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Are Processed Foods "Bad"?
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The issue with the question, as many have pointed out, is that "processed" can mean a VERY wide variety of things.
IMO, when I think of processed foods (I seldom use the term when talking about food), I think of things that are very far from their original state, and have had many extra things from preservatives to sweeteners to other things all added in.
I do think we are better off "generally" eating simple ingredient meals that don't have a lot of "extra" things added in.
In my personal definition/use of the word "processed" I would say that processed foods are not as good for you as unprocessed foods. But, my definition isn't exactly correct, and unless I define it, someone else won't know what I'm referring to, hence why I try to avoid using that in conversation too often.4 -
Fresher tastes better7
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WinoGelato wrote: »
Stale Doritos aren't as good either. To say nothing of stale gummy bears.10 -
I love stale peeps
7 -
L1zardQueen wrote: »I love stale peeps
Even better when you roast them on a bonfire and turn them into Peeps S’mores...8 -
It's fashionable to sneer at processed foods, but the reality for most Americans is, unless you're living in a converted farmhouse in Vermont, spending your days lovingly tending your organic garden, roasting entire turkeys (free range of course) and hams for sandwiches, milking your own cows and churning your own butter, you're eating something that's processed. As others have pointed out, processed foods vary wildly in quality and content. You have to be an avid label-reader. It doesn't help that certain government entities allow food manufacturers to literally run wild, with almost no oversight or control whatsoever, and no specific requirements for labels such as 'lite', 'healthy', 'whole grain', etc. This allows the food conglomerates to literally get away with murder. There is no justification for the staggering amount of salt and sugar they attempt to cram into everything from cereal to sliced bread to salad dressing. It's demoralizing to try so hard to eat healthily when they are literally working 24 hours a day to lie, deny and obfuscate. But realistically, as a working person on a budget, I cannot afford to buy everything organic and make everything from scratch. There are some GREAT quality processed foods out there (Smartfood, for example). You just have to be your own advocate and know what you're getting.20
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happytree923 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Everyone can provide their own personal stories and preferences as much as they want. It does not change the fact that on average, high fat, salt, and sugar foods are highly rewarding and make you want to eat more of them. This, combined with the convienence of processed/junk/fast/whatever food, makes it easy to overeat. If you are trying to lose weight this is a good thing to be aware of.
Again, though, the topic here is "processed" food, not "junk food."
Processed food is VERY varied and need not be the kinds of foods you are describing as high fat, salt, and sugar food (whereas, again, plenty of homecooked foods could be).
Processed foods include things like an Amy's frozen meal, instant oats with NOTHING but oats added, dried pasta, canned tomatoes, canned tuna, quick cook rice and beans, the kinds of Indian foods pictured above, smoked salmon, kimchi, pickles, boneless skinless chicken breast, pretty low cal chicken sausages, a canned soup (low sodium), and so on.
That it is preserved (the original reason for it) or intended to make things more convenient does not say anything about the ingredients involved or whether it's high or low cal, nutritious or not, so on.Honestly I’m not sure why this is so controversial? What people usually mean when they say ‘processed food’ is junk food and I thought it was pretty commonly known that it’s way easier to gain weight on junk than chicken and broccoli.
No, I would disagree that what people usually mean by "processed food" is junk food. If someone asks if I eat processed food I think about what I happen to eat and the answer is yes, I do -- I eat tofu, tempeh, soy milk, smoked salmon, peanut powder, occasional protein powder, dried pasta, canned tomatoes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, coffee and tea, lots of imported cheeses, and sure, occasional dark chocolate and ice cream. I don't consider the latter two more processed or different than the others, even though I wouldn't consider any of the others "junk food." That's my problem with the
Ok, we disagree on what qualifies as ‘processed food.’ I think you’re being a little pedantic, the term has a colloquial meaning beyond ‘a food that has had heat applied to it before sale’ and I don’t know anyone else who uses the super broad definition you are using.
Ooo, count me! Count me!
Because I totally agree with her. It seems utterly bizarre to me that "processed food" would mean anything anything other than "food that has had mechanical or chemical operations performed on it".
