What exactly is "Processed Food"?

I agree with em9371.

Also, when you get canned veggies: look for no added salt, low salt or similar.

All bread, pasta, cereals etc

Some would even say rice.

Most canned / frozen veg is fine.

I wouldn't worry too much about nut butters, but the organic ones that have had the peanuts dried in the sun would be preferable, such as Whole Earth (not sure if thats available in the US but must be similar ones).

check out the eat clean diet and eating clean magazine... both resources have sort of cleared it up for me! And give good recipes

I go by "5 ingredients or less" principle. Bread should have 5 or less, yogurt 5 or less etc... Beyond that I've never really seen the point of frozen or canned vegetables.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that a friend suggested I try Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. WHY?? Aren't those diets almost completely processed foods? I cannot believe they are so popular.

Some people are more concerned with losing weight more so than being healthy.

Some people might consider bread processed, but I buy mine from the bakery and have every ingredient in my pantry. Just because it's baked, I don't consider it processed, but if you want to get into the origin of the flour yadda yadda, then I stop there! haha If I buy bread from the bread aisle of a normal grocery, I'd consider it processed though because those "commercial" breads contain a lot of preservatives and things.

All-natural peanut butter I don't consider processed.

My rule is to look at the ingredients. If there are chemicals, preservatives, or other things to enhance shelf life, then I know it's processed.

If it didn't exist 100 years ago, it's probably processed.

A lot of what we eat is processed to some degree or another, but I'd call it processed if the cooking directions are "Open box, heat food."

there are different degrees of processing so it depends on the person and how much they want to cut out.

technically, anything that is not in its original form is processed, so that would include wheat bread, peanut butter etc.

I would define processed as ready meals / convenince food / some canned foods (veggies are not as bad as they are just plain veggies with water / salt, but meat in a can like Spam is just so wrong :sick: ) / bread that stays fresh for weeks / things that take some thinking about to work out what it is actually made out of!

What this person said, in my opinion. There was a commercial a few years ago that said, "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it." Not a bad rule of thumb. I do eat a little packaged bread, but I also got a bread machine, and make my own for pennies. I am not a fanatic-- I eat English muffins, and have no idea how to make them. I eat real butter instead of margarine or things like that. I store a few frozen lean cuisines in the work fridge for those days I'm running late. But as often as I can, I make a batch or two of soup over the weekend to bring to work for lunch. I eat "real" cheese, and avoid "cheese-type food products". I try to buy eggs from chickens who were allowed to occasionally walk around (I'm not rabid on "free range", but there are some from happy mediums), and I buy only "gate to plate" meat from local farms. The bummer is that it is almost always more expensive to eat "real food".

Think of how close the end product is to the way the food grew. Peanut butter is minimally processed if it's natural (not a lot of added ingredients). Breads vary. 100% whole grain bread is less processed than white bread, which has had the bran removed and is bleached. Sausage, bacon and deli meats are processed because they have added ingredients.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that a friend suggested I try Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. WHY?? Aren't those diets almost completely processed foods? I cannot believe they are so popular.

Some people are more concerned with losing weight more so than being healthy.

They are very tempting, but I didn't want to pay the money to be a member every month...for support and ideas. Why do that when I can come here and get it all for free?

Also, I'm afraid if I did do something like Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers that I'd gain all the weight back when I got off their "plans." Just seems like a fancier Slim Fast or diet pill. IDK...

Simplist way to answer that question is to hold the food in your hand and ask yourself 'Did it grow that way?' If it had to be processed and things had to be added to it, or taken out of it to make it part of what you're holding in your hand, it's processed.

I mainly look for added chemical ingredients and preservatives.. extra ingredients I wouldn't add if I made it fresh..

Oh and wanted to say I don't think you can get away from some processing, in the sense like oils, but I do go out of my way to get expeller pressed safflower and extra virgin olive oil so that it's processed as little as possible.

Some of it is reading labels and making smart choices. When I buy nuts I could reach for the ones that are heavily processed sprayed with salt and fat and preservatives. Or I can reach for the ones that say "organic raw" contains only pecans.. for example.

I also buy almond milk, which while it's processed it has simple ingredients and nothing I don't want in it.

So some you have to figure out what feels right for you. But I avoid all pre-prepared frozen dinners, cans of soup and veggies, meal kit type items. And a good check can be look at the ingredients and if it's a fairly short list of stuff you can recognize as food then great, but it's a mile long with things you can't pronounce, then it's definitely processed.

If you're trying to stay away from processed food, shop the outer walls of the grocery store and avoid the aisles.

I see people saying this a lot, but it's kind of over simplified. At my grocery store the healthy oils and many of the raw nuts and such are in the inner isles. Knowledge is better here than a mnemonic here IMHO.

Agreed. Not to mention that one of the outer walls of mine has the bakery and all of the process snack bread items, like Hostess cupcakes, etc.

I am trying to eat "cleaner", but I have no intention of ever eating "clean". I like white sugar for baking. Sue me. I travel a lot for work on very short notice, so frozen meals are always in my freezer. I do try to stick mainly with Kashi or Amy's brand, but there is an odd Lean Cuisine there too. Eating clean may be great for many people, but for me, I have to find a balance between eating cleaner, healthier foods and still having some convenience items.