Who doesn’t eat processed foods? Almost all the foods we eat undergo some
processing. Bread is processed, crackers
are processed. Real cow’s milk is pasteurized
to kill some bacteria and is fortified with vitamin D. But highly processed foods have many
nutrients and fiber removed. Now many
health professionals are talking about ultra-processed foods.
Is some processing of foods needed?
Yes. As noted, cow’s
milk is pasteurized
to kill harmful bacteria. They also add vitamin
D to milk which is a good thing. Some
foods are frozen, like frozen vegetables and frozen fruit to prolong shelf
life. Grains are processed to make
bread, crackers, cereal.
What type of food processing is not good for our
health?
You may have heard of refined grains. All grains start out healthy as whole
grains. Then many grains are refined,
which removes one or more parts of the grain.
White flour and white rice are both refined because they have the
healthiest parts of the grain removed, the bran and the germ. This refining process also removes more than
half of the nutrients in the grain and most of the fiber. Since so many nutrients are removed, the
government recommended adding some B vitamins and the mineral, iron, back. You will see “enriched” on the package as
these refined grains have some, but only some of the vitamins and only on
mineral added back.
Have you heard people say, “bread makes me fat”? Interesting as when they make white bread and
white rice, the refining process creates a more easily digested starch. And some studies have shown that this can increase
your risk for gaining weight and increase your risk of type 2 diabetes. However, eating whole
grains like whole grain bread and brown rice, not only doesn’t increase
weight gain, it helps lower your risk of gaining weight. Other studies
have found that eating whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, and whole grain
breads can even help “fight your belly fat bulge” and lower your risk for heart
disease. (See, Why
Ultra-Processed Foods are Bad for Your Waist Line.)
Processing of foods can be bad for our health when the processing,
like refining grains, removes vitamins, minerals, fiber and even removes antioxidants. Not only that, but many processed foods often
have added sugars, salt and saturated fat.
What are ultra-processed foods?
Many of us have too much processed foods in our diet, now we
can add ultra-processed
foods to the mix. NIH notes that
it isn’t just how foods are processed but what else is added to the foods. Ultra-processed foods often have added sugar,
added salt, added fat, things like hydrolyzed protein, starches, artificial coloring,
flavoring, emulsifiers, and other chemicals.
The BMJ notes
“ultra-processed foods include packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks,
sugary cereals, ready meals containing food additives, dehydrated vegetable
soups, and reconstituted meat and fish products – often containing high levels
of added sugar, fat, and/or salt, but lacking in vitamins and fibre [sic].”
Confused about reconstituted meat? Think about those lunch packs for kids with
the “meat” slices and not real cheese but a cheese product. Harvard Health
has an interesting chart by a dietitian, Katherine D. McManus, that provides
examples of minimally processed, processed, and ultra-processed foods.
|
Minimally |
Processed |
Ultra-Processed |
|
Corn |
Canned Corn |
Corn Chips |
|
Apple |
Apple Juice |
Apple Pie |
|
Potato |
Baked Potato |
French fries |
|
Carrot |
Carrot juice |
Carrot Cake |
|
Wheat |
Flour |
Cookies |
(Chart from Harvard
Health Blog,
2020)
Most of us, including my family, eat ultra-processed
foods. Who doesn’t enjoy some pie, chips,
cake or cookies? But some people have
entire meals of ultra-processed foods – fries, reconstituted meat, cheese
products, not real cheese and then enjoy their ultra-processed dessert. Some students in my classes have no fruits or
vegetables in their diet except for French fries. Consumer
Reports states, “About 60 percent of Americans’ total daily calories come
from ultra-processed food…”. Focusing
one’s diet on more fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and whole grains like oatmeal,
whole grain bread, quinoa can help one cut back on ultra-processed foods. And make more foods at home. When you bake at home, you can make cookies,
cakes and other desserts without the artificial preservatives or the artificial
colorings found in store bought bakery items.
WebMD
has some ideas for adding whole grains to your meals and snacks:
- Snack on whole grain cereal like any General
Mills cereal. A great way to add whole
grains to a kid’s day. - Use some whole grain flour or oatmeal when
making cookies. Try the oatmeal chocolate
chip cookie recipe on the oatmeal box. Another
way to sneak some whole grains into your kid’s day. - Chips – choose some whole grain chips like Sun
Chips. - Popcorn – whole grain and a great snack
Below are some suggestions for avoiding ultra-processed foods and eating more whole foods (list adapted
from Consumer Reports):
- Focus on unprocessed foods like fresh fruit,
fresh vegetables, real cow’s milk, eggs, meat, poultry, seafood, yogurt, real
100% juice, water. - Read the ingredients and look for coloring (e.g.
yellow No. 5), artificial flavors, or ingredients you don’t know like potassium
benzoate added as preservatives. (The next
time you are in a grocery store, compare the ingredients in Sunny D to the
ingredients in 100% orange juice.) - Make it yourself – make your own cookies, your
own salad dressing, your own protein shake, smoothie. - Shopping at the grocery store – the healthiest
foods are around the perimeter of the store (except the bakery). Think produce, meats, and dairy. But frozen fruits, vegetables, meats are also
a healthy choice. - Skip the artificial creams and sweeteners for
your coffee or tea. Most are loaded with
added sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Use real milk, even whole milk, instead of the
fake creams. - Snacks – plan your snacks. Running errands? Take some healthy snacks with you. Plan healthy snacks for your break at work. You
will be less tempted by the vending machine if you brought your own snack from
home. - Pack your lunch – even if working from home,
learning from home, take the time to pack or at least plan your lunch. Be sure to include all 5 food groups in your
lunch.
How can you eat more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and
nuts this week?
 |
| Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and choose whole foods. |
Sources: pasteurized
, starch , whole
grains , studies
, Why
Ultra-Processed Foods are Bad for Your Waist Line , ultra-processed
, NIH , notes
, Health
, Blog
, Consumer
Reports, WebMD Image Sources: foods ,
Processed
, Whole
foods
source https://betterweightloss.info/processed-foods-and-your-health/
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