Last week I wrote about how I lost 11lbs in roughly two weeks back in 2003 without a restrictive diet and consuming nothing but fresh, minimally processed/unprocessed foods while on vacation—and if you recall, I ate everything. Crazy right? I still can't believe it sometimes. This week I had planned on writing about a particular overly processed food we've replaced at home, however, since writing that last post I’ve had a lot of conversations with many friends and family members about processed foods and I was surprised to learn that many of those individuals needed further explanation as to what processed foods are. So, in this post I will try to give you a quick rundown.
What does it mean when a food is processed?
A food is considered processed when it is altered from its natural state to create a new food item. For example, potatoes are altered to create small round hash brown-like puffs, potato chips and French fries; beef, chicken and pork parts are altered to create hot dogs and deli meats; and chicken is used to create chicken nuggets and patties. Many times, in order to create these “new food items," additional ingredients or food additives are added—sometimes a multitude of them. They are added to enhance flavor, texture, color, and to preserve food. Although the examples of processed foods listed above are among the unhealthiest you can eat, not all processed foods are bad for you.
Healthy processed foods
Milk is processed, but it’s healthy. It’s been taken from its raw milk state and pasteurized for safety concerns. Plain, white, unflavored milk is a good source of vitamin D—a nutrient that is a known immune booster and great for bone health. (Notice how I say “plain,” and “unflavored”). Frozen produce is also a healthy processed food. When fruits and veggies are frozen, they retain all of their nutrients. In fact, frozen veggies and fruits may actually be healthier than the fresh choices you have at your local grocery store because they’ve been frozen at the peak of their ripeness when they contain optimal levels of nutrients—as opposed to their fresh counterparts that are picked before they are fully ripened and many times shipped halfway across the country or at times from other countries. Surprised? I was. Frozen better than fresh—who knew? Pasta is considered processed as well, but it’s not entirely bad for you, especially if you’re an endurance athlete—it may be beneficial to your performance.
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Unhealthy processed foods
It’s not hard to distinguish the good processed foods from the bad. Pick up any food item and look on the back at the nutritional information and ingredients. If it’s got loads of sugar, salt, saturated fat, and a long list of ingredients that are unpronounceable and/or seem to require an advanced science degree to decipher, than there’s a pretty good chance it’s unhealthy.
In addition to the potato puffs, chips, hot dogs and nuggets listed above as unhealthy processed foods, you can also add soft drinks; sugary breakfast cereals; canned soups or vegetables that contain very high levels of sodium; anything made with refined white flour; anything high in saturated fat; foods high in cholesterol and highly caloric rich foods like cookies, snack cakes, and other salt and sugary junk foods—just to name a few. Even a seemingly healthy beverage such as a graphically-appealing and well-marketed bottle of iced green tea drink—with its long list of artificial sweeteners, colors, preservatives, flavor enhancers and protectors—can counterbalance all the goodness green tea has to offer. And lastly, remember how I specified “plain,” and “unflavored” white milk above as healthy? Well, add coloring, flavors and 25 grams worth of high fructose corn syrup to an 8 oz serving (or a half pint) of your child’s school milk and you have a different story—it becomes more harmful than a soft drink. So, plain milk—healthy. Flavored milk like strawberry or chocolate—not healthy.
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What’s the big deal? Why are processed foods unhealthy?
The unhealthiest processed foods are jam packed with food additives such as artificial coloring and flavors, preservatives, fillers, emulsifiers, stabilizers, loads of artificial sweeteners and more. As I read up on the subject of processed foods, I’ve learned that a diet with a high concentration of these additives may contribute to numerous diet-related diseases such as heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. Some additives are also known to cause headaches, nausea, digestive issues, numbness, asthma, lethargy, hyperactivity, difficulty in concentrating, and hives. Although not everyone will have these food additive sensitivities found in processed foods, it does happen more often than you think. I can tell you from personal experience that my husband and I both get severe headaches when we consume a food product with monosodium glutamate or MSG—one of 3,000 additives added to foods today. It acts as a food enhancer and is found in many processed foods such as processed meats, frozen foods, soups and many fast food items at the most popular fast food chains in the U.S.
Bottom line—What can you do if you truly care about what you eat?
If you are concerned about the additional ingredients in a food and how it may affect your health, get to know your food—period. Educate yourself on where it comes from, how it’s processed and what it contains. Make it a habit to read the list of ingredients and know what you and your family are really eating. I know it can be an overwhelming task but if you take one or two food items you regularly purchase per week and do just 20 minutes worth of online research, you’ll find out that the food you and your family eat on a regular basis may not be as healthy as you might think. I started doing this at the beginning of the year and have replaced numerous foods that we normally ate with healthier versions. We now try to keep it simple and choose whole natural foods instead of the overly processed choices whenever possible, all the while teaching my young son why we are making these changes.
There is so much more information on the topic of processed foods and I've barely touched the tip of the iceberg here. Below are two articles among many if you wish to learn more.
All the Health Risks of Processed Foods—In Just a Few Quick, Convenient Bites
And if the above links don’t make you think twice about processed foods, please take a few minutes to view Jamie Oliver’s award-winning* TED talk with a powerful message on educating our children about how to make better nutritional choices at home and at school.
