Processed Foods
There is a lot. A lot more than there used to be. Most foods with a nutritional label is processed. But not all of them are nasty. The things you have to watch out for in pre-packaged and processed foods are: Seed oils (corn, canola, sunflower, safflower, soybean, peanut, rapeseed, cottonseed, grapeseed) vegetable oils, processed sugars, corn, soy, gluten. If you start by eliminating these out of your diet, you will be doing much better.
Nutritional Labels
Here is the new style of a nutritional label. Most people pay attention to the fats, this is important but equally important is the sugar and carbs. Keep carbs to the lower side and sugars even lower or nil. I would highly recommend reading the book cholesterol clarity and keto clarity to understand a bit more on fat, cholesterol and processed sugars and the impact it has on your body.
Protein
Focus on 1.5-2 grams of protein per kilo of desired body weight. Things like, wild caught fish, salmon, sardines, anchovies, shellfish, organic chicken, pasture rasied pork, venison, eggs, grass fed grass finished beef and lamb, quality protein powders, quality dairy, organ meat, bone broth.
The type of protein matters. I usually eat beef and lamb. I source it ethically and buy in bulk from the farmer. I know how it was raised, how it was butchered and I create that connection with my food. But feel free to use the above formula with whatever works for you.
Carbs
Anything lower than 50-75 grams and most people will struggle to handle it. If you want to be leaner and keep your mass, then keep your carbs lower than 100 grams. If you want to gain mass, then typically 150-200 grams a day will work well.
The type counts here too. Try to steer clear of processed sugars, grains, wheat, bread, pasta. Try to adopt more fresh vegie and fruit options like: sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, apples, oranges, berries, melons, pear, mango, banana, avo, olive, pumpkin, cucumber, carrots, pickles, sauerkraut, raw honey, white rice
Try to source local farmer grown produce from your local growers market to support the community and create that connection with the food.
Fats
The ones that matter are: butter, coconut oil, olive oil, lard, suet, tallow, ghee, coconut. The ones in my opinion that are not good for human consumption are: Seed oils like; corn, canola, sunflower, safflower, soybean, peanut. There are a few more that I mentioned above too.
Eat the amount of fat that is right for you. Try to include a bit to every meal. I have found personally, that if I eat too much fat, it sends a nausea feeling to my brain telling me I have eaten too much. It has been a difficult thing to fine tune, but it's all a process.
