"Processed" food - Definition? Do you avoid? Pro's and Con's

Stripeness

I don't really have a working definition of processed myself. I believe what most people are referring to is frozen dinner type stuff, fast food, etc…

Personally, I eat some processed foods and not really see what the big deal is. I think if you follow the 80/20 rule…80% healthy/20% whatever the hell you want rule that you will be fine…

in - to get about four million different definitions of what processed is and why OP should eat Paleo...

This! *grabs popcorn*

Mof3wc

When I think "processed" I think of things that have a ton of ingredients in them, things like kraft dinner, premade chicken nuggets, microwave dinners, hamburger helper, frozen pizzas, fruit loops, candy/Chips/pop, Oreos, poptarts etc.

And we do avoid them, but because we have to. I have one child anaphylactic to peanuts, 2 of us are celiac and I have a lot of food intolerances due to an autoimmune disease. So most "processed" foods can't be eaten by us anyway. I always joke that "If it looks tasty, I can't eat it". I would do anything for a bowl of fruit loops lol.

fruttibiscotti

For me, processed food is something that no longer resembles it's original plant, animal or mineral origin.

I avoid/minimize processed food because I like to ensure quality of ingredients, and I personally love to cook. I'm guessing that processed food will increase the levels of preservatives in your diet, which I don't think is healthy.

XxmeetmydedicationxX

1) In my opinion, "processed" food is any type of food that is made for convenience sake. Stuff that we COULD easily make ourselves, but find it easier to buy it in a premade state. ex) cookies, granola bars, frozen dinners and even bread like a previous poster had mentioned.
But that's just my thoughts on it, everyone has a different definition of what they perceive "processed" to be.

2) I don't think it's necessary to completely avoid processed food. I think demonizing types of food and restricting them at all costs is a negative way to view things. Personally, I view full restriction of food types & 100% avoidance as a negative relationship with food.

That being said, I do try to limit the amount of processed foods that I eat. When I do eat them, I try to find the ones that give me the most satisfaction for the amount of calories they have. (things that won't leave me hungry and miserable after 500 cals worth lol)

3) PROS- Super fast and convenient. Most people don't have time to make everything from scratch. As a university student, I know I don't have time to make my own protein bars or make my own hummus (even though there's tons of recipes out there)

-Finding the calorie counts/macros is easy to do. No calculations or anything involved, you just look on the packet and log for the most part!

-Sometimes... they're just so freaking delicious. I mean, I could make my own protein bars at home.. but there's a 50/50 chance they would taste disgusting or not turn out like the recipe. Also, I could "make" Reese pb cups at home, but they wouldn't be HALF as yummy :laugh:


CONS - Sometimes processed foods have false calorie counts on the labels. Apparently, there's a 20% margin of error that's allowed with packaging... and if you're eating ALL your cals in processed foods, that's definitely going to add up eventually if there's a 150 cal difference here and a 150 cal difference there.

-Sometimes they leave you hangry after a large amount of calories and may be very calorie dense. Ex. a cereal like Lucky Charms. Even after a HEAPING bowl that's probably 700 cals worth, I'll be hungry 30 minutes later. It's not really worth it IMHO

-The sodium levels can be off the charts!! (especially with the frozen dinners) It's not too big of an issue for me since I don't have any major health concerns, but I tend to have water retention with high sodium foods & that's not fun for me.


Moral of the story: Everything in moderation!!!!!