> Choose fiber, whole grains, high-quality proteins.
> Vegetable-rich salads are generally healthier - even chlorine-washed salad mixes - than processed foods.
> Avoid foods high in oil and sodium.
> ..and again - avoid sugar, corn syrup, and high glucose-fructose, which are standard ingredients in drinks and desserts, breakfast foods and breads in sandwiches, processed foods (including meat and vegetable nuggets), and also in dressings and toppings.
> Take your own snacks to work or school to avoid hunger and increased appetite - examples: carrots and other raw vegetables, apples or other recommended low-sugar fruits, pro-biotics.. such as bio-yogurt, and nuts.
> Avoid processed foods - note.. some vegetables are on the processed list - for example, baby carrots cleaned and shaped.. in a plastic sack - available everywhere - and pre-bagged vegetables - such as lettuce and salad mixes - that are generally put through a chlorine bath.
The food industry with support from the USDA disputes that baby carrots are unhealthy or processed - especially that the amounts of chlorine in their chlorine bathes is not healthy. If you're a purist and don't trust the political appointments from America's corporations to the USDA.. mostly representatives of the food and agro-industry - then.. be aware (or beware).
Remember - that the purpose of processing foods with additives is to increase shelf life (and profits) - and those chemicals they use, aren't taken from the five food groups or the food pyramid. Chemicals used are generally and often poisons that eaten in large quantities will kill you. The USDA began in 1905 as a small group within government testing on actual human-beings whether and how small an amount of arsenic in your food will make you ill or kill you. The purpose was to allow the food corporations to use arsenic to kill bacteria on food and extend shelf life. That goal remains the purpose of food processing today - to enable corporations (sometimes at the expense of your health) to increase profits.
So.. choose food wisely - the food industry will NOT do it for you - and often - your government - especially with rich and powerful industry-lobbies impacting legislation - will not protect you. As free-market disciples define it, their 'noble intent' and goal is to protect their privilege, expand their power, and increase their wealth and to exploit unless you insist on regulation - and it is your goal to protect your health.