Dietary and nutritional content reviewed by Jasmin Gorostiza, DT, DM, DSS, CFPP.️
It’s a temptation we can’t resist. No matter how much we know about the dangers of eating processed food, it’s just so hard to stop doing it.
How many times have we either heard or read about the dangers of processed food? Too many times. Still, we tend to reach out for a couple of processed foods in the grocery store.
Hotdogs. Chips. Crackers. Cereals. Cookies. These are just a few staple foods most people have in their pantries.
So why can’t we do without them. They’re affordable and convenient. They taste good plus they are easy to prepare.
Unfortunately, they are very bad for our health. They contain ingredients that our body doesn’t even need.
So even if we have heard and read it before, it’s time we seriously look at how processed food is endangering our health.
9. Processed Foods Are Often High in Trans Fats and Processed Vegetable Oils
Synthetic trans fats are common in foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, such as crackers, chips, most store-bought baked goods, and any fried foods, just to name a few examples. Synthetic trans fats are known to promote inflammation, which is a hallmark of most chronic and/or serious diseases.
8. It Requires Less Energy and Time to Digest Processed Foods
“Vanishing calorie density” is a term used to describe processed foods that melt in our mouth, which has the effect of making our brain think it doesn’t contain any calories. End result — we keep eating.
7. Processed Foods Are Typically Low in Fiber
Public health guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advise Americans to eat between 20 and 30 grams of fiber a day, but most adults don’t even eat half that much. This isn’t surprising, since fiber refers to the indigestible portion of plant foods, and in the largely refined standard American diet, healthful fibers are often processed right out.
6. Most Processed Foods Are Low in Nutrients
Processed foods often have the real nutrition processed right out, then sometimes added back in in the form of synthetic vitamins and minerals. These synthetics do not fool our body, however, and will not provide the whole, synergistic nutrition that eating whole food will.
5. Processed Foods Are Typically High in Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates like breakfast cereals, bagels, waffles, pretzels, and most other processed foods quickly break down to sugar in our body. This increases our insulin and leptin levels, and contributes to insulin resistance, which is the primary underlying factor of nearly every chronic disease and condition known to man, including weight gain.
4. We Can Become Addicted to Processed Foods
Addicted to junk food? Yes, this is a real phenomenon that’s backed up by science. Processing modifies or removes important components of food, like fiber, water, and nutrients, changing the way they are digested and assimilated in our body. Unlike whole foods, which contain a mix of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fiber, and water to help us feel satisfied, processed foods stimulate dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter, making us feel good even though the food lacks nutrients and fiber. This artificial dopamine stimulation can lead to excessive food cravings and, ultimately, food addiction.
3. Processed Foods Contain Artificial Ingredients
Food manufacturers typically claim that artificial food additives are safe, but research says otherwise. Preservatives, for example, have been linked to health problems such as cancer, allergic reactions, and more. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are preservatives that affect the neurological system of our brain, alter behavior, and have the potential to cause cancer. Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) is a chemical preservative so deadly that just five grams can kill us.
2. Processed Foods Are Designed to Make Us Overeat
Our body is designed to naturally regulate how much we eat and the energy we burn. But food manufacturers have figured out how to over-ride these intrinsic regulators, designing processed foods that are engineered to by “hyper-rewarding.” According to the “food reward hypothesis of obesity,” processed foods stimulate such a strong reward response in our brains that it becomes very easy to overeat.
1. Processed Foods Are High in Sugar and/or High Fructose Corn Syrup
This isn’t only a matter of “empty calories” causing us to gain weight without getting proper nutrition. Excess sugar consumption is linked to insulin resistance, high triglycerides, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
Processed food is definitely not healthy. There’s no way ou body will ever benefit from eating processed food. To preserve our health, we really need to stop eating it. Eating whole foods is the best way to stay healthy.
It’s high time we’re aware of the real dangers of eating processed food. This article here details more how processed food is endangering our health. It’s time that we make a conscious effort to avoid eating processed food.
