Monday, April 23, 2012

What's wrong with processed foods?

What's wrong with processed foods

Here is a great explanation I found on line you can find out more at Link: http://greenwithbetsy.com/


Processed foods are foods that have been altered from their natural states in order to extend their shelf life.  Foods that come in a box, can, bag or carton are processed.  They are often poor quality and usually cheap.  About 90% of the money Americans spend on food is used to buy “edible foodlike substances” as Michael Pollen, well-known author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and professor, calls them.

Processed foods have been implicated in most of today’s chronic diseases and health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  What makes processed foods so bad?  Many processed foods contain trans fats (or hydrogenated) a dangerous type of fat, which raises the bad cholesterol and lowers the good.  Most processed foods are extremely high in salt, which is also not good for the heart and addictive.  Have you ever tried to eat just one potato chip?!  Another addictive ingredient you'll find in processed foods is high fructose corn syrup, linked to obesity and diabetes.  Sugar is burned and turned into energy; high fructose corn syrup turns into fat. Potato chips and French fries often contain Acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance that forms when foods are heated at high temperatures, such as during baking or frying.

Processed foods also contain a lot of additives. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains a list of over 3,000 chemicals that are added to the processed food supply to add color, stabilize, texturize, preserve, sweeten, thicken, etc.  Some of these additives have never been tested for safety and require no government approval.  They belong to the FDA's "Generally Recognized as Safe" list.

So what should we eat?  As with anything moderation is the key, so limit your intake of processed foods and eat whole foods.  As Michael Pollen says, keep it simple - don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.  Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans, not corporations. Always read the label and choose wisely. 

For this weeks blog, I want you to analyze the bright spots in your current eating.  No one said they eat 100% processed foods so you should be able to find some good things.  For this weeks blog, I want you to tell me what you are currently eating that is not processed and how you could increase your consumption of non processed foods.

59 comments:

  1. I eat alot of green vegetables and rice that is not processed.
    -Andrew Chen

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  2. The grains i eat are only potatoes so they are not processed. Also, my meat is not packaged, though they are grain fed. Finally, I have a high vegtable and fruit diet, all unpackaged.
    -raphael socher

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  3. i eat a lot of organic cereal and milk (soy)
    other than that eveything i eat is proccessed.
    XaVIER sWINFGLER

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  4. I drink a lot of milk and most of the meats i eat are not packaged. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and try to eat as many grains as possible
    Ryan Schuler

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  5. I try to eat natural, eating egg whites, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and chicken breast. Eating natural foods during dinner would help me eat more non processed foods.

    Victor Shen

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  6. fresh fruit, vegetables, fresh meat like chicken, pork, steaks, and fish
    Nathan Culotta

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  7. Some good things about my diet is i dont drink soda, maybe once every 2 weeks, i eat a lot of fruit, drink the necessary amount of water each day and stay low on carbs.

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  8. I always eat atleast two servings of fruit plus two servings of vegatables a day. Also, I normally eat meat at dinner. I would increase my consumption of non proccessed foods by eating less bread and pasta and canned foods

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  9. I currently consume fresh food every night for dinner, which includes meat and vegetables that my mom prepares freshly. To increase my consumption of non processed foods, i could choose to eat an egg and a homemade muffin for breakfast instead of cereal.

    Alder

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  10. some things that are not processed that I eat include steak, vegetables, and fruits. All of these foods are healthy for you and will not lead to obesity. I will try to lead towards eating these foods instead of processed foods.
    -Jack Pykosh

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  11. Vegetables, salads, grilled meats, etc. Expand the variety of non-processed foods i eat and reduce the amount of processed foods i eat.

    -Shiv Parmar

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  12. I am currently eating healthy fruits,vegetables, nuts, seeds, oats, brown rice, whole grain bread, honey, fish, eggs, organic milk, soy products, and other organic foods.

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  13. Pretty much all foods are processed, or go through a process to get on the shelves of grocery stores, but I eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh ground beef.

