What are processed foods and why are they bad?
In: 59
“Processed foods” is a marketing term.
They are “bad” because they are less expensive than marketable alternatives.
… that’s the cynical view.
In general processed foods refers to foods which have undergone considerable transformation from their “natural” state, like bread flour which has been refined, bleached, has nutrients added back, etc., to provide a consistent and nutrient dense product.
The “processed foods are bad” generally stems from marketing to that effect, but is expanded from a subset of foods that are pretty unhealthy especially consumed daily, like sugary sodas.
Who’s marketing that “all processed foods are bad”? Well, health food companies that want to sell you the exact same products, which are cheaper to manufacture cause they involve less “processing”, but cost several times as much.
The reality is most of the health benefits of “unprocessed” foods are not studied at all, and the claims of being healthier or worse for you have to be examined on a case by case basis.
However there’s a few good rules of thumbs regardless of the source being “processed” or “raw” or “healthy”:
1. Anything with large quantities of added sugar (e.g. 10g+) is not going to be healthy except in small amounts, rarely. And that doesn’t mean a different sugary product each day of the week.
2. Anything involving extremely high sodium and deep-fat-frying, especially frozen products (also most restaurants), is not going to be healthy, and again should only be consumed rarely.
3. Any products that involve nutrient replacement, like common white bread, most children’s breakfast cereals, and others, are probably empty calories and should just be avoided. Nutrient replacement generally is just marketing, and our bodies do much better with full spectrums of nutrients found in foods.
Latest Answers