink it every day for every. . No, I, I do not recommend that as a dietician. Um, also like we think about our teeth, right? Not a dentist, but that's one thing. But it's, when you think about it, soda is providing, um, sugar, right?

And sugar. We also demonize, but. It's still providing energy that our body uses. You know, am I saying that we should be eating a ton of sugar? No, but sugar isn't as scary as we make it. So it's, it's how we word things. And also we have to realize we think in such black and white, um, in, in terms of like nutrition, I'm noticing it's just black and white.

There's no room for nuance, there's no gray area. And I know on social media, um, it's very hard. Like, I don't know how many characters you're allowed on Instagram. Not a lot, right? So it, there's only so much we can say, even in an article, there's only so much you can say. Um, but there's not a lot of nuance, you know, so we're not saying that like a salad and a Twinkie is the same thing.

But what we are saying is that the Twinkie doesn't have to be demonized. Sometimes it's okay to eat foods that you enjoy. We're not saying that you should be eating it at every meal every single day, but it's not this horrible food that's going to cause, you know, all these illnesses, um, if you have it sometimes.

So yeah, that's, that's sort of, that's sort of the goal. , yeah. Yeah.

Jess: Wendy, are you. Wendy, oh, your video went away and we can't really hear you. Um, I'm gonna jump into the, no, we can't. . I think it's your internet. Oh, no. Do you wanna log out and log back in?

We can't hear you or see you. . Um, just in the sake of time, I'm gonna keep going. . Oh, sure. Okay. Um, cuz we have a lot of questions and we're already halfway through. So what, and just Josh, you can edit this. Question or this, uh, point out. But Shauna, so when I ask questions, I'm not saying that I agree with these.

I'm just asking what people want to know. Oh, yeah. Course. Don't a

Shana: basic bitch.

Jess: So is there a balance of process to not process that you recommend or like ultra process, like the Twinkies for example, you often hear people say like, oh, I follow the 80 20 rule. And even back in the day when I was a dietician, I used to talk about that like mm-hmm 80% is like whole foods and fresh and then 20% is fun foods or whatever.

Like is that nonsense? What are

Shana: your thoughts? I still think that can even. Sort of in the diet tea realm. Like, I get why we say that. Um, it's, it's sort of, it's better than, you know, sort of like the clean eating kind of, uh, rhetoric that's, you know, kind of roaming around. But even, even saying something for me personally, right?

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just my personal views. Like I'm, I'm not even a fan of saying, everything in moderation or like moderation, um, because it still sounds. , those are bad foods. Mm-hmm. . And I don't like when we put foods on a hierarchy because there's so much that goes into why we choose foods.

Yeah. And yes, it's preference, but also like here I go with my public health background, right? Like we there. The reason we choose foods is what we have access to, both in proximity to stores, but also food insecurity also. Um, what we have access to financially. preferences, all of that stuff is why we choose the foods we do.

So even telling someone, well, like, yes, you can have it, but in moderation that might be the only thing someone has access to. So it's still, it's still is very much requiring nuance when we're talking about what someone should be eating. Um, and again, that's hard to do. Over a post or even, you know, cuz everyone's individual so

Right. You know, that's the key. Yeah. ,

Jess: that's the thing. It's like, I think dieticians, it's a little tricky because we are trying to um, you know, not give too many blanket statements cuz we know that it's individual but then that doesn't

Shana: sell . So it's like Exactly,

Wendy: exactly. That's why

Jess: it's kind of like a lot of the.

Influencers who do nutrition, they, they blow up like crazy because, , they have a message that sells. And it's, it's almost like eat like me, eat like me and look like me. But we know that that's not the case. That's

Shana: problematic. Yeah, it's problematic. Exactly. .

Jess: Um, now okay. You often hear on Instagram, I'm going with everything that's on Instagram , so.

Sure. Yeah. If you, if you can't pronounce the ingredients, it's bad.

Shana: Oh gosh. Yeah. What are your thoughts? ? I, that's so annoying too, to. It's like, and it's so, it's so funny. Be, well it's not really funny, but I like, I used to think that way too. Um, oh, me too. Because when I was in school, right? Yeah. Like, um, becoming a dietician.

I remember when I was, uh, like part-time and I think I was like teaching, you know, younger kids nutrition classes and that's like one of the that's one of the things I told them. I was like, can you pronounce it then don't.

Wendy: Uh,

Jess: sorry to everyone who we've ever said that to. This is a public apology.

