Processed Foods
Replies
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What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
Well people actually haven't been eating processed food for years and if you have noticed within the last 50 years heart disease, cancer, and many other disease have gone up as well. The problem with processed food is that it is very low in nutritional value, a lot of the chemicals can have long term health affects, plus your body really doesn't know what to do with it....it looks at as a foreign substance.
I know sometimes people focus on cutting calories and that wil work for a bit, but in the long run you inevitably hit a plateau because your body just won't function as affectively. If you like message me and I will send you some info on what some of the common ingredients in processed food do to the body.0 -
What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
Well people actually haven't been eating processed food for years and if you have noticed within the last 50 years heart disease, cancer, and many other disease have gone up as well. The problem with processed food is that it is very low in nutritional value, a lot of the chemicals can have long term health affects, plus your body really doesn't know what to do with it....it looks at as a foreign substance.
I know sometimes people focus on cutting calories and that wil work for a bit, but in the long run you inevitably hit a plateau because your body just won't function as affectively. If you like message me and I will send you some info on what some of the common ingredients in processed food do to the body.
Yup things like oils, butter, pickled foods, salt cured foods etc have only been eaten over the last 50 yrs, lol
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1. "Captain Tight" is right!
2. For a long time I lived on "calories in/ calories out" ...I lost weight and maintained it for a long period of time (the better part of 20 yrs). BUT:
3. As much as I worked out, I was not getting the results I wanted. Yes I'm 5'7" and my weight has been between 132 and 138 consistently since 1996 when I took off failed pregnancy weight...And my abs looked great and I was younger then so I didn't see why I had to do all this tootie-fruity tofu stuff til...
4. It really hit home last year that while the top part of me looked like I worked out, my legs were flabby from extra skin and cottage cheese from my inseam down to my knees. I couldn't accept that they would stay like that and did lots of research on the internet and figured I'd give cleaner (not totally but slow small changes are adding up) eating a try...
5. Between ChaLEAN Extreme and cleaner eating the cottage cheese is smoothing out after 20 yrs of feeling hopeless and helpless! The cleaner I eat, and then I have a cheat day or cheat meal, the worse I feel afterward. Between Shakeology and cleaner eating I have so much more energy, less headaches, my monthly sinus infections that came on right before the other monthly thingy magically went away and everything just works better.
I'm slowly becoming more and more convinced of the whole eating clean strategy. We were designed to eat real food, from farms, gardens..not from General Mills test tubes. And these diet foods from GNC, Special K, Atkins, et al? COMPLETE SLOP DESIGNED TO KEEP PPL OBESE AND UNHEALTHY! Then they never lose their customer base! If you eat enough foods with artificial flavoring, you really do forget what REAL FOOD tastes like!
So really it's up to you...hope you have medical insurance to pay for all the docs and meds you may be on later in life b/c of the processed foods, whether or not you effectively manage your weight. My dad is the FIRST adult-onset diabetes case I've EVER seen that was not caused by obesity!! How is that possible?? Even though he effectively managed his weight (obesity runs wild in both sides of my family) he still has a hankering for processed foods, now so-called sugar free and "healthier" ones after his triple bypass and abdominal aortic aneurysm and he still exercises at 68 yrs old and all of the surgeries, but now has Sugar Free Tasty Kakes and Egg Beaters rather than plain ole Egg Whites. I was RAISED on processed junk food and am slowly going back to real food. I'm celebrating my 40th birthday in August riding roller coasters at Hershey Park and have never felt better in my life!
FYI Shakeology is super processed and is not "clean"
Well I agree with you. The older version of shakeology is processed and a lot of the vitamins are synthetically made. The newer one thankfully removed the synthetic vitamins and the recipe is different.0 -
What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
Well people actually haven't been eating processed food for years and if you have noticed within the last 50 years heart disease, cancer, and many other disease have gone up as well. The problem with processed food is that it is very low in nutritional value, a lot of the chemicals can have long term health affects, plus your body really doesn't know what to do with it....it looks at as a foreign substance.
I know sometimes people focus on cutting calories and that wil work for a bit, but in the long run you inevitably hit a plateau because your body just won't function as affectively. If you like message me and I will send you some info on what some of the common ingredients in processed food do to the body.
diseases have jumped in the last 50 years because people got fat. people got fat because people quit moving. not because they invented pop tarts.0 -
The problem is that most processed foods don't contain most of the original nutrients from the food in it's natural state. Added synthetic vitamins are not really that great, plus you don't get the antioxidants that come from natural foods. Additionally, processed foods have added salt/fat and chemicals to keep them on the shelf longer and they are usually very calorie dense and low in fiber, so they are easy to overeat on.0
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1. "Captain Tight" is right!
