When it comes to foods people eat on an everyday basis, chances are the average consumer will have a good amount of processed food in their possession. While processing food does not necessarily make it unhealthy, there are methods of processing that certain foods undergo which actually do make them unhealthier to consume. This blog post covers a few processed foods found to be unhealthy, explains the features of the process that makes them unhealthy, and how you can avoid these foods and incorporate other foods into your diet.

When referring to processed foods, we usually like to think about prepackaged meat products due to their prevalence in places that sell food products. While this is true, “processed foods” is actually an umbrella term that applies to any food that has undergone some form of processing before being put on shelves. The NHS of the United Kingdom lists some forms of processing, including freezing, canning, baking, and drying. Processing foods can serve different purposes, such as to make foods taste better, change their texture or color, or to improve shelf life so they are sold for longer periods of time. Amy Smith of Medical News Today talks about the difference between mechanical processing (grinding, heating, pasteurizing) and chemical processing (added chemical flavoring agents, colors, sweeteners), noting that mechanical processing does not necessarily make foods unhealthier.

Not all forms of processing are intrinsically harmful to our health. Pasteurization is an example of this, as it extends the shelf life of certain foods and even eliminates pathogens. However, there are certainly processed foods to look out for that present more harm to our bodies than benefit. The additives used in chemical processing, mentioned earlier by Smith, are often times extremely refined or artificial and add little to no nutritional value. She calls foods that are chemically processed “ultra-processed foods,” and notes that they tend to be inexpensive and taste good most of the time. Such foods can include frozen meals, chips and other snacks, packaged bread, cereals, sodas, and other foods that can be prepared relatively fast. These foods usually contain high amounts of unhealthy additives such as saturated fat, added sugars, and high salt content while having very little nutritional value. Said additives, consumed in excess, can cause a variety of long-term health problems, including high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure to name a few. Smith also referenced a study done by scientists at the BMJ on over 100,000 adults, which found that eating 10% more ultra-processed foods was associated with a 10% increase in the risk of acquiring certain heart diseases due to the high fat and cholesterol content of said foods. Some ingredients to look out for in processed foods include high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, high carbohydrate count, high calorie count, high saturated fat, any level of trans fats, and low counts of nutrients or fiber. While processed foods are okay to consume once in a while, it is important for the individual to look for foods with high nutritional value (vitamins, protein, fiber, iron, calcium, etc.) to counter said foods to ensure they are getting the nutrients they need in a meal.

To reiterate, while not all processed foods are innately harmful to our health, there are certain forms of processing that provide no nutritional value, and can even add ingredients that pose a detriment to our health on top of the low nutritional value of the foods being processed. It’s always essential to be careful with what you eat, as many of us tend not to pay attention to the value of what we’re consuming. Looking past the high availability of processed foods can help open our eyes to healthier products that do much more good for our health than what we’re used to consuming.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/what-are-processed-foods/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318630#nutrients

https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1451

When people hear the phrase “Going on a diet” in most cases people set the bar too high for themselves which sets them up to fail causing there to be a negative connotation on diets. Many people believe that diets are just to gain and lose weight or to get into a certain shape but that should not be the case. A diet is a lifestyle that one follows and eats habitually so for that reason there’s a great emphasis on having a balanced diet.

Food and Health

Over the years there have been greater connections between the food you eat and the person you are, having a healthy diet has many beneficial aspects that some people are unaware of such as providing more energy throughout the day, improving your health as well as boosting your mood. Your diet also has a direct correlation to your physique and like me more people want to get in shape. More important than exercise is your diet which has a tremendous effect on your weight and also directly correlated to many other health issues such as being prone to infections diseases as well as quickly getting exhausted after an activity. These issues alongside high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke and more are faced by many people and your diet have a great impact on them.

Portion Control

Many individuals forget that large quantities of processed foods are unhealthy and improper serving sizes of healthy foods are not beneficial either. The CDC reported that about 60% of American’s diets come from processed foods. Foods that contain preservatives, dyes, come inside of a can, have high sugar or sodium counts should be limited in an individual’s diet. For this reason anything important to understand what is considered a balanced diet, a balanced diet can be different for everyone but in general there are certain food groups that have to be included such as vegetables, fruits, grains, proteins as well as dairy products. It is important to understand that even when eating healthy foods you must eat in moderation. That is why it is called the balanced diet; you must find the right balance for yourself. Your body needs a certain amount of nutrients and calories to function properly so it is important to understand how much food from each food group you should eat for example a typical balanced diet contains up to 50 to 60% carbohydrate while only 12 to 20% protein and 30% fat. Understanding this it’s very important for creating your own balanced diet to improve your life.

Starting Your Own Diet

When creating a diet you must understand that you have limitations so try to create a diet which you know you can follow and is nutritious. Diets can also be a meal plan that does not have to be strict but is beneficial to the consumer and can be very easy to follow for some people. You should try to create your own diet instead of trying to follow some popularized diet online like the California diet or the Beachbody diet which falls in the category of fat diet which has outlandish claims but in reality does more harm to your body and then helps. These are the diets that create the negative connotations and for this reason it is best to create your own personalized diet that you know you would follow and are comfortable with. Dieting does not have to have a negative reputation. We should look at dieting as a fun way to careful choose color meals for you and the family to create a balanced diet which is the cornerstone of a healthy and happy life.

When it comes to foods people eat on an everyday basis, chances are the average consumer will have a good amount of processed food in their possession. The term “processed foods” refers to any food items that have been altered in some way during the production process. Most foods sold on a commercial level have undergone some form of processing, whether it be freezing, canning, or baking. While processing food does not necessarily make it unhealthy, there are methods of processing that certain foods undergo which actually do make them unhealthier to consume. This blog post covers a few processed foods found to be unhealthy, explains the features of the process that makes them unhealthy, and how you can avoid these foods and incorporate other foods into your diet.