Shana: So seriously, cuz I'm just like, oh my god.

One of those kids, if they ever saw my Instagram now, they'd be like, miss Shauna . I remember when you said so, but anyways, I digress. Um, so not a fan of that now, um, because now I have become wiser, right? Because a lot of. Those things that we can't pronounce are vitamins and minerals that are spelled out in their chemical name and form.

And so it's, it's so funny because I'm a huge fan of food science babe. Um, Erin, yeah. And she, she goes through this all the time, and it's so funny because she, she's brave enough to do this. I. You know, I don't, uh, pick apart people's posts cuz I'm too scared. But I love that she does, um, because she always shows, okay, this person is demonizing.

I don't know, some, I can't even think of a name off the top of my head, but she'll like, Say what this person is demonizing and she's like, um, actually that's like vitamin E . It's just spelled out right. Or something. Yeah. Or something like that. And it's like, oh my gosh. You know? It's just that we don't think like that.

We just, we want something cleaner. Yeah. And I think this, this probably will be like a whole nother episode, but it sort of also goes into this whole like clean eating sort of way. Like the cleaner ingredients, the better, which is elitist and. Form of supremacy, but we don't have to go there. But basically that's sort of where it stems from.

Like lesser is more, um, I'm eating clean. I, I'm eating things I can pronounce, and it's like, well, if you look at the chemicals in a banana, right? Even if it's organic, it's like all of these things or these names we can't pronounce. So that's why I, I don't recommend. Following that tactic ever again. And I apologize to those children that I that I taught years ago.

Yeah. .

Jess: No, but I think it's, it's helpful to evolve, right? I think it's all about when you know better, you do better. And, um, you know, we, I feel like the culture, the die culture is so strong and you get sucked up in it. And then once you see clear clearly, it's like, oh my God, it's embarrassing. What have I done?

Shana: and

Jess: also, And also just, you know, like you, you have an amazing platform that is talking about all these things now, and that is reaching, you know, more people and setting the record straight. So I feel I could totally, totally relate to, um, to just switching gears. . Mm-hmm. . Yes. Um, side note, everybody who's wondering where Wendy is, if you were thinking that her internet went out.

So we are waiting for her internet to come back and join us, but in the meantime, I'm gonna keep going. , . Um, okay, so another question we got is, um, oh, here she is. There we go. Oh

Wendy: my God, you guys, my internet went out. So I'm on my phone. Uh, so just, I won't be able to see any live notes through Google Dots. I don't know what the hell just happened, but I have no internet.

Oh, no.

Shana: Yeah, .

Jess: Dang. Oh God. Don't worry. We, we kept going. You kept going. Okay. I told everyone that you, your internet was out. Wendy's back,

Wendy: everybody. I'm back. Oh my gosh. Are you recording? Uh, I'm still recording. Yeah. Um, okay. So where are we? . Oh my God. So

Jess: we are, um, we are at, uh, I'm just gonna ask the next one.

Oh my God,

Wendy: I'm back jumping after. Pick them back. Um, Well, yo, what is going on? I'm back. Okay. Let me just join through my computer then, or whatever. We, we'll just keep doing it here. Um, I would just say keep

Jess: it like this. Yeah. Cause we don't have a

Wendy: lot of time. Right, right, right. Okay. Where, where are we?

What were you guys talking about? So

Jess: I'll, I'll do the next one that you can jump in after. Okay. Um, yeah, so we're at the canned boots, uh, oh, wait, no, sorry. We're at the chem. No, we already asked the chemicals one. The chemicals. Okay. Um, . Did I ask the chemical? Well, it's kind of similar to the

Shana: somebody. One, you can't pronounce the foods.

You can't.

Jess: Yeah. That's kind of similar, right? Um, the chemicals. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Okay. So a lot of people worry about canned foods. Mm-hmm. , right? Because canned foods get a bad rap. But you say , that there's a place for canned foods on your plate. Mm-hmm. , why? What is your case for canned foods? Like why should people.

Be more comfortable with them and then also follow up to that. What about people who are concerned about sodium? Anything there?

Shana: Yes. Um, and I always say, again, it's preference, right? It comes down to, um, canned foods are just more shelf stable. They last longer. Um, I have a habit of forgetting. vegetables and produce in the fridge or in the pantry.

Um, so canned foods, frozen foods, of course, but canned foods are definitely shelf stable. Um, they're also more cost effective. Um, again, like as we all know, the cost of food these days is rising, rising, rising. Um, so it's a lot of folks are just looking for things to be cheaper. Um, but also you wanna get nutrients.