2. For a long time I lived on "calories in/ calories out" ...I lost weight and maintained it for a long period of time (the better part of 20 yrs). BUT:
3. As much as I worked out, I was not getting the results I wanted. Yes I'm 5'7" and my weight has been between 132 and 138 consistently since 1996 when I took off failed pregnancy weight...And my abs looked great and I was younger then so I didn't see why I had to do all this tootie-fruity tofu stuff til...
4. It really hit home last year that while the top part of me looked like I worked out, my legs were flabby from extra skin and cottage cheese from my inseam down to my knees. I couldn't accept that they would stay like that and did lots of research on the internet and figured I'd give cleaner (not totally but slow small changes are adding up) eating a try...
5. Between ChaLEAN Extreme and cleaner eating the cottage cheese is smoothing out after 20 yrs of feeling hopeless and helpless! The cleaner I eat, and then I have a cheat day or cheat meal, the worse I feel afterward. Between Shakeology and cleaner eating I have so much more energy, less headaches, my monthly sinus infections that came on right before the other monthly thingy magically went away and everything just works better.
I'm slowly becoming more and more convinced of the whole eating clean strategy. We were designed to eat real food, from farms, gardens..not from General Mills test tubes. And these diet foods from GNC, Special K, Atkins, et al? COMPLETE SLOP DESIGNED TO KEEP PPL OBESE AND UNHEALTHY! Then they never lose their customer base! If you eat enough foods with artificial flavoring, you really do forget what REAL FOOD tastes like!
So really it's up to you...hope you have medical insurance to pay for all the docs and meds you may be on later in life b/c of the processed foods, whether or not you effectively manage your weight. My dad is the FIRST adult-onset diabetes case I've EVER seen that was not caused by obesity!! How is that possible?? Even though he effectively managed his weight (obesity runs wild in both sides of my family) he still has a hankering for processed foods, now so-called sugar free and "healthier" ones after his triple bypass and abdominal aortic aneurysm and he still exercises at 68 yrs old and all of the surgeries, but now has Sugar Free Tasty Kakes and Egg Beaters rather than plain ole Egg Whites. I was RAISED on processed junk food and am slowly going back to real food. I'm celebrating my 40th birthday in August riding roller coasters at Hershey Park and have never felt better in my life!
FYI Shakeology is super processed and is not "clean"
Well I agree with you. The older version of shakeology is processed and a lot of the vitamins are synthetically made. The newer one thankfully removed the synthetic vitamins and the recipe is different.
Shakeolgy is super processed regardless unless they found protein powder and powdered and flavored ingredients in nature0 -
If you're still managing to lose weight while eating processed foods (being calorie deficit) that's great if losing weight is what you're after.
The biggest problem with processed foods is that they just aren't healthy food you. Empty calories in other words. They are usually not nutrient dense and make it harder for you to achieve your recommended daily intake of vitamins. A prolonged diet of high saturated fats and salts and lead to a lot of major health concerns like hypertension and heart disease.
Like one of the other users noted, it's okay once in a while but if it is every day as you say, I would be looking to slowly start changing your diet. Whether that be by setting aside one day per week to prepare all of your food for the week ahead so that when you are on the run, you can just grab it. There are lots of neat tricks like preparing smoothies in sandwich bags and freezing them for when you need it, or putting portions of salads in containers etc.
I hope this helps you
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Sounds more like you're referring to FAST FOOD here.The biggest problem with processed foods is that they just aren't healthy food you. Empty calories in other words. They are usually not nutrient dense and make it harder for you to achieve your recommended daily intake of vitamins. A prolonged diet of high saturated fats and salts and lead to a lot of major health concerns like hypertension and heart disease.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Condescending? You do realize that your statement has YOU looking down at people that eat "garbage". That's why I made the comment. But obviously you don't see it that way.
Lots of people on here who are healthy and fit eat what you describe as "garbage". Guess us "lowly" folks aren't gonna be as healthy either...................If you don't mind the garbage that's in them....sure then. To each his own.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
wow, how condescending! If you're ok with the chemicals in them, great. I am not, I consider all the add'l stuff garbage, you don't like that, so sorry. But I'm shocked a "fitness trainer" is ok with processed food, interesting. Again, like I said, to each is own.
And if you knew me, then you'd know that on this site and in life I DON'T conform to a lot of what the fitness industry follows. Lots of broscience. If you knew about physiology, like I do, then you'd understand that EVERYTHING is made of chemicals, your body essential is a chemical factory, and is very capable of utilizing whatever you ingest. Some may have allergies or adverse reactions, but the general population (whom are not already stricken with disease) can handle it fine.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Oh snap! I'm in paradise now.:laugh:What happened to my buddy tsh0ck?
hey. sorry. I'm here. was working last night, then picked up some processed food at the store -- did you know that SPAM now comes with bacon?!