To say it means "junk food" - whatever that is - seems very Humpty Dumpty to me.18 -
happytree923 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Everyone can provide their own personal stories and preferences as much as they want. It does not change the fact that on average, high fat, salt, and sugar foods are highly rewarding and make you want to eat more of them. This, combined with the convienence of processed/junk/fast/whatever food, makes it easy to overeat. If you are trying to lose weight this is a good thing to be aware of.
Again, though, the topic here is "processed" food, not "junk food."
Processed food is VERY varied and need not be the kinds of foods you are describing as high fat, salt, and sugar food (whereas, again, plenty of homecooked foods could be).
Processed foods include things like an Amy's frozen meal, instant oats with NOTHING but oats added, dried pasta, canned tomatoes, canned tuna, quick cook rice and beans, the kinds of Indian foods pictured above, smoked salmon, kimchi, pickles, boneless skinless chicken breast, pretty low cal chicken sausages, a canned soup (low sodium), and so on.
That it is preserved (the original reason for it) or intended to make things more convenient does not say anything about the ingredients involved or whether it's high or low cal, nutritious or not, so on.Honestly I’m not sure why this is so controversial? What people usually mean when they say ‘processed food’ is junk food and I thought it was pretty commonly known that it’s way easier to gain weight on junk than chicken and broccoli.
No, I would disagree that what people usually mean by "processed food" is junk food. If someone asks if I eat processed food I think about what I happen to eat and the answer is yes, I do -- I eat tofu, tempeh, soy milk, smoked salmon, peanut powder, occasional protein powder, dried pasta, canned tomatoes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, coffee and tea, lots of imported cheeses, and sure, occasional dark chocolate and ice cream. I don't consider the latter two more processed or different than the others, even though I wouldn't consider any of the others "junk food." That's my problem with the
Ok, we disagree on what qualifies as ‘processed food.’ I think you’re being a little pedantic, the term has a colloquial meaning beyond ‘a food that has had heat applied to it before sale’ and I don’t know anyone else who uses the super broad definition you are using.
Ooo, count me! Count me!
Because I totally agree with her. It seems utterly bizarre to me that "processed food" would mean anything anything other than "food that has had mechanical or chemical operations performed on it".
To say it means "junk food" - whatever that is - seems very Humpty Dumpty to me.
I also use "processed food" when I am referring to "food that has undergone processing." To limit it to just "junk food" doesn't make sense to me, they seem to be two completely different concepts.
So I would consider things like canned tomatoes, whole grain flours, tofu/tempeh, plant milk, smoked fish, etc to be "processed foods."8 -
WinoGelato wrote: »
Stale ginger snaps are even sadder. **glares at husband who didn't put the lid back on the cookie jar last night**8 -
BruinsGal_91 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
Stale ginger snaps are even sadder. **glares at husband who didn't put the lid back on the cookie jar last night**
This is a fair point. Stale Oreos can at least theoretically be saved by slower milk-dunking. Stale ginger snaps not only have a texture issue, but the bite of the ginger seems to disappear so they taste slightly off.
I hope your hubby was appropriately ashamed.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »happytree923 wrote: »Everyone can provide their own personal stories and preferences as much as they want. It does not change the fact that on average, high fat, salt, and sugar foods are highly rewarding and make you want to eat more of them. This, combined with the convienence of processed/junk/fast/whatever food, makes it easy to overeat. If you are trying to lose weight this is a good thing to be aware of.
Again, though, the topic here is "processed" food, not "junk food."
Processed food is VERY varied and need not be the kinds of foods you are describing as high fat, salt, and sugar food (whereas, again, plenty of homecooked foods could be).
Processed foods include things like an Amy's frozen meal, instant oats with NOTHING but oats added, dried pasta, canned tomatoes, canned tuna, quick cook rice and beans, the kinds of Indian foods pictured above, smoked salmon, kimchi, pickles, boneless skinless chicken breast, pretty low cal chicken sausages, a canned soup (low sodium), and so on.