And the thing with canned foods, or I should even like canned vegetables, right? It's still giving you the same nutrients as say, a fresh, uh, like if we're doing like green beans, for example, you're still getting nutrients from the canned food. And yes, sodium. can definitely be a concern. It is a concern. I always recommend rinsing off that solution cuz most canned foods are in that solution.

Um, and you can rinse 'em off. Even beans for example. I always suggest doing that. If sodium is a concern, simply rinse them off and they are good to go. Um, even with canned fruit, cuz a lot of times they're in, um, you can choose between like a hundred percent fruit juice or like, uh, a syrup. . If, um, if you have a choice, I always recommend the juice.

Um, but same thing, you can just rinse things off. And if that's a concern, it's a valid concern for sure. But there's still solutions. Um, it doesn't mean that it's a scary thing taste wise, yes, it's going to be different from say fresh. Um, produce for sure. And if you have access to fresh, you prefer fresh, by all means go with fresh.

This, this isn't saying not to, but for some people, again, that's all that they might have access to, especially price-wise. Access wise. A lot of times when you go to food pantries, soup kitchens, that's all they're giving you are the canned foods, cuz they want something shelf stable and non-perishable, which is important.

So it's not saying, oh, these people are getting quote unquote bad foods. It's just, that's what shelfs, that's what is shelf stable. It's, it's still providing nutri. . Yeah. And also like who

Wendy: wants to cook beans from scratch? I mean, some people, my mom does, but it's easier. Yeah. I don't mm-hmm. , um, , nope.

Shana: Takes so much time.

Exactly.

Wendy: Yeah. It just doesn't make any sense With the Insta Pot, I guess I just got an INTA pot and now I'm like, wow. Nice. My world has been open to a lot of things, but um, yeah. If it weren't for that, I don't even think I would entertain the idea. with the chemicals. Just real quick, neith, did you guys talk about like specific chemicals?

Um, or what, what exactly

Shana: was the conversation about chemicals about?

Wendy: you're cutting out.

Jess: Oh God. Um, are you on your phone or?

Wendy: Yeah, I'm on my phone cuz the wifi say that. Oh. Oh

Jess: no. So we just talked about the idea of like, well, we can hear you. We can't see you. It was cutting

Shana: out, but, oh, maybe not to the video. Yeah.

Jess: Yeah. Maybe turn the video off. Um, we were talking about like the, if you can't pronounce it, it's bad.

Mm-hmm. and like, you know, certain things, um, .

Shana: Okay. Being

Jess: like vitamins, names and things like that.

Wendy: Got it. Mm-hmm. . I was gonna ask you Shauna specifically, cuz I know there's like, there's fear around like gums specifically. And I know one ingredient that a lot of people ask us about

Shana: is

Wendy: the Carin. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing that right, but it's in a lot of the plant milks.

Um, do you know anything about this? Because if not, we could just skip it. .

Shana: I, I don't, I always, I always tell people to check out, cuz you know who always writes about that? I, I've already mentioned Erin, uh, food Science babe. Mm-hmm. . Um, and there's another person on TikTok, I forget her handle, but she's another food scientist that like breaks it down really well.

Mm-hmm. . Um, just because they have a way of wording things that I cannot express, cuz that's not. Exactly. Okay. No, it's not my field. But yeah, I always tell people, um, to really just follow the food scientists because that's, that's their work, you know? Yeah. Like we follow, and I, I forgot to mention this before, but I think people.

are just so prone to following folks who look a certain way, a certain body aesthetic, and it's very easy to just say, oh my gosh, this is scary. You know, you have people roaming the grocery store, and this is just me ranting, like you have people walking around a grocery store pointing to random foods, calling them bad, and it's just like, That might be all someone has access to and that doesn't make the food not nutritious.

And most of the time guaranteed they'll go back and they have some product that they're selling and it's some powder. Yeah. And I'm like, your powder that you're selling is ultra processed. And it also has all those gums and preservatives in it to make it shelf stable. Right. But it's like, you know, so anyway, that was a rant, but , I'm, yeah,

Jess: no, I'm laughing.

I'm laughing because my mom just sent me one of those people, um, that the

Wendy: food babe, um,

Shana: oh gosh.

Wendy: Yeah. Talks about

Jess: in, I'm not gonna say his name, but it's some random. White guy and he, and the thing she sent me, right , it was like top 10 fake foods you're eating and how to avoid them. My mom sent it with no explanation and I said, mom, I don't like this guy.