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
We probably need to have a good definition of what "processed" means to us in order to have a reasonable discussion. Are things like coconut oil and cheese processed? Are they bad for you?0
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I'm eating my English Muffin in the morning, processed or not.0
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Realize also that in that 50-100 years the average age for death has SIGNIFICANTLY risen mainly due to better health care. Heck, I say eat the processed foods so we don't over crowd the world!!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:I feel sorry for you since you're actually asking what is wrong with processed food.
Processed food has only been around for 50-100 years, that's it whereas natural food as been around since the beginning of time! What do you think your body will like? Natural food which humans have thrived on for thousands of years or processed food which humans have suffered on for what like 50-100 years.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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But so has weight. And ANY physician, endocrinologist, heart doctor, etc. will tell you that HIGH BODY WEIGHT is the number one factor as to why people suffer from disease.What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
Well people actually haven't been eating processed food for years and if you have noticed within the last 50 years heart disease, cancer, and many other disease have gone up as well. The problem with processed food is that it is very low in nutritional value, a lot of the chemicals can have long term health affects, plus your body really doesn't know what to do with it....it looks at as a foreign substance.
I know sometimes people focus on cutting calories and that wil work for a bit, but in the long run you inevitably hit a plateau because your body just won't function as affectively. If you like message me and I will send you some info on what some of the common ingredients in processed food do to the body.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
And here's another thing -- the FDA establishes a "safe" limit on these chemicals, but there's no mechanism to account for the cumulative effect of getting the maximum dose in 12 different products a day.
The FDA also establishes a "safe" limit on insect parts and rodent droppings.....doesn't mean we should eat them.
Just sayin'........0 -
What's wrong with them? Personal opinion but I think they taste like crap. I have a hard time caring what other people put into their bodies, though. You like the taste of them, I'm not going to try to talk you out of them.
This right here. Eat what you want, its your body.
We don't buy much processed foods in our house, I need to know exactly what is going into my body (tons of food intolerances) and i need ot know exactly what is going into my kids bodies. My kids have dairy, soy and nut allergies between them, which cuts out most processed stuff. We can't go out and buy a box of cookies or a frozen pizza, or even frozen chicken nuggets, unless we want him sick and miserable. We do have "safe" foods that we buy, things like bread and bagels, jams, rice crackers, cheerios and applesauce. (no sugar added, Im just too lazy to make it at home. I won't lie)0 -
I like eating Healthy Choice cuz it's good and there's no dehydrated oils in them. Yes they do have a lot of sodium but according to MFP I'm staying within my balance so I don't have a problem with it. I mainly eat those for lunch but I also add some tuna fish or chicken tacos in every once in a while. As long as you stay within your range you should be fine. Just don't eat frozen food for all three meals of the day cuz then that's definitely too much sodium.0
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I cook a lot ahead of time & reheat since I'm so busy. I do still eat processed foods, it just always kills me when I see the sodium content of one item eating up half my sodium allowance for the day! I think the last time I looked most frozen dinners have your whole sodium (2500mg) in one meal. The less salt, the easier it is to lose weight.0
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What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
And we've also had increasing cases of all sorts of cancers (especially cancers in children), infertility, autism spectrum disorders, ADD and AD/HD, etc. While we have been good about identifying harmful chemicals in a lot of environmental situations, food has not been addressed nearly enough. The one thing that has been increasing right along with diagnoses for these diseases/disorders is the amount of processed food we eat.0 -
Don't listen to fear based hoopla.0
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I am currently in day 10 of the 24 day challenge by Advocare. The idea behind this program is to retrain your body to eat clean. however, I must be honest and say once this is over I do not see myself really sticking too it..There are WAY too many things that are "processed" and not part of this diet. I think that being smart about what you eat and eating "junk" in moderation is the best way to go!
The idea behind that program is to promote their products, boost sales, and make money.
Just sayin......0 -
You're right, people have been eating them for decades - approximately five decades - and in that time you could fill a phone book with the list of chronic health conditions that have surfaced.
I'm going to go with this one.0 -
I honestly coul care less what everyone thinks about processed foods, I eat them and have zero health issues. I am way too busy to worry about stuff like this. I cook and use canned, boxed or frozen item (gasp) a well as fresh. But working full time with twin 4 year olds, trying to keep a house clean, workout and spend what little time I have with the family, I use what short cuts I can and still manage to make fairly healthy food choices. I refuse to try to cook a "clean" meal at 8-9 pm. If the items in processed foods bother you, don't eat them. It's that simple but don't judge others cuz they do. You don't live thier life or know their situations.0
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I cook a lot ahead of time & reheat since I'm so busy. I do still eat processed foods, it just always kills me when I see the sodium content of one item eating up half my sodium allowance for the day! I think the last time I looked most frozen dinners have your whole sodium (2500mg) in one meal. The less salt, the easier it is to lose weight.
