Food & Beverage

6 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Highly Processed, Manufactured Foods

Anonymous
6 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Highly Processed, Manufactured Foods

1. Sugar

Looking in the dry food aisles and the frozen food aisles at the supermarkets, I can find a lot of sugary substances. Soda drinks, sweet rolls, candy, chocolate, doughnuts, danishes, cakes, cupcakes, muffins, doughnut holes, fruit juices, energy drinks, sauces, condiments, and canned goods. Now, people may say, "Well, you should eat anything in moderation!" Moderation? How can you eat in moderation when these packages come in big portions and expiration dates? Let's say you buy one of those Nutella bottles. You spread a little bit of Nutella on toast in the morning. To make sure that you eat the whole container of Nutella by the expiration date, you have to consume the product on a daily basis. A daily dose of Nutella is too much sugar. You are better off eating an apple every morning to keep the doctor away and stabilize your blood sugar levels. You don't have to eat like a diabetic, but diabetes-friendly meals can show you that it is possible to create low-sugar alternatives of your favorite foods.


2. Fat

French fries, fried chicken, cheese, cheeseburgers. You need fat in the diet, but the amount of fat you get from processed foods is crazy.


3. Sodium

Sodium chloride is a great food preservative. If you want to preserve beef, then you have to use salt to turn fresh beef into beef jerky. Food manufacturers want to make sure that the food products stay in good condition on the shelf for as long as possible. So, it comes to no surprise that the food products will be laden with excessive amounts of salt. One lady on YouTube is a former Lean Cuisine addict before she decides to make her own Lean Cuisine look-alike frozen meals at home, without the excessive amount of salt and other food preservatives.



4. Weird Food Additives

Foods that are manufactured in factories and placed in pretty packages contain food dyes, thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilizers, preservatives, flavors, and flavor enhancers. These food additives are supposed to extend the shelf life of the food products. Customers want food products to appear fresh, not moldy, or badly out of shape; and if anything maintains the freshness for a long period of time, then it is going to help the company sell the product and not worry about losing money due to overproduction.


5. Food Addictions and Cravings

Food addictions and cravings imply that one MUST HAVE a specific food item or food type. People who tend to have food addictions and cravings don't crave the healthiest food products either. Rather, they tend to go for the specialty coffee drink, the rainbow-colored gelatin, or the chocolate pudding. As a result, they gain weight. A lot of weight.

I have never really experienced massive food cravings or sugar cravings before. As a matter of fact, I have never had a sweet tooth. My tooth is sweet-averse. Even when I was a wee child, I was a picky eater, but in a good way! When my class had cupcakes, I always removed the icing with a plastic knife or my finger and just ate the cake part. Among doughnuts, I only like regular glazed doughnuts, because those tend to be less sweet than the prettier and more colorful kinds. I ate sweets quite sparingly, so I never really got addicted to them or craved them.

I could tolerate most fruits and vegetables. Fruits had a tolerable sweetness to them, and vegetables were always prepared well and never soggy. Sadly, I feel that many people just don't know how to prepare vegetables to make them taste better. One time, my mother was hospitalized with viral meningitis and had to eat hospital food. It tasted awful. The meat was the only thing that tasted palatable, but the vegetables smelled funny and tasted bland. I observed it myself. It was probably derived from the same kind of cooking method in public schools. In primary school, steamed overcooked vegetables were served as a side dish, but when I opened it, I just smelled it and avoided it completely. They also had a dark green, discolored color instead of a bright green color. As I grew up, I just tolerated the cafeteria food.


6. Not worth the cost

Many processed snack foods are individualized to fit one person's mouth during one mealtime. Some goods are worth a few bucks; some goods are between $5-10. If you spend a few bucks on a large watermelon just for yourself, then you will probably spend a whole week consuming the fruit and rind. If you spend a few bucks on a sandwich at the deli store, then you can easily devour that in one or two mealtimes. Obviously, the more economical choice is to buy whole, unprocessed, bulk foods, which are good for your money and your health.

Now, you may suggest organic food. No, organic food has not shown that it is healthier than non-organic, regular food. You can receive the same amount of nutrition from non-organic, regular food as you would from organic food, and the toxicity levels of pesticides are relatively low and easily dealt with. For example, the leaves of non-organic/regular carrots should not be eaten, because they are heavily sprayed with pesticides, but the orange roots are safe. From an economical perspective, regular, non-organic food is much more affordable for the typical consumer than organic food. Only affluent people can afford organic food on a regular basis or even buy everything organic. Personally, I believe that local produce is more worthy than organic produce. At least they are cheaper and fresher.


6 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Highly Processed, Manufactured Foods
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