I'm thinking of starting a diet and I read in the Tampa Tribune that you want to avoid "processed foods".

Question

Ok, if i'm to avoid processed foods, which foods are processed and what foods are best to eat?

Answer 1

It's always better for you to cook your food from scratch instead of popping a processed package of food in the Microwave. I wouldn't go as far as avoiding it but I would definitely not eat a lot of it during the course of a week. The reason being because it has a bundle of sodium which can work against your efforts to loose weight. Plus most of package foods have a lot of Carbohydrates in them. Just be cautious and eat it in regulation.

Answer 2

Probably the article you read was recommending you eat things in their more natural state (bread, fruits, vegetables). Processed foods are things like fast foods, foods that come in boxes and packages in the grocery store. They have been altered from their natural states and have lots of things added and removed (think of a Twinkie, one of the most processed food items imaginable). Your best bet is to shop around the edges of the grocery store, in the dairy section, the produce section, the butcher section, etc. Those things aren't going to be overly processed.

If you're serious about starting a diet, the book YOU ON A DIET is a fantastic resource, and goes into some great detail about why you want to avoid overly processed foods, and what kinds of things you want to eat. It's very readable, and has humorous but informative illustrations.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

Not all boxed or canned food is overly processed. There are plenty of good canned foods in the natrual/organics section of the supermarket. Also, just read labels. Anything with enriched flour, anything with the phrase partially hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil, corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup, or other things that look as though they came from a chemistry lab and not from nature.

Brown rice and whole wheat pasta are boxed or bagged. Yet, the good stuff will just have brown rice or whole wheat pasta. Beans come canned, but it's usually just the beans and a preservative. (I've been buying organic beans from Kroger, the store brand since they're the same price as the non-organic.) Veggie burgers come in a box, but they're much better than boxed meat burgers. (They also come in organic.)

My rule of thumb is that the shorter the ingredients with the most natural ingredients are the ones to get. For instance, I buy Trader Joe's (a chain of low priced health/natural food store) chocolate chip granola bars. They're all natural, even the chocolate. Yet, the Quaker granola bars, cookies, etc. all contain corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils. Even though the label says that the oils provide a trivial amount of trans fat, it's still too much for me. Also, the Trader Joe's are only $1.99; The Quaker are over $3. Kashi bars are less than the Quaker at one store I shop and they're also all natural.

It's also other little things, like a box of whole wheat pasta (the Kroger brand is $.99 a box; about the same price as the white pasta) and a jar of pasta sauce ($1 when it's on sale) as opposed to a can of Chef Boyardee).

Oh, yeah. Most processed foods are also high sodium and/or high sugar, depending on what you get.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Answer 4

There are different degrees of processing, but ultimately there are a few things to look for.

You want to be able to read the label of the food and understand all of the ingredients. No weird chemicals or derivatives or artificial flavorings.

You want things that haven't been stripped of nutrients...for instance, if you're eating rice, you don't want white rice, which has been stripped of its bran. You don't want white bread. You want whole wheat bread and brown rice.

Another trick is to avoid anything with a label on it (the kind that lists out the ingredients). This is much harder to do, but even healthier. This means you would mostly eat fruits and vegetables fresh from the produce section, meat, veggies, beans, rice, and milk and dairy.

Answer 5

Generally anything in the isles of a supermarket is processed. Look for foods in their natural state like fish, chicken breasts, fresh veggies and fruits. This is the best way to avoid processed foods. If all else fails just read the labels.

Answer 6

Hi there. I did a lot of reading on a few years ago and here's what I learned.

Processed foods are foods that have been cooked, or treated with preservatives, flavoring etc. When you consume processed/cooked foods, the white blood cells in your body (which are used to fight off infection) rush to your stomach. This is because your body interprets processed/cooked foods as something detrimental to your well being.

If you consume foods that are NOT cooked/processed, then white blood cells do NOT rush to your stomach, indicating your body's acceptance of them.

So the best things to eat (at least some of the time) are raw things, but tasty things, like apples, carrots, oatmeal, peanut butter - stuff like that.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 7

The reason you are to avoid processed foods is that they contain high amounts of fat, salt and sugar as well as artificial colourings, flavourings and additives.

Processed foods are those creating by some kind of manufacturing process as opposed to foods that are natural and eaten in their natural state. So avoid anything that is packaged and eat anything that is in the same state as it was when it was harvested or killed. So you are fine with fresh meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, potatoes etc.

Answer 8

Anything that comes in a can or box is processed. So just avoid those, and obviously fast food.

Answer 9

Processed foods are basically anything canned or boxed.

Whole foods are things like fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and dried beans.

Answer 10

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