Processed Convenience Foods- YAY or NAY
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Whatever gets you to your goal!
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This question yay or nay to xyz ( in this case processed foods) assumes the answer is one or the other.
For most people it isn't one or the other - these foods can be part of a balanced diet. How much of a part varies, that's all.
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Reading about what whole foods/processed foods/ultra-processed foods/super uber duper over processed foods and so on is kind of like reading the new health scare of the day for me.
Eggs bad/eggs good/eggs bad again. And coffee and candy and sugar and flour...
Most folks are not going to look at a twinkie and think it's packed with nutrition and I don't believe most would look at broccoli or a chicken breast or an apple and think "bad for me because...."
I get my macros every day, and I am not dialed in so fine that I can't squeeze ice cream or a candy bar in there somewhere on most weeks. So I do
I enjoy my food very much, guilt free and am maintaining just fine. That's good enough for me today.3 -
There's a lot of overgeneralization about this whole topic, I think.
I think of it more as a health-focused priority scheme, rather than strict rules about good/bad.
The first best thing for health, speaking very generically, is usually just to attain a healthy weight. If "processed foods" (however one defines it) help that happen, they're probably good.
The next best thing IMO is well-rounded nutrition. Many processed foods (most) have protein, fats (including MUFAs/PUFAs, sometimes even Omega-3s), fiber, micronutrients: Things we need, nutritionally. If a person can get adequate and well-rounded nutrition eating mostly processed foods, that's still checking the nutritional boxes in a useful way.
To me, the thing that's left is a little more of a squishy concept: I'm now pretty old (63), and over my lifetime, quite a large number of essential nutrients have been discovered. I strongly doubt that we've now discovered them all. Since "higher nutrition" processed foods sometime focus on including the known essential nutrients, they might only include the unknown ones by accident . . . but they've been in natural-selection-tested less-processed/unprocessed foods all along. That might be a reason to include some less-processed foods as a component of one's diet. But humans are adaptive omnivores, so it's almost certainly less important than healthy weight or getting the known parts of well-balanced nutrition.
Personally, I like getting most of my calories from relatively less-processed foods that humans have been eating for centuries to millennia. Partly that's because they're natural-selection-tested, but mostly it's because those happen to be the foods I personally find most tasty and satisfying. Not everyone finds the same things tasty and satisfying, and different lives require different convenience factors. That seems fine, to me.
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There's a lot of overgeneralization about this whole topic, I think.
I think of it more as a health-focused priority scheme, rather than strict rules about good/bad.
The first best thing for health, speaking very generically, is usually just to attain a healthy weight. If "processed foods" (however one defines it) help that happen, they're probably good.
The next best thing IMO is well-rounded nutrition. Many processed foods (most) have protein, fats (including MUFAs/PUFAs, sometimes even Omega-3s), fiber, micronutrients: Things we need, nutritionally. If a person can get adequate and well-rounded nutrition eating mostly processed foods, that's still checking the nutritional boxes in a useful way.
To me, the thing that's left is a little more of a squishy concept: I'm now pretty old (63), and over my lifetime, quite a large number of essential nutrients have been discovered. I strongly doubt that we've now discovered them all. Since "higher nutrition" processed foods sometime focus on including the known essential nutrients, they might only include the unknown ones by accident . . . but they've been in natural-selection-tested less-processed/unprocessed foods all along. That might be a reason to include some less-processed foods as a component of one's diet. But humans are adaptive omnivores, so it's almost certainly less important than healthy weight or getting the known parts of well-balanced nutrition.
Personally, I like getting most of my calories from relatively less-processed foods that humans have been eating for centuries to millennia. Partly that's because they're natural-selection-tested, but mostly it's because those happen to be the foods I personally find most tasty and satisfying. Not everyone finds the same things tasty and satisfying, and different lives require different convenience factors. That seems fine, to me.
This is pretty much how I think of it too.1 -
I wasn't able to meet my goals while still eating processed foods in my daily diet. Since I have cut them out I am starting to drop again. I still have convenience foods sometimes because I haven't planned well, I got home late and I didn't have time to cook, or I'm a guest at someone's home and don't have control over what is being served (and I don't want to be a ride guest). Mostly processed foods are not part of my diet now.
However, the one "processed" food I still consume regularly is a protein powder I've added to my diet to get extra protein.1 -
I stopped eating protein powder since I don't really like the taste vs. alternatives, but I still eat lots of processed foods and find them helpful to meeting my goals. That includes canned tomatoes in the winter (IMO whole tomatoes are only worth it local and in season, like now), cottage cheese, greek yogurt, canned beans (I mostly eat dried but canned are good in a pinch), various dried grains, frozen spinach (again, out of season), frozen fruit (same), occasional boneless, skinless chicken breast and ground meat, dried pasta, and so on.
I'm not really sure why those foods would make it hard to meet goals, and OP seems to think that the foods she mentioned don't make it hard for her to meet goals, but of course people vary.2 -
I'm very picky about the foods I can eat cold (I will literally gag if some foods aren't hot), so processed foods are extremely helpful for me for work lunches. So... YAY.
I also like to look at the nutrients a food gives me over only whether it's processed or not.2 -
I find the messier my life is the more I rely on processed and microwave ready meals. When things are calm I eat mostly things I prepare myself.
I don't restrict myself from any product based on "healthiness" or lack thereof. I do draw the line at products that have ingredients like imitation cheese or similar. I feel like that is unnecessary and hits at a level of quality that I feel is substandard for me. If I might budget were more constrained I might not have the luxury of such a rule. I don't know.
