The Dangers of Eating Processed Food Instead of Real Food
When it comes down to the subject of real versus processed food, the bottom line is that real food is ALWAYS your best choice. End of story. The end. Have a great rest of your day.
Ok… Ok… There’s more to the story and a lot to learn when comparing the two. You may not consider ground turkey or ground beef as being processed food, but in fact, they are — at least by definition. The process of grounding is actually mechanical processing, whereas all of the things we consider “bad” or “unhealthy” for us are processed chemically. Taking turkey or beef and grounding it does not change the fact that it’s still real food. It’s simply being ground up.
Robert Lustig, MD, was quoted saying, “The short definition of ‘real’ food is food that doesn’t have a Nutrition Facts Label. If it has a label, something’s been done to the food. If it doesn’t, nothing’s been done, it’s ‘real.’” While what he is saying is true in a sense, it’s a little extreme.
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Food can change its state without being deemed “not real”. For instance, if you put beef in a dehydrator, once it pulls out the moisture and becomes beef jerky, does that mean it’s no longer “real food”? Absolutely not. It’s absolutely a real, wholesome food. No chemicals are being added. So, we need to be careful about how we are positioning real vs. processed food and not demonize food that is still healthy and natural but has been mechanically altered. You can still have healthy wholesome food that has been “processed” by it being pre-washed, frozen, or cut into pieces.
For instance, a better way of looking at this is something Trinh Le, MHP, RD has said, and that is, “Real food is food that comes directly from the earth or is kept as close to that state as possible. Real food nourishes with the shortest, most pronounceable ingredients list — it’s safe to eat, but when left to its own devices, it can rot away.”
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Real food will never last as long as processed. Think along the lines of apples. If you cut a fresh apple in half and set it on the table, it will start to turn brown after as short as a few minutes to upwards of a couple of hours, depending on the type of apple. But a bag of pre-cut (processed) apples can sit on a shelf for days — sometimes even a week, depending on the preservatives used on the apple before packaging.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program, changing your daily nutrition, or adding any supplements to your regimen.
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Where Your Focus Should Be
There really isn’t a real vs. processed food debate out there. Everyone (for the most part) understands the health and nutritional advantages of consuming whole food ingredients. It just comes down to the choices people want to make on whether or not they want to follow them and consume real food products or go the route of convenience with processed food. The problem and leading factor tend to come down to “convenience.” Everyone lives a busy lifestyle, and the truth is, preparing whole-food meals is time-consuming. Therefore, people lean more towards processed foods out of ease to make and prepare. But as with any “shortcut,” there are disadvantages.
It should go without saying, but you want to eat foods that are real, whole, clean, unprocessed, and without additives. Is that 100% realistic for most people? Probably not. However, you should make a conscious effort to eat as many real foods as possible in your diet.
How can we put more focus on real food? Get acquainted with the outer walls of the grocery store. While not everything on the store’s perimeter is “real,” the majority of it is. What do you find on the perimeter? Items like fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and lean sources of protein such as beef, chicken, eggs, and fish.
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By consuming foods that are in their natural state (or minimally processed), you can protect many of the vital nutrients and minerals. Heavily processed products have many of the nutrients stripped or lost during the process, which causes them to be much less nutritious and no longer a real benefit to consume.
12 Reasons to Eat Real Food Options
- Loaded with Nutrients
- High in Fiber
- Contains Helpful Antioxidants
- Supports Heart Health
- May Prevent Overeating
- Better Weight Management Control
- Helps Control Blood Sugar Levels
- Contains Healthy Fats
- Good for Your Skin
- May Reduce the Risk of Diseases
- Low in Sugar
- No Artificial Ingredients
How Do You Know If A Food Is Processed?
A simple way is to see where you purchase it from in the grocery store. If you’re walking up and down the aisles versus the perimeter, the chances of an item you pick up being processed increase. You can almost guarantee it’s processed if it comes in a box. You can go one step further and turn the packaging around and look at the ingredient list. If the food is real and natural, it will have minimal ingredients listed, and you should be familiar with all the ingredients listed.
Processed food, on the other hand, will have ingredients like potassium bromate, high fructose corn syrup, sodium nitrate, hydrogenated oils, various chemicals, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, and texturants to give food better “mouth-feel.” Additionally, you’ll find a bunch of ingredients that will make your eyes go crossed trying to figure out how to pronounce them. Also, have you ever paid attention to the ingredient profile of processed food? Trying to read all the ingredients out loud will leave you needing to catch your breath — it’s a paragraph long.
When you look at processed food that comes in a box, can, carton, bag, etc., you’ll notice a shelf life of sometimes up to (or even exceeding) one year. Want something you can keep forever? Go check out the dating on Twinkies. It’ll probably outlive most of us. Food companies don’t want to sell food to grocers who then need to worry about the product going bad and then sending it back or asking for credits. No, they want the product to last a long time on the shelf. So, what do they do? They load it up with preservatives to extend the shelf-life. Food companies want to mass produce items where they can focus on their bottom line, not your health.
At what point do we say enough is enough? While processed foods are more convenient and, in most cases, a cheaper option than real food options, at what ultimate cost? Is your health a concern? Are you looking to live a long and healthy life? Essentially, when you purchase processed food, you’re stripping away key nutrients your body needs to consume something more convenient. Processed foods are causing us to overeat regularly, which can lead to weight gain. Have you ever grabbed a bag of chips as a snack and blew through the whole bag without ever getting full? It happens to people every day. And these types of processed foods are high in calories, fat, sodium, and many cases, sugar. When excessive weight gain creeps up on you, it can lead you down a rabbit hole of many various illnesses and diseases.
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A great suggestion is to look at all the food you normally purchase at the grocery store and see where you can swap out a portion of processed food for a real food option. Do this every week, where you pick one item and swap it for real, wholesome food option instead. Not only will the real food variety taste better, but it’s full of nutrients that the processed version lacks. In the end, if you’re not paying attention to your health and making your nutrition a priority, no one else is going to do it for you.
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