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Thursday, December 27, 2018
What Are Processed Foods?
“I actually don’t eat processed foods.” You hear it fly out of your mouth at a cocktail party or first date, and just as it does, you realize you have NO idea what it means. Even if you haven’t said it out loud, surely you’ve heard the phrase, and in an effort to “gett healthier” in some way, internally deemed processed foods unsuitable for your own consumption. But what are they, and are processed foods as bad as they’ve been billed? Should you just simply avoid them altogether? The answer is nuanced, but mostly…not so much.
What is processed food?
“Processed foods” implies an enormously large umbrella, and encapsulates any food that has been changed in some way prior to sale, cooking, and consumption. The International Food Information Council identifies processing food as “any deliberate change in a food that occurs before it’s available for us to eat…as simple as freezing or drying food to preserve nutrients and freshness, or as complex as formulating a frozen meal with the right balance of nutrients and ingredients.”
This can be complicated to navigate since there a thousand and one ways to modify foods, from the drastic to the basic; ancient techniques, like drying and fermenting, to more modern genetic and chemical modifications. Foods are also modified for all sorts of reasons, from improving taste and visual appearance to extending shelf life, but also some other unexpected reasons you might not associate with processing, and which are actually good for you.
The few totally unprocessed foods—the ones you’ve been telling yourself to eat as much of as humanly possible—are a fairly small list of fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, seeds, and other foods that are just as they were when they left the earth, tree, vine, pod, shell, sea, or slaughterhouse. So a better question to think about (and ask yourself) as you stroll the aisles of the grocery store is not “Is it processed?” but rather “How processed is it?” (and “How is it processed?”). Speaking VERY generally, the less the better, with a few serious caveats.
How processed is it?
Some minimally processed foods like bagged vegetables, fresh fruits, plain rice/grains, salad greens, seeds, nuts, and roasted coffee beans are technically processed, but in very innocuous ways, simply cooking or preparing them for in-store and at-home convenience. These are processed for your benefit; cleaned, cooked or cut for safety and ease.
Slightly more heavily processed foods, like boxed crackers, frozen fruits, or canned/frozen vegetables and legumes, may have some added preservatives, but the effect is minimal as the basic canning, packaging, and freezing processes are effective and relatively non-invasive. Do remember, however, that canned foods experience a significant loss of nutrients so fresh is always better if it’s possible.
Bread Alone
More processed foods include those modified for taste and appearance with sweeteners, flavorings, spices, and of course, preservatives. These include bottled sauces, salad dressings, and spice/batter/gravy mixes. This more complex category is one that requires you to learn, read, and research specific ingredients so you know what you’re putting into your body. A good rule of thumb is the fewer ingredients, the better—and remember, they are listed in descending order from the most prevalent ingredient to the least. The hard to pronounce ingredients are often fillers, sweeteners, colorants, and preservatives.
NutriBullet High Speed Mixer/Blender, $49.88 on Amazon
Great for blending whole fruits and veggies for a less-processed diet!
Bread and baked goods are one category of food that runs the gamut from highly processed to not much at all, and should be very carefully considered. Bleached white bread and rolls, like Wonder brand, are highly processed and preserved, obliterating all nutritional value, while more natural brands like Arnold and Bread Alone, still may contain some preservatives, but not nearly as many. Watch out for fillers and sweeteners like corn syrup or even less scary-sounding honey, which are unnecessary. Again, read the ingredients; the fewer total and the more you recognize, the better.
Hungry Man
The worst processed foods come in the most convenient of Trojan horses: ready-to-eat, frozen or prepackaged food and meals. The more complicated the food, the more tampering with it needs to be done to make it remain edible and “tasty.” This includes frozen packaged meals and microwavable dinners, complex packaged desserts with cream and frosting like Twinkies and Pop-Tarts. This does not apply across the board, however, as much as it used to, with brands like Amy’s Foods having found ways to make and distribute frozen foods without heavy use of chemical preservatives. The proof is always in the packaging, so read, read, read!
