Posted on September 26, 2014 by Kate Halsall
Sometimes the wonderful world of the internet is hard to take seriously when you’re reading about ways that processed foods are “killing people” whilst at the same time being bombarded by advertisements for low calorie prepared meals which cook in 3 minutes in your microwave! Our food spectrum ranges from 0=“as nature intended” or unprocessed eg eggs and non-treated vegetables; then 1=”minimally processed” eg canned beans, prepared salads, frozen fruit & veg, and nut butter; then right up there to 9=”highly processed” eg cereal bars and pasta bakes; and right to the top with 10=”pure junk food” (which let’s face it should have it’s own category) eg chicken nuggets. We should also throw in “fortified” products whilst we’re here to completely blow your mind, and question where they sit on our food spectrum…one for another time perhaps.
The fact of the matter is that our food is complicated and these days anything which has been altered from its natural state is considered “processed” – and the degree of processing varies. In a perfect world we would only buy locally grown, pesticide-free and grass-fed produce and then cook everything from scratch. And whilst common sense (and a lot of our previous blogs) says to avoid obvious high fat, high calorie, high sugar, processed foods like crisps, biscuits, oven chips and ready meals; common sense also needs to recognise that there are some processed foods that we do promote:
Canned Pulses: preserving a food stuff in an air tight container means processing. In some instances the process can subject the contents to high heat and therefore remove some of the nutrients. However, as long as the pulses are just in water and nothing additional has been added to them (sodium, stabilisers or sugar), these are a quick alternative to dried pulses.
Milk: to be pasteurized and homogenized means processing. But we overlook this because of the health benefits of milk and the key nutrients such as calcium, vitamin B-12 and protein that we get from it.
Frozen Fruit & Vegetables: Frozen immediately after harvesting with no added anything, means that this form of processing actually locks in most of the vitamins and minerals.
Nut Butter: roasted and ground until smooth and creamy means processing. But the natural types of nut butter with no added salt or fats mean a low carb, high protein and high good fat snack.
In a nutshell (excuse the pun), we need to remember to look at the bigger picture. As always we advocate a mixed, varied and balanced diet. We want you to eat clean for the sake of your health, not just for your diet goals.
I’m going to end on a lovely quote I found from one website “If a box, bag or jar needs to tell you its contents are healthful, they’re more likely to simply be less bad than actually good for you.”
Further Reading:
http://authoritynutrition.com/9-ways-that-processed-foods-are-killing-people/
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/07/10/are-there-really-healthier-processed-foods
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442471055