She said, oh really? Okay, . And I said, he's fear mon. I'm reading the text. I'm like, he's fear mongering based on no evidence. Look up food science babe. .

Shana: Yes. She was like, okay. Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. That's

Jess: funny. So yes, food science, babe. And we asked on our

Wendy: podcast, please come on. Right. That

Shana: would be a great episode.

Oh, that would

Wendy: be such a great episode. Yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about frozen foods. Um, I feel like canned foods usually get a worse rep than frozen. But frozen, I think the jury's still out. So what are your thoughts? Is it a good way to, you know, incorporate. More plant foods, especially the ones that are, you know, harder to get in certain neighborhoods or really

Shana: expensive.

Definitely, I think frozen foods for sure are the more accepted processed food. Um, and you know, cuz. We always like to say, oh, it's picked at like peak ripeness. And so, you know, frozen foods in some ways are like, you know, now people are like, oh, they're actually superior than fresh, which I don't even like cuz there is no superior.

It's what you have access to. But yes, frozen, excuse me, frozen are completely fine to use. Um, and again, also, , they last longer than fresh. Um, you know, uh, in the freezer. But one thing that I will say is frozen still requires, um, if we're like digging a little bit deeper as far as like what you have access to, frozen still requires a bit more then can't, and canned, I already mentioned same still providing nutrients, but canned foods, like there's some people, when we think.

Access and we think about someone getting a meal on the table. We have to first think, does this person have a stove? Do they have access to like their, you know, gas stove or whatever, electric stove, whatever, um, canned foods. You can eat it from the can, like is it going to be. Super tasty to some people or a preference?

No, but that's the point of it being in a can. Um, when we think about natural disasters and, you know, the electricity going out and all that good stuff, or not good stuff. Sorry, all that stuff going on, , it's like canned foods. You can eat it from. Straight from the can and you're getting nourishment. Um, again, am I saying that it's super tasty to eat something at room temperature?

No, but that's the whole point of canned food. That's why it's shelf stable frozen foods. Still require freezer. Um, some people don't have access to that. And I think some people, you know, it's easy when you're kind of removed from certain situations when you know it's easy, especially in larger cities to just assume everyone has access to food.

You know, oh, I live in New York, I can just walk down the street, not everywhere. In New York, you can do that. So it's, it's super important to realize, again, we always have to think in terms of access and proximity. , um, to things, but to your, to your actual question, yes. Frozen foods are fine. . Yeah. Yeah,

Wendy: yeah.

I also think it, you know, sometimes we have to use a little bit of common sense. I hate to sound like that person, but like, you know, like some people have beef with like frozen meals, but then they're okay with. Frozen fruits and vegetables. Um, you know, and I think especially now with like, there's a pretty good range of frozen meals.

I know that before, like they pretty much all sucked and like it's not something Yeah, I would've had, but. Yeah, I feel like especially with Trader Joe's, like if you're able to access that, oh yes. Like there's actually frozen meals that taste good and offer, like pretty balanced nutrition. Um, but mm-hmm.

they're still somehow demonized, um, because they've been cooked and then frozen and, and it's just like, ha, this

Shana: isn't really adding up. , it's not. And there's also like a hierarchy of frozen foods, . Cause like each Trader Joe's is like, oh, it's cool and accepted to be shopping at Trader Joe's. But like the frozen foods, you know, that we get like, what's that?

What was the one, um, was it Stouffers or something like that? Yeah. It's like, oh, those are so bad for you. But those same people are like buying Trader Joe's. It's like, oh. Frozen is frozen. , it's all about the branding

Wendy: too, right? Because like even how things, yes. The packaging look visually, like if it's looking more chic and up to date, people are gonna feel, um mm-hmm.

you know, a little more confident buying those things. And I've, I've definitely fallen prey to that with like their body stuff. , I mean, I love, I love their. Stuff and like their hair stuff. But like if, if

Shana: the packaging

Wendy: is cool, I'll be more drawn to it and like, it might be trash, it might be like actually the equivalent of like, I don't know, v like whatever, you know, whatever.

Like the local pharmacy has like a discounted brand, but I'll be like, Ooh, it looks cute, so let me try it and let me spend like $10 more. Yeah.

Shana: Mm-hmm. marketing. Yeah, for

Jess: sure. And all marketing. Mm-hmm. not a hundred percent I would say, but I feel. 99 . Yeah. You know, cause I, there is difference to certain, whether it's food or whether it's, um, cause I'm thinking of like hair care type stuff.