Processed for good
On the flip side, some foods are processed to improve or fortify their health benefits, although these days it is, unfortunately, a smaller percentage than those processed for reasons not related to nutrition. Certain bread and granolas are fortified with fiber, or riboflavin, for instance. Milk, juices, drinks, and yogurts often get a boost of calcium or vitamins that have varying degrees of positive impact on our health.
Tropicana
Another thing to keep in mind is “low-fat” and “diet foods” are very often processed at a higher rate than others, and many times in a negative way. Consider that if a food product is billed as “low-fat,” that means fat (taste) was removed from the original product and it has likely been either chemically altered or contains severe flavor additives to make up for the loss of fat and flavor. More often than not, this means added sugar, which is arguably worse for us than the original fat that was removed.
In general, the term “processed foods” should not be something to scare you or stop you from buying or eating something, but if you suspect or discover something has been heavily processed, for any reason, it would be wise to consider both the means for and the process by which it was altered before buying. When it comes to food, as with almost anything else, knowledge is power!
Related Video: This is the Most Popular Whole30 Recipe on Pinterest
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Five Easy Ways to Eat Less Meat in the New Year
Yes, we know: Hamburgers taste sooooo good. Unfortunately, according to recent reports—including one prominently published in the journal Science—it seems that going meatless might be not only the best thing for our individual health but also, and perhaps more importantly in the long run, the best thing for our environmental health, too.
According to the University of Oxford’s Joseph Poore, who headed up the research team on the recent study, “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use. It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car.”
It’s easier to reduce your meat consumption than it is to buy a Tesla anyway, and it’s a lot more delicious, to boot. If you’re considering easing yourself toward a more plant-based diet, now is the perfect time to start experimenting on a small scale.
Frugal Vegan : Affordable, Easy & Delicious Vegan Cooking, 14.95 at Target
Katie Koteen & Kate Kasbee share diet and money-saving recipes!
Now, as food lovers we at Chowhound realize it’s not reasonable to cut all meat out cold turkey, and what’s the fun in that anyway? If veganism is on the horizon for you, that’s great (and we have plenty of content to help you along the way), but a little bit less goes a long way, and if we all cut back a couple of days a week we can collectively have a pretty big impact. Oh, and we’ll also save money, maybe wind up with improved health, and will probably cook more adventurously, too—happy by-products of a regular day or two of eating plants every week.
Here are five ways to start exploring the produce aisle that won’t have you missing meat for a moment.
Buy meaty vegetables
Sassy Southern Yankee
Believe it or not, the plant kingdom has a lot of savory, even meaty-tasting options for folks who crave the salty, chewy, juicy experience of eating red meat. One of the easiest and most convincing swaps is grilling portobellos instead of porterhouse: These big funghi change into a remarkably meaty texture when cooked, and when seasoned with a bit of balsamic or Worcestershire sauce, even the most blood-hungry steak lover can find some satisfaction in a thick slab (especially with a classic steakhouse side of baked potato). Get the Easy Balsamic Garlic Grilled Portobello Mushrooms recipe.
…Or fishy ones
Shutterbean
Marshy-tasting red beets become tender and tuna-like when roasted, and chopped into small cubes they’re a perfect substitution for raw fish in a colorful, versatile poke bowl. Pieces of nori seaweed and sesame seeds add to the effect, and topped with a vinegary, soy-based dressing, these healthy veg are not just an okay replacement, but a really delicious alternative to (expensive and unsustainable) seafood. The best thing about poke bowls is how mix-and-matchable they are, too: Try different types of beets, add grated ginger and wasabi, and experiment with different raw veg. (But don’t forget the avocado, because avocado is the best part of anything, let’s get real.) Get the Beet Avocado Poke Bowl recipe.
Take a culinary world tour
Janessa’s Dinners
Lots of international cuisines eschew meat and dairy for reasons of culture, religion, location, and even economics: Taking a cue from how our global neighbors enjoy fresh and delicious food without relying on animals can teach us new ways to explore spice, and we discover new and exciting flavor combinations we would never