The issue with processed foods (opinion)
Replies
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Aaron: This. Is. Brilliant. I'm missing the old 'awesome' button (I might just have to 'hug' you instead . . . it's OK, I'm prolly old enough to be your granny, or at least auntie
).Aaron, if you ever decide to start some kind of logic commune, or a secret society, maybe even a cult, please send me an invite.
Yup.
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I think trans fats were a big contributor to processed foods getting a bad name.1
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Aaron: This. Is. Brilliant. I'm missing the old 'awesome' button (I might just have to 'hug' you instead . . . it's OK, I'm prolly old enough to be your granny, or at least auntie ).Aaron, if you ever decide to start some kind of logic commune, or a secret society, maybe even a cult, please send me an invite.
Yup.
Hah thanks, although I don't know....I'm older than I look.3 -
candylilacs wrote: »missysippy930 wrote: »I said added sugars, and or sodium, and if you bothered to actually read what I posted, no wrong or right. Personal choice, and whatever works for each of us.
No matter what, lemurcat, anvilhead, and jellyjaneroll take a [dump] on it. Processed food, by and large, have unnecessary sugars and sodium.
I can take the heat!
My A1C is 6.3! Three months ago it 7.0!6 -
I ended up learning to make my own sauces and stews when family members were sent home long forbidden lists from their doctors.
At various times I’ve had to avoid MSG, tomatoes and salt. Just try and buy a commercial dinner without one of these ingredients.
I would peruse the ingredients lists of the commercial products to see if I could match with my home made versions. Because of this scouting I add mustard to my cheese sauce and xanthan gum to my breads.
Along the way I learned to cook. Nice side benefit. Sometimes I can even do it cheaper.
I love how you point out how people often get it “backwards”. Like avoiding fruit because of “sugar” losing out on all the good things fruit does.
I think cheeses as a rule are improved by processing. I’m not talking processed cheese here but the raw art of turning milk in to cheese. I’ve made a soft cheese from scratch exactly once.
I think because of our improved food transportation system and ready availability of refrigeration people have forgotten the vital role that sugar, salt and vinegar have had in protecting our foods from spoilage.
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Finally I think it is important to recognize that processed food-stuffs serve an important and vital role in our communities as well as globally and shouldn't be viewed as "bad". Not everyone has the luxury to be able to afford or even find the variety of whole foods one would need to have a well rounded diet and those people greatly benefit from cost-effective cheaper mass produced processed foods that provide some of the absolute essentials for a fraction of the cost. Protesting the existence of processed foods in general I feel is a very elitist and myopic view. Proccessed foods are good, we need them to be available and I would never mock them. I just think if you have the time and the money that it is a good idea to have some fruit, some vegetables and a salmon filet worked into your diet just to cover your nutritional bases...just recognize not everyone does and you don't need to be a prick about it.
I think that should be pinned at the top of every Message Board category: "Not everyone does or think [whatever] and you don't need to be a prick about it."6 -
Also good labels can be way off so it's much harder to track accurately with processed foods.1
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candylilacs wrote: »missysippy930--
No matter what, lemurcat, anvilhead, and jellyjaneroll take a [dump] on it. Processed food, by and large, have unnecessary sugars and sodium.
I can take the heat!
My A1C is 6.3! Three months ago it 7.0!
Did you review the list of foods that janejellyroll provided above? Do you think those products have unnecessary sugar and sodium in them?
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It's "taking a dump" to point out that many processed foods don't have added sugar or high sodium?
It's "taking a dump" to point out that processed foods are quite varied?
I pointed out the many different ways that foods can be processed.
I'd love to understand why I'm supposedly wrong here, and not just be accused of "taking a dump" on things, which is a vulgar turn of phrase I certainly don't use on MFP when not quoting someone.
And it's a ridiculous way to describe janejellyroll's and anvilhead's excellent contributions.8 -
candylilacs wrote: »No matter what, lemurcat, anvilhead, and jellyjaneroll take a [dump] on it. Processed food, by and large, have unnecessary sugars and sodium.
I can take the heat!
My A1C is 6.3! Three months ago it 7.0!
Processed foods that have added sugar and sodium in them have on their ingredients labels the amount of sugar and sodium that they contain. There are many other processed foods that do not have added sodium or sugar. One can avoid added sodium or sugar by selecting certain processed foods.
I think that if you eat processed foods mindlessly without paying attention to their ingredients and then decide to switch to nothing but whole foods in your diet you are likely to see a large reduction in your sodium and refined sugar intake. But it depends on what processed foods you were eating and that depends on the person. It would also be possible to reduce ones sugar and sodium intake by simply paying attention to the ingredients labels and just selecting different processed foods that do not have added sugar or sodium.
Sugar and sodium is not an inherent property of processed foods so statements (not made by you but certainly by others) that processed foods are high in sodium and sugar and should be avoided is oversimplifying and mischaracterizing in I guess a means of simplifying the statement to save the couple of extra sentences it would take to explain it in a more accurate way.
As a side note when making a post with quotes make sure every [*quote] header has a [*/quote] terminator or what you write will get swallowed into the quote and buried.6 -
I eat a fair amount of processed food and my sugar and sodium are well under recommended levels. If you can read labels the information is easily available, and there are plenty of processed food choices that have reasonable levels.
I've never considered processed food from the perspective you're presenting, Aaron. Very thought provoking and will probably lead to some different choices on my part. Thanks for taking the time to post this!3
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