    - Jack H

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  14. I usually eat fruit every morning with breakfast, and vegetables with dinner. A lot of times for dinner I will eat steak, chicken or fish which is all not processed. I could increase my non processed diet by eating more whole grain substances.
    -Jake Ledner

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  15. I will eat more fruits and vegetables also I will eat rice and organic meats.
    - Harrison Linowes

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  16. i eat alot of processed food. i eat alot of fruit and sometime i usaly eat meat. but i need to start to eat better and eat alot more non processed fruits and stop snacking on junk food.

    matthew kay

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  17. the non processed foods that i am currently eating are fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, nuts,chicken, fish(seafood). I can increase my consumption of non processed foods by buying alot of non processed foods and not buying alot of processed foods.If I want I snack I will make it out of fresh fruits and non processed foods instead of eating some unhealthy processed food.

    -Sarah Kowal

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  18. At the dinner table, since my parents are around, i usually have nutritious low-calorie south-indian food, and sometimes in the afternoons, i'll have some fruits. I could cut out the chips and other snacks and replace them with some more fruit.
    -Susheel Krishnamurthy

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  19. I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday and i could make sure to make my own food so i know it isn't processed

    Brett Keenan

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  20. Every lunch, I eat a peanut-butter sandwich made from organic bread (but the peanut butter is processed) and a side of organic tomatoes. And for dinner, my mom ONLY cooks dinners made from all-natural ingredients, or ingredients with only the slightest bit of additives (our family only gets food from organic foodstores).

    -Michael Donahue, period 7

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  21. when eating organic foods, i normally go for vegies like brocoli, carrots, asparagus. the reason i do this is because of my intense workout schedule i must eat healthy, un-processed foods in order to heal the bruised muscles and get them to grow.
    matt mays

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  22. I eat alot of fruits.

    I can try not to eat processed foods for a week and keep extending it.

    -Abhishek Tennarangam

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  23. My non-processed foods are really the basics, fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. I guess the way I can really eliminate the processed foods from my diet is just by replacing them with non-processed foods. Instead of cereal I'll have oatmeal with strawberries or something.

    -Daniel Shavirin

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  24. I usually have a banana or some sort of fruit in the morning. When i work, i eat lunch there and i know for a fact that none of their meals contain processed ingredients. On days i dont work ill eat the usual Chipotle or subway. Im pretty good about eating healthy now because of my Nutrition class.
    -Lawrence Byun

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  25. Chris D'Arpa Most of the non processed foods i eat are fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. I would increase my consumption of non processed foods by eating more fresh foods instead of boxed or canned or frozen foods.

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  26. My non-processed foods are most fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. I can really eliminate the processed foods from my diet is just by replacing the frozen meals and things like that with non-processed foods.

    Tatum King

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  27. Most of my non processed foods are fruits and meats, especially red meats. I can enhance this by adding vegetables to most of my meals and eating chicken or turkey instead of red meats because they are healthier
    Jay Friedman

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  28. The main non-processed foods I eat are fruit, vegetables, and meat. I could decrease the amount of processed foods I eat by buying less of them, or simply eating more non-processed food.

    Dalton Carlson

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  29. The non processed food I eat is fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken, and fish. To reduce my consumption of processed food, I could eat more fresh food instead of canned, boxed or frozen foods.
    -Jason Lazar

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  30. Erik Gunnarsson
    I always have an apple at lunch and broccoli or salad at dinner time. Instead of eggo waffes, I could try to have yogurt and fruit for breakfast. I could also insist my parents on making banana bread more often.

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  31. My fresh vegetables and fruits are the non processed foods that i eat. I could eat more non processed foods by not buying as many canned goods.
    Mattin Gharagozloo

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  32. The non processed foods I eat are mainly fruits like apples and bananas and grapes as well as some meats and vegetables. I can increase my non processed food consumption by finding an alternative to always having a sandwhich for lunch.

    Patrick Chidueme

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  33. Most of the unprocessed food that i eat are fresh fruits and vegetables, and also some meats. I would try to eat fruits and vegetables more often instead of potato chips or other snack foods

    -Michael Panagos

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  34. most of my non processed consumptions are the eggs, fruits and meat i usually have for breakfast i also have veggie and fruit snacks between lunch and dinner. i could start making more fruit smoothies to up my balance of non processed foods.

