Ultra-Processed Foods Are Killing Us

kayemme
kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/11/how-ultra-processed-foods-are-killing-us/65614/

excerpt:

The purpose of Type 3 ultra-processing is to create:

durable, accessible, convenient, attractive, ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products. Such ultra-processed products are formulated to reduce microbial deterioration ('long shelf life'), to be transportable for long distances, to be extremely palatable ('high organoleptic quality') and often to be >>> habit-forming.<<<< Typically they are designed to be consumed anywhere—in fast-food establishments, at home in place of domestically prepared and cooked food, and while watching television, at a desk or elsewhere at work, in the street, and while driving.

Replies

  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    and the original article: http://www.wphna.org/wn_commentary_ultraprocessing_nov2010.asp

    excerpt:

    As well as products using animal-source material, increasingly typical now, are a vast number of other novel branded products that are attractively packaged, powerfully promoted, and formulated to smell, taste and feel good. Examined out of such stimulating contexts, they often do not look like food, being completely removed from anything found in or directly derived from nature. They are confected from various refined and processed materials whose total cost is a small fraction of the price of the product. Any ‘wholesome’ touch is often supplied by added micronutrients, whose presence is emphatically advertised. Some food technologists have celebrated products like these as ‘space age food’. Critics who prefer relatively unprocessed food call them ‘edible food-like substances’ (4)
  • poodlepaws
    poodlepaws Posts: 269 Member
    Since I started on my journey, I've taken a HUGE interest in looking at labels and it's SHOCKING at what kind of crap is in premade food!
    My daughter and I were at the store last night in the frozen food section and I looked at the label for some frozen chicken wings....over 800 mg of sodium per serving! I immediately put them back!!

    If reading labels doesn't make you change your eating habits, I don't know what will!
  • themyriadthings
    themyriadthings Posts: 225 Member
    I'm of the opinion that we could prevent a lot of diseases by avoiding putting that kind of heavily processed foods into our body. It concerns me a great deal that we seem to be poisoning our planet, and ourselves, in the long run by making and eating these 'foods.'
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    what i find best is to just avoid the label every chance you can.

    edit, and what i mean by that is to not buy things with labels / barcodes in the first place.
  • 123gonnareachit
    123gonnareachit Posts: 69
    well what are we supposed to eat then?
  • itsmewendylee
    itsmewendylee Posts: 21 Member
    Too true... the closer to nature a food is, the better it is for you. It is hard to find readily avaiable, affordable organic and unprocessed food in our area but I do go "whole foods" as much as possible.
  • stephijames
    stephijames Posts: 7 Member
    well what are we supposed to eat then?

    Fresh vegetables and fruits :wink:
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    it's just a rule-of-thumb. if you avoid the barcode, you'll avoid most things that are bad for you. if you have to buy something packaged, then look for one-ingredient inside the package.

    i make most of our breads so i can gauge what goes in them. i like to make the tassajara wheat bread because it is so easily adaptable to add a number of different things on a basic recipe.

    i buy whole, dry beans because it's way cheaper than canned beans.

    i get all my produce through a co-op share. the only time i have to buy produce from a grocery (and maybe not at all this year) is during the dead of winter. i freeze and store everything possible.

    i go to the grocery store about twice a month to pick up things like flour, butter and sugar, or restock on beans. my bf is a vegetarian so we never buy meat. i eat meat occasionally when it is around, but i don't miss it. we spend about $50/wk for the two of us to eat really well on an almost entirely organic diet.

    it does take some time, some planning and a lot of mistakes to get the hang of it, but we have a pretty delicious life that doesn't include large corporate farms very much, and certainly not packaged items.

    we haven't had boxed cereal in (guessing) 4 years. don't miss it one bit. we do, however, have delicious oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar, butter and whole milk.

    i do sometimes eat chips, especially around my TOM. I am a recovering junk food junkie. I still have my weak spots. So I'm not aiming to make anyone feel bad, i just want everyone to know that we can recover our own food independence.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    bumping b/c it's important
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    well what are we supposed to eat then?

    Organic fruits and vegetables, organic meats, organic whole grains, etc.

    Learn how to cook for yourself, it's really not that hard or time consuming.
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