When nutritionists refer to processed foods, they're typically referring to products that are heavily modified and contain a long list of ingredients, including many snack foods, sweets, frozen prepared foods, sugary drinks, and packaged meats.
These foods have minimal nutritional value. On average, processing usually removes 50 – 80% of nutrients from a food. Avoiding processed foods will improve how you look and feel and lead to lasting weight loss. Even better - you may reduce or completely eliminate symptoms associated with common health disorders.
I actually read somewhere that the FDA allows calorie flucations up to 200 calories on prepackaged meals. This means something that is marked as low cal at 290 calories may be closer to 490! So not only are you eating less and are hungry more, you are adding in calories you didn't even know about! I think this is the same for fast food as well.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I had a vague idea of what processed food specifically was but this cleared it up, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBe careful with processed foods. They are chemically made to make us crave them, which increases our dependency and consumption.
ReplyDeleteI don't think avoiding all processed foods is possible.
ReplyDeleteBrian, I think it is possible when we want it more than anything else. It's a matter of choice that we make every single day.
DeleteThe term "processed food" refers to those foods that are chemically processed and made from heavily refined ingredients and artificial additives. The solution to improving your health is often as simple as swapping processed foods for real food. Yes, it is quite possible, and manageable, to painlessly remove processed foods from your diet. Ditching processed foods requires that you plan what you will be eating in advance.
ReplyDeleteAll food is processed, to some extent.The question should be: what makes a food too processed?
ReplyDeleteSo many foods are processed. It's so hard to steer clear of it.
ReplyDeleteWe need to start accepting the reality that a lot of what we eat are unhealthy. Stop making excuses. If you really want it, you'll see it's actually possible to survive without process foods.
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