There are "scary" things even in the most unprocessed and organic foods. Our bodies were designed to handle it. I have always said that if I was going to go down that path I would not start with worrying about the food I eat I would start by worrying about the air I breathe. I do neither currently.2 -
cmriverside wrote: »Okay, so...*cue the woos*
I don't buy baked cookies/muffins/protein bars and treats because they contain Palm Oil. That's just for ethical reasons. Same with wraps and flour tortillas, most chocolate, most frozen goods like ice cream or pie or cake and fake milks like almond/coconut/soy milk - so that has eliminated most of those things you list. I do have fried food like fries or chicken or fish a couple times per month, but not daily.
It's up to you what you eat, I just don't discuss it with people if I think it's going to be a "discussion," you know who those people are.
So on a whim I looked at the ingredients of the almond milk I typically buy and the flour tortillas that I don't typically buy (because I don't really like flour tortillas), as well as my favorite protein bars and chocolate. None of them have palm oil. Obviously it's up to you to determine what you will and won't eat and I am in no way judging your decisions, but of the things I looked at, the only one that is at all difficult to get or especially expensive is the chocolate, and I'm sure I could find cheaper easier to find (in the US) chocolate without palm oil.2 -
When I was younger (in my teens and early 20s) I think I used to be pretty black and white in terms of what's good and what's bad with regards to things like ultra-processed foods. Thankfully, those days are more or less behind me. My typical concerns have to do with buying things that are in season, buying as local as I logically can for things like produce, meat, and some baked goods, and supporting small businesses/companies.
I generally don't eat a lot of convenience foods nor pre-prepared foods, but that has more to do with what I do and don't think tastes good than anything. There are very few convenience foods or frozen meals that are better than I can make. This isn't a "oh I'm such a good cook", rather - I've been cooking and baking for myself since I was a child and I like cooking as well. Even then, I'm much more likely to buy tamales from someone who has made them from scratch and then freeze them than buy them from the grocery store's freezer aisle (I can make tamales but I don't know really enjoy making tamales).
I will buy things like Cliff bars and sometimes RX Bars (if they're on sale), but typically most of my meals are things I"ve made. My lately snacks tend to be fruit or nuts.1 -
cmriverside wrote: »Okay, so...*cue the woos*
I don't buy baked cookies/muffins/protein bars and treats because they contain Palm Oil. That's just for ethical reasons. Same with wraps and flour tortillas, most chocolate, most frozen goods like ice cream or pie or cake and fake milks like almond/coconut/soy milk - so that has eliminated most of those things you list. I do have fried food like fries or chicken or fish a couple times per month, but not daily.
It's up to you what you eat, I just don't discuss it with people if I think it's going to be a "discussion," you know who those people are.
So on a whim I looked at the ingredients of the almond milk I typically buy and the flour tortillas that I don't typically buy (because I don't really like flour tortillas), as well as my favorite protein bars and chocolate. None of them have palm oil. Obviously it's up to you to determine what you will and won't eat and I am in no way judging your decisions, but of the things I looked at, the only one that is at all difficult to get or especially expensive is the chocolate, and I'm sure I could find cheaper easier to find (in the US) chocolate without palm oil.
I just did the same after reading your post. I went through all the processed foods that I have in the house that I regularly consume, from icecream, protein bars, protein powder, almond milk, and chocolate (gotta love Lindt) and not a single one of them contains palm oil. Things could be different in Australia though.0 -
Be careful.
In Australia (and possibly other countries) it may not specifically say palm oil - so just because it doesn't, doesn't mean palm oil is not present
http://palmoilaction.org.au/resources/palm-oil-action-shopping-guide/0 -
I've read enough to convince me that a high consumption of ultra processed foods isn't good for a body, and anecdotally I'll say that the fewer I have the better I feel, but I don't preach to anyone about it. I could be completely wrong. All anyone can do is weight up the evidence, consider the practicalities, and make a personal choice.
These studies around food often sound scary, with headlines that scream something will double your chances of getting cancer X or syndrome Y. In reality that could mean you're going from a 1/100,000 to 2/100,000, if it's increased the risk at all.1 -
paperpudding wrote: »Be careful.
In Australia (and possibly other countries) it may not specifically say palm oil - so just because it doesn't, doesn't mean palm oil is not present
http://palmoilaction.org.au/resources/palm-oil-action-shopping-guide/
Well, you learn something new every day. The saturated fat amounts wouldn't work for many protein bars though that are whey-based. In saying that, none of my protein bars listed vegetable oil anyway. They tended to list sunflower or canola oil instead. The best thing is that the Lindt chocolate doesn't have any oil in its ingredients list!
I found this list which is quite useful for us Aussies wanting to avoid palm oil, or only use sustainably supplied palm oil. https://www.travelfordifference.com/list-palm-oil-free-products/1 -
paperpudding wrote: »Be careful.
In Australia (and possibly other countries) it may not specifically say palm oil - so just because it doesn't, doesn't mean palm oil is not present
http://palmoilaction.org.au/resources/palm-oil-action-shopping-guide/
I make many of my own personal care product like shampoo and lotion. I am allergic to formaldehyde and the majority of commercially produced products use preservatives that are considered "formaldehyde donors" (they release formaldehyde as they break down) which gives me hives and scalp acne.
My point is: researching different ingredients gave me a different perspective on what is, and is not, natural. Many ingredients with super scary long names turn out to be derived from natural ingredients, coconut being one of the most common. I don't concern myself too much with additives since convenience foods are a small part of my diet and the same can be true.2 -
paperpudding wrote: »Be careful.
In Australia (and possibly other countries) it may not specifically say palm oil - so just because it doesn't, doesn't mean palm oil is not present
http://palmoilaction.org.au/resources/palm-oil-action-shopping-guide/
It appears that the US, Canada, and the EU require that it be clearly listed in ingredient labels. That said, I recognize that there are more countries in the world than the US, Canada, and EU countries.1
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