But I feel Hello?

Shana: When I'm here.

Jess: Oh, are you? Is someone like pressing

Wendy: buttons? No, I'm sorry.

Jess: Ignore. Oh, it sounds like the microwave or something. . Um, , Josh, can we edit that out? Okay. Uh, let's see.

Wendy: Oh my god, I'm sorry. I dunno what's going on. ? .

Shana: Now I hear it. You putting on the microwave like what's going

Wendy: on? Wow.

Um, there's a lot happen

Shana: the beginning. Okay, so

Jess: we were talking about frozen meals, and this is our last question before we get into our game. Mm-hmm. . Um, but are there any nutrients people should look out for, for example? , um, carbs, fats, protein, or like, is there anything you kind of recommend is a go-to If someone's like, let's say they have access and they can buy the frozen meal that they want mm-hmm.

and this is supposed to be like a meal meal. Like what should they look for

Shana: nutrient wise? Yeah. I think, um, a good, and even like, uh, good. I, I guess I would say balance. Meal, right? Because all of those things are important for our bodies. Protein, carbs, fat, we need all of it. And I think that even something that has, um, fiber, I think like, um, not, and I know that this won't be every meal or every food, but you know, I always tell people like, especially look for the colorful vegetables, right?

Because again, thinking in terms of actually being a dietician, we want you to eat. , all that stuff. Um, it's providing vitamins, minerals, but really just making sure you're getting in enough protein, you're getting in enough carbs, right. Especially fiber, um, even fats, like, um, well this was back in the day now, not so much, but, um, people sometimes are scared of fat.

Um, unless it's from an avocado, but like we need fat , you know? So I think it's important to sort of look at the whole picture too. and see what your whole meal is consisting of. Um, and I think that's, that's sort of the goal, um, whenever we're eating is to look for that balance.

Jess: For sure. Yeah. That makes sense.

So this 10 track game we have Yes. Time for game. Yay, Josh. Cue the game. Music,

Wendy: you

All right, so we're gonna just throw out different. Foods and you can tell us quickly. It's a fire round, so you can't really take more than a few seconds. Um, how you're gonna add that to a nourishing meal?

Shana: Are you ready? Okay. I think so. My goodness. Okay. Okay.

Wendy: canned piece. .

Shana: Oh, okay. Well, in my defense, I'm allergic to cheese , but I would say, I would say stir fry.

If I wasn't, I would say stir fry . Okay. Okay. Okay. That's a good one. good. You did good. Ca canned peaches. . Oh, yogurt. I love, um, canned peaches with yogurt. Um, my absolute favorite. Mm-hmm. . Um, I don't know. I like the taste of canned peaches, . I know it sounds weird, but I had them too. No, they're so good. That sounds like a great, with some like crunchy granola.

Um, anyway, yes, I like that idea. Leon Texture, frozen cauli flour. smoothies. Oh yeah. Um, and I learned this from Clara, your dietician bff. So I I saw her do it. And it doesn't add like taste to smoothies, but it makes it, um, the texture like smooth. And you're also getting in the fiber. And it's not, and like the taste, like you're not, um, uh, the taste isn't like being obscured.

Uh, with cauliflower. It's kind of like spinach when you add it to smoothies. So I like, I like to add it in smoothies, so love that. Game changer. I have some

Jess: frozen of cauliflower that I'm gonna add. Yeah. Um. Okay. What about a bag salad? You know, they sell those bag salads, but they may not be enough for a meal.

Shana: Oh, yes. I love, okay. I have like five in my fridge right now. So what I , so what I add are I have cans of tuna, tuna fish. Um, sometimes I just, uh, use that just adding some seasoning. Um, I, I usually add like a lemon pepper. sort of seasoning, um, like olive oil, add it to the bag salad also, um, if it doesn't already come with like dried fruit or nuts, you can also add that to complete it out.

Um, also I'm a big fan of getting rotisserie chickens, like the pre-cooked ones. Mm-hmm. and just having that in the fridge for the. , those are also really easy to cut up and add to salads, getting in protein. So those salads are the best things ever because I, I will admit, I'm not a big fan of cooking, um, or chopping or dicing, like

I can do it, but I would choose to make it easier. So like I have a bunch in my fridge and that's, that's what I do. Okay.

Wendy: Tortilla. .