That it is preserved (the original reason for it) or intended to make things more convenient does not say anything about the ingredients involved or whether it's high or low cal, nutritious or not, so on.Honestly I’m not sure why this is so controversial? What people usually mean when they say ‘processed food’ is junk food and I thought it was pretty commonly known that it’s way easier to gain weight on junk than chicken and broccoli.
No, I would disagree that what people usually mean by "processed food" is junk food. If someone asks if I eat processed food I think about what I happen to eat and the answer is yes, I do -- I eat tofu, tempeh, soy milk, smoked salmon, peanut powder, occasional protein powder, dried pasta, canned tomatoes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, coffee and tea, lots of imported cheeses, and sure, occasional dark chocolate and ice cream. I don't consider the latter two more processed or different than the others, even though I wouldn't consider any of the others "junk food." That's my problem with the
Ok, we disagree on what qualifies as ‘processed food.’ I think you’re being a little pedantic, the term has a colloquial meaning beyond ‘a food that has had heat applied to it before sale’ and I don’t know anyone else who uses the super broad definition you are using.
Ooo, count me! Count me!
Because I totally agree with her. It seems utterly bizarre to me that "processed food" would mean anything anything other than "food that has had mechanical or chemical operations performed on it".
To say it means "junk food" - whatever that is - seems very Humpty Dumpty to me.
I also use "processed food" when I am referring to "food that has undergone processing." To limit it to just "junk food" doesn't make sense to me, they seem to be two completely different concepts.
So I would consider things like canned tomatoes, whole grain flours, tofu/tempeh, plant milk, smoked fish, etc to be "processed foods."
I would agree as well. To me, junk food is a subset of processed food, specifically junk food is processed to the point that it is calorie dense but nutrient poor. Tofu is processed, Oreos are junk food. Peanut butter is processed, Cheese Doodles are junk food. Frozen veggie burgers are processed, fruit rollups are junk food.
How could you not think of dried pasta, peanut powder, or soy milk as processed???6 -
ultra_violets wrote: »It's fashionable to sneer at processed foods...
This allows the food conglomerates to literally get away with murder. There is no justification for the staggering amount of salt and sugar they attempt to cram into everything from cereal to sliced bread to salad dressing. It's demoralizing to try so hard to eat healthily when they are literally working 24 hours a day to lie, deny and obfuscate. But realistically, as a working person on a budget, I cannot afford to buy everything organic and make everything from scratch. There are some GREAT quality processed foods out there (Smartfood, for example). You just have to be your own advocate and know what you're getting.
This is some of the "sneering," the assumption that big nasty dudes that look like the monopoly guy from the board game are sitting on the 500th floor of a tower in Manhattan, polishing their monocoles and grinning evil grins looking at a PowerPoint slide titled "How to kill off all the unwashed rubes with sugar and salt."
There's not grand conspiracy afoot, food "conglomerates" evolved over a couple generations to give people what they wanted: cheap food that tastes good, leaves you happy, and is easy to store and prepare. I'm not defending the food industry, but it's unreasonable to think "they" are out to get us. If you're an average person with $4 in your pocket, are you going to buy a pound of organic kale and nothing else, or 5 boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese? If you're struggling to feed your family the mac looks like a pretty decent deal.
I remember talking to my grandparents about how wonderful it was when they could buy frozen whatever and have it keep for weeks versus trudging down to the market every day. If you're working two jobs and taking care of a family, cheap and easy probably outweighs 5X more cost and 8X more time. Again, not saying it's right, but I do think there's a lot of snobbery around "the food industry" and the attitude that everyone should be eating fair trade organic BPA-free whatever that's lovingly prepared from scratch 3X each day.19 -
happytree923 wrote: »That's true, but I'd bet most home kitchens don't have a team of researchers tweaking recipes to make them as palatable as humanly possible. Large-scale food manufacturers do.
Home cooked unhealthy food is also way less convenient, when's the last time someone you know stopped at the grocery store to get everything they needed to make homemade burgers and fries and then went home and spent an hour making it instead of stopping at McDonald's? So yes, it's possible, but you really need the convenience of fast/packaged foods to make impulsive bad food decisions.
I prepare all meals but one a week at home for my family.
