Reducing Processed Foods for Cognitive & Overall Health: Part 1
By Michelle Kicherer of www.BananaPitch.com
We’ve heard a lot about “processed foods” and how they are bad for us. But what are processed foods? And what is the benefit of reducing processed foods? Firstly, processed foods are items that essentially don’t occur in nature, that usually contain multiple ingredients and that usually contain chemicals to make the food a certain way that is “desirable” to consumers. Think ready-to-eat items like most pre-made frozen meals, deli meats, many dressings and sauces, granola bars, crackers, cookies, candy…as well as fast food items.
Bottom line: if the ingredients in your food are difficult to pronounce or you just don’t know what an ingredient is-that’s often a sign it’s not something you should be eating. Examples of additives in processed foods:
Preservatives: to keep food from rotting
Colorants: to give food a certain color
Flavor: chemicals to give specific flavor
Texturants: chemicals to give a certain texture
These foods are difficult for our bodies to process and cause a strain on our systems. For more information on processed foods, stay tuned for next week’s article.
Foods that are not processed are those that occur in nature, and/or that don’t have multiple ingredients: fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, most dairy items, meat that hasn’t been flavored or altered in some way (ex: raw chicken breast vs chicken tenders flavored with complicated seasonings), whole grains like barley, faro or bulgur.
Here are a two examples of foods that can be natural, but that are often found (and bought!) processed. It is so important to read the ingredients and learn how to choose natural, whole foods.
Yogurt:
Natural: plain, unsweetened yogurt, with ingredients like milk, A. Acidophilus, L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus
Processed: flavored yogurt, with ingredients that include all the milk and natural bacteria above, but that also include high fructose corn syrup, sugars, corn syrup, pectin, Natural Flavor, Tricalcium phostphate…
Popcorn:
Natural: make-it yourself style, simply with kernels that you pop on the stove or air popper, and may add a little salt and butter. Three simple ingredients.
Processed: microwave popcorn, with ingredients like popcorn, salt, palm oil, “Natural and Artificial Flavor,” Color, Tbhq, Citric Acid.
Actually, microwave popcorn contains harmful chemicals that vaporize when heated and can cause lung disease, and may contribute to plaque as seen in Alzheimer’s patients. For a longer article, see here.
Stay tuned for part two of this article, where we talk about the effects of processed foods on our bodies. Until then, choose natural, and be well.
To contact Michelle Kicherer for nutritional consultation, email her! [email protected]. She is once again taking clients for dietary planning.