I don't think I've ever had a frozen meal that had that much sodium in it.0 -
What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
People who eat this stuff, lose weight just as much as people who eat "clean". If your eating at a calorie deficit you will lose weight.
Not true for everyone.
I see some people who can drop weight no problem.. and others hit plateaus for awhile.. and I think this is one reason.
I think that processed foods have evolved over time for maximum shelf life. The more chemicals are marked ok to use by the FDA, the more they get stuck into these foods. I can't eat any of it, or I bloat or gain weight immediately.0 -
I don't think there are any "normal" amounts of artificial additives, as they are not normally found in the food humans have been eating since humans began eating.
That may be true, however, there is "normal" occurrence of botulinum toxin, that things like sodium nitrite can mitigate.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html
I'm all for the freshest possible food, but enjoy things like ham and bacon in moderation (I love a BLT on multi-grain toast - 1 or 2 pieces of bacon, thick tomato slices, piles of fresh spinach, and a little really hot chipotle mayo), but don't have access to livestock and a butcher for fresh sliced bacon (or otherwise nitrate-free, depending where you can shop). I'm philosophically opposed to botulism.
In some cases, and yes your choices and food desires can influence or avoid the necessity of choice in this, some food additives (especially depending on where you live within the chain of food distribution) are probably far less problematic that the alternatives.0 -
That may be true, however, there is "normal" occurrence of botulinum toxin, that things like sodium nitrite can mitigate.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html
I'm all for the freshest possible food, but enjoy things like ham and bacon in moderation (I love a BLT on multi-grain toast - 1 or 2 pieces of bacon, thick tomato slices, piles of fresh spinach, and a little really hot chipotle mayo), but don't have access to livestock and a butcher for fresh sliced bacon (or otherwise nitrate-free, depending where you can shop). I'm philosophically opposed to botulism.
In some cases, and yes your choices and food desires can influence or avoid the necessity of choice in this, some food additives (especially depending on where you live within the chain of food distribution) are probably far less problematic that the alternatives.
I understand this and of course also understand that botulism would be the greater of the two evils here. I guess I don't find it that difficult to avoid cured meat as I don't each much and Lancaster (with all its Amish) is an hour or so away. However I am Italian and every once in awhile -- like once a year -- I enjoy some really excellent, old style cured salami, without worrying about how exactly it was cured. That is what "moderation" means to me.
Like I've said before, my diet is not 100% free of heavily processed food, but it almost is. It's the attitude that "there's nothing wrong" that irks me, but . . . oh well :P0 -
Wow. The armchair scientist that confuses minerals for chemicals is not very enlightening; and the fitness guru who promotes processed junk foods doesn't seem very impressive.
I certainly hope those new in the health and fitness realm take some of these comments/opinions with a grain of salt and conduct their own research. NIH is a great website for resources. Anything wiki, not so much.
Everyone is different. There are some people who love to eat processed/junk food, but must work harder to keep off the pounds if they are watching their weight. If there are those out there who want to simply eat healthier, then processed/junk foods are not advisable for daily intake.
Also know that unless a person presents specific certifications, certified personal trainers may not be registered dietitians, and registered dietitians may not be certified personal trainers.0 -
If you only knew what you breathed...................And here's another thing -- the FDA establishes a "safe" limit on these chemicals, but there's no mechanism to account for the cumulative effect of getting the maximum dose in 12 different products a day.
The FDA also establishes a "safe" limit on insect parts and rodent droppings.....doesn't mean we should eat them.
Just sayin'........
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Let's be fair here though. My parents are both in the medical field and information they got was directly from patients records and not the media. We hear more now than we did before. Like when the only way we heard of a missing child was on a milk carton, now you can just google it and thousands come up. "Hyperactivity" before is now more likely diagnosed as ADD and AD/HD. Infertility also has a lot to do with overall health and not just chemicals.What's really wrong with them? People have been eating them for decades. I understand that the salt content may be high, but i you drink enough water, shouldn't it be ok? What happens if you have a busy lifestyle, and all you can grab are the processed frozen dinners / snacks? Just confused.
And we've also had increasing cases of all sorts of cancers (especially cancers in children), infertility, autism spectrum disorders, ADD and AD/HD, etc. While we have been good about identifying harmful chemicals in a lot of environmental situations, food has not been addressed nearly enough. The one thing that has been increasing right along with diagnoses for these diseases/disorders is the amount of processed food we eat.
Correlation isn't causation, but I won't discount that there is A LOT more processed foods than there used to be.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0
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