I make a meal plan that sometimes includes homemade hamburgers and fries. I make a grocery list throughout the week and we go shopping once. We buy food for a week at a time. It takes maybe an hour to shop for a full cart of food which will be many meals for 3 people. Dinner making daily may be 30 minutes to an hour of cooking time but not preperation time. Burgers and fries at home are a pretty quick meal- maybe 20 minutes forming the patties and heating the grill to finishing cooking. If I slice a potato and put it on a tray in the oven it takes about 15-20 minutes to cook that at the same time. I usually don't make my own buns or condiments/sauces unless it is a special occasion. We buy cheese someone else made- usually a block of cheddar..
When we go out to eat as a family we decide the day before or early in day day where we will go. I look up nutritional information if possible and prelogging my food choice. We are generally driving 45 minutes, sitting in the drive thru for 15-20 minutes or waiting at a counter or table, possibly eating in the car while doing errands and then driving home another 45 minutes. It is convenient to not pack food, more expensive, not faster than me cooking and far from spontaneous. It does not really taste better than my own cooking. There may be more salt or oil than I would use at home. There are not ingredients that make us overeat for the rest of the day/week from that one meal.
I understand from the internet that many people are not like me but I don't buy the idea that eating foods that are packaged or made at a restaurant are controlling people's food choices based on ingredients you wouldn't use at home.3 -
Well, it's up to you to choose your food. I do eat some processed food, with less and "better" ingredients, I use "__" cos to some it may be unimportant , to some it's not. But I would not ban them forever, just choose the best ones, since they can be tasty hehe.2
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I find that thinking of any foods as "good" and "bad" has given me nothing but trouble in the past.
It is more important to me to understand what a certain food (read: its nutritional values) do and how it affects my personal weight loss journey than to demonize something just because someone said that he said that she said that they said.
Sure, a lot of what we call processed foods are fast options that contain a lot of stuff we don't technically need. I personally don't think it's "bad" if I stuff my face with a burger, I just see the downside of it which is that I'll have consumed half or more of my daily calories with one meal and that'll leave me starving for the rest of the day. And it'll give me a lot of sodium which will lead to water retention which will then lead to a very sad unicoon when it's weigh-in day.
Sometimes it's worth it to compare your favourite processed foods (read: instant food, fast food, etc.) to similar DIY recipes, other times quick and easy is what you need.7 -
Any food that is no longer in it's original growth state is processed. Cooking is processing food, so is adding spices and marinating. I'm not a dietitian nor nutritionist, but I do know that raw pork is NOT good for you.
"Processed" is just the latest "bad" food trend.3 -
Any food that is no longer in it's original growth state is processed. Cooking is processing food, so is adding spices and marinating. I'm not a dietitian nor nutritionist, but I do know that raw pork is NOT good for you.
"Processed" is just the latest "bad" food trend.
C'mon - what's wrong with a little all-natural trichinosis. So close-minded...5 -
First I think its important to say that "processed food" is a very Ill defined subjective term that different use in different ways. So, before I say how I feel know that when I think "processed" food I am thinking of a reductionist approach where a food product is just a combination of a few heavily refined products. For example a food product that takes refined wheat flour as a carb source mixes it with high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener and purified vanilin for flavoring. I do think that when possible it is better to avoid that in favor of whole foods.
I dont say that because I think there are toxins or chemikillz in processed foods that are dangerous or aren't also in whole foods. I say that because of what is missing from heavily processed foods which tend to be constructed from a limited number of refined ingredients.
An apple has thousands of component ingredients too lengthy and complex to actually list out or add to a processed foodstuff. Apple Jack's cereal does not contain everything that is in an apple. I think having processed foods in ones diet is fine but that if you ate only processed foods you would likely end up with gaps in your nutrition beyond just the obvious vitamins which often are intentionally added to processed foods.
Ironically one thing food processing does do well is fortify certain staples like breakfast cereals and milk with things like vitamin D and iron which are typically lacking from most whole foods. So honestly the "best" diet is probably a mixed one where you have your processed breakfast cereal and fortified milk along with some whole fruits, vegetables and proteins.3
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