    - cole abid

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  35. I have salad every night for dinner. I always have a fruit in my lunch and a fruit when I get home. For dinner when we have meat, its non processed and we cook it on the grill.

    -Kevin Ross

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  36. Most of unprocessed food that i eat is :
    salads(fruit or vegetable)
    meat on grill
    and eggs
    I can reduce the consuption of unprocessed food by stopping eating snack foods.

    George Giannos

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  37. Currently all of the fruits and vegetables that I eat are non-processed, as well as all of the meat that my family eats. I will continue eating all of these as well as eating fruit more often for a snack instead of chips or pop-tarts and things like that.

    ~Trevor Kern

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  38. I eat fruits and vegetables every day and the meat that I eat is never processed. I could try to eat a better breakfast like eggs and milk instead of what I usually have which is cereal.
    -Alex Pollack

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  39. Right now I'm in the habit of eating carrots and fruits everyday
    -Donovan Porter

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  40. I usually eat a lot of fruits and moderate amount of vegetables and rice and to eat more unprocessed instead of eating canned food I can eat an a fruit
    Andy lee

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  41. I eat some frest fruit everyday and i usually bring a sandwich for lunch. I also eat a lot of meat which is nonprocesed

    -Yusuf Khan

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  42. I have fresh eggs and oatmeal for breakfast every morning, i eat a piece of fruit during lunch everyday. i also eat unprocessed meats everyday for dinner, such as lamb, beef, venison or sometimes pork or fish. also during dinner i usually have some vegetables. What i could do to eat more unprocessed foods would be to eat unprocessed meats at lunch, instead of ham.

    -Alex Istaphanous

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  43. The nonprocessed foods that i eat for dinner are vegetables, and i eat a lot of fruit throughout the day as well. I also eat a lot of chicken.


    -Preetam Ganti

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  44. I eat organic eggs. i am eating a non proceeses wrap right now. I usally eat non prossed meat. I eat a lot of freh fruits and vegtables.


    Garrett Ruderman

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  45. I eat salads and fruits everyday. Every dinner i have has no processed foods in them.
    -Konstantin Mekhontsev

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  46. I eat vegetables every night for dinner. We have processed food only once in a while.

    -Alan Nguyen

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  47. Most of the non processed foods that i eat are either fruits, vegetables, or meat. I will try to eat fruits and vegetables more often than chips or etc.

    -saman nasserghodsi

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  48. My non processed diet mainly consists of meat, tea, nuts, soy products, fruit, whole rice, and organic milk. I would say it is about 15% of my total diet.

    Alex Walsh

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  49. i have fruit every day. i can eat more fresh foods instead of canned foods
    - matthew blaisdell

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  50. Most of the non processed foods I eat are fruits. I eat fruits everyday for lunch. I could eat less processed foods by eating less canned food and fruits.

    Jason Chen

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  51. I eat fresh fruits everyday and normally have a salad for dinner. Instead of eating processed bars and cereals and chips I can eat more fresh produce.

    -Andrew Jasen

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  52. There will occasionally be salads at dinner table and water is what i drink when i get thirsty with some drops of lemon juice. I usually just have fruits as snacks if i need a quick breakfast or snack.

    -Juan-Felipe Pataquiva

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  53. the meat i eat is not pocessed, i also have salad alot
    -matthew blaisdell

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  54. I eat alot of fruit and vegetables for dinner. And non processed meat sometimes.

    -Jesson Chen

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  55. i am currently eating sandwhiches every day i eat fish very frequently and chicken and rice and black beans are a usual meal in my house hold
    Daivon Adams

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  56. I eat fruits every morning and lunch, and have vegetables with dinner.

    -Max Levine

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  57. i really hardly eat any processed foods, i mostly eat meat and eggs and veggies for most of my meals because i need to stay really healthy for hockey

    -luke klecker

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  58. I eat alot of vegtables, fruits, and grains. (sometimes meat) i can eat less processed foods and more healty chocies.

    Tatum King

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  59. i should eat vegtables, fruits, grains, and meat. i should eat less processed food
    Johnny Bestland

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