Shana: Ooh. Um, I would say beans, canned beans, um, and just having like a protein, um, uh, with some cheese. I think that's a good, honestly, that's kind of a good meal sometimes. Uh, salsa, like a jar salsa.

Jess: I'm here for all these like super quick meals.

Shana: Yeah, I'm, listen, I'm the queen of processed foods. . .

Jess: Ooh, episode title. Um, .

Shana: You should change your, I regret saying that I regret , right? The trolls or not. Gonna come after

Wendy: you. Right? Right.

Jess: That's such, you have to think about this gold. Oh God. Why can't you just be for who you're for?

And everybody else can kick rocks and follow who you wanna follow, please. It's like not that serious,

Shana: Lord. It's okay. Oatmeal packets. O wait, oat milk packets. Oat

Jess: oatmeal packets,

Shana: like individual oatmeal. Oh, okay. Yes. I was like, what are oat milk packets? Um, oat oatmeal packets. Yes. So , so I, I actually do this quite a bit when I go to the office, so I always have like a portable.

Uh, Mason Jar. It's super easy to pour the packet. I also keep dried fruit at my desk along with nuts. Um, so if you also work in an office where you have access to a microwave, super easy to add to it. Um, I'm not big on the flavors. I like to, I like to make my own, but if you are super rushed on time, you.

Also use the ones with the flavors. I buy the flavorless ones and just add to it. Um, so nuts, dried fruits. Um, I also have like a little thing of honey at my desk. I have like a whole thing at my desk, like it's . I have like all these different foods. I also have like a, um, they got. So, yeah, like a corner store.

I'm like prepared. Yeah. Little mini bodega. .

Jess: Yeah. Where I would like, I literally would go shopping on my lunch break for the week and pretty much just bring it all to work. And fill up the work fridge? Yes. Like in the freezer. Cause I would buy all this, everything you're saying, like the frozen meals and just be like, poop.

Yeah. Great.

Shana: It's frozen

Wendy: pizza, which by the way, for those of you who don't have a lot of people at home and buy a pie of pizza, and you're like, what am I gonna do with all these pizza? Because before I would just feel pressured to eat it all, and then I wouldn't feel so great the next day. You could freeze it and.

It actually tastes amazing. I just started freezing, like just, you know, New York City pizza and I was a little hesitant, but then I reheated it and I was like, oh my God. Like this is, this is it right here. Anyway, side note. So frozen

Shana: pizza. . Yeah, no, same. All of that. Um, and I, I like to with my stash of pre-bagged salads.

I'll either have salad on the side or, um, whatever veggies, like if I do sometimes have my produce right, I always have leftovers of, let's say if I make a big batch of Brussels sprouts. Depending on the taste. Uh, like sometimes I just put it on things or like in pastas, but I put it on top of the pizza, heat it up and it's totally fine.

Um, peppers, also peppers that are, you know, getting wrinkly. That's also a great way to kind of dice them up, put them on pizza.

Jess: Delicious. I love that. Mm-hmm. . Okay, last one. Canned soup. .

Shana: Ooh. So what I like to do is , I like to get, and I usually have, um, from either takeout or sometimes again, like Trader Joe's or any grocery store has like frozen rice, um, like already made, meaning you just pop into the microwave.

I like to add rice to my. Um, and also again with like my rotisserie chicken, depending on the soup of course, but you can make it complete by like adding in some sort of protein. Um, so I usually add in like rice chicken. Um, again, like if there are leftover veggies in the fridge, I just pop those in and it's like a good hearty, like complete meal.

Um, so that's what I like to do. It depends on the soup for sure, but it, it usually works most of the time. ,

Jess: no, these are all such great ideas and it just gave me the idea that for anyone who wants them all in one place, because I'm sure people are listening and driving and you're not gonna re remember Exactly.

Just DM us. Um, processed, processed food. No, just processed the word. Processed . And I'll send you. , I'll type out her ideas and send them back to you. So, ah, yes. DMS process. Um, and in wrapping Shauna, this was such a great conversation. Thank you. I learned a lot. I'm gonna be trying a lot of your ideas. Um, can you let our listeners know where they can find your incredible work online and how you work with people?

If.

Shana: definitely. Um, so my handle for pretty much every , every social media is the nutrition tea. Um, pretty easy to find that way. Um, Instagram, Twitter, trying to figure out TikTok, I'll, all of that. Yeah. , . Um, and also my website. So I, I do take on clients. Um, I'm at a pause right now just with work, but you can always find any information on my website, the nutrition tea.

Um, so yeah, that's where you can find me.