Fresh vs Processed Food

In some societies people go to their local markets and shop for fresh food each and every day. This is unfortunately not the case for most of us in North America. Many foods are only available in season and people often live too far from farmers markets to shop for food on a daily basis. We live a busy life and people often don’t find time to sit down for a proper meal, let alone prepare it. The manufacturers of processed foods are more than happy to offer convenience foods that are easy to prepare as well as snacks of all kinds to suit our fast- paced modern lifestyle. Not all of these foods are necessarily bad for you. Frozen fruit and vegetables offer fairly good options to fresh food and are also a bit less time consuming to prepare.

Health Conce s About Processed Foods

The majority of processed food contains large amounts of added salt, fats, and sugar that are very problematic when consumed on a daily basis. A large part of the typical American food budget is spent on foods that are filled with additives and stripped of nutrients during processing. A typical label lists a number of ingredients that include sweeteners, salts, artificial flavors, altered fats, colorings, texturizers and preservatives. What you won’t see on the label is what has been taken out of the food during processing. These foods are usually stripped of soluble fiber, antioxidants and natural fats. Even if the additives were not a cause for concern, the resulting damage to your health from eating all the added salt, sugar and trans fat is a major conce and it’s reason enough to avoid processed food as much as possible.

What Happens When You Eat Too Much Salt

Some sodium occurs naturally in foods like milk, vegetables and even in some drinking water. Some sodium is necessary for life and we need a little in our diet to replace what’s been eliminated in sweat and tears etc. But when we eat too much salt, our body retains fluid in order to dilute the extra salt in the bloodstream. This increases blood volume and forces the heart to work harder while at the same time making the veins and arteries constrict. The combined action raises your blood pressure, which is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease. Three-quarters of the salt in our diet comes from processed foods like: • canned soups and vegetables • condiments like soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce • cured or preserved meats like bacon and cold cuts • fast foods like pizza, burgers and fries.

HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

High-fructose corn syrup is sweeter to the taste than other sweeteners. It is used in many products because it’s cheaper to produce and it mixes more easily with other ingredients than other sugars do. Each American consumes an average of 60 pounds of HFCS per year in drinks, sweets and other products. It is used in bread because it gives it a soft texture and an inviting brown color. It is found in all sorts of foods and condiments ranging from beer and soft drinks to ketchup and many sauces. Research shows that it upsets our metabolism and raises the risk for heart disease and diabetes. HFCS encourages overeating and it forces the liver to pump more heart-threatening triglycerides into the bloodstream. Over consumption can trigger body-wide inflammation and obesity. On food labels, high fructose corn syrup is also called corn sweetener, corn syrup, or corn syrup solids on food labels.

Are Trans Fats Bad

We’ve all seen the commercials on TV aimed at convincing us that margarine is a cheap and heart-friendly replacement for butter, lard or coconut oil. In reality, trans fat has been denounced by many nutrition experts as being twice as dangerous for your heart as the saturated fat found in butter and it is suspected of causing premature deaths from heart disease every year. Research has shown that trans fat is in fact the most dangerous type of fat in your diet. In addition to hardening arteries, it raises the ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and lowers the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol in the blood which increases the risk of heart disease. It may also increase the risk of diabetes.

Benefits Of Eating Whole Foods

Whole foods and organic food might cost a bit more but it’s the only way to get a healthy diet. By shopping wisely, you can have more money available for good food. For example, you would pay more for a small pre-packaged rice mix than you would for a larger bag of healthy brown rice. The money you save by shopping wisely can be better spent on fresh produce and organic food. The key to a healthy diet is eating a variety of foods and eating wholesome, home cooked meals. It’s not necessary to get too caught up in the details. Just make sure to eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and some whole grains along with pastured meats. It’s simple and it’s the best way to be sure you're getting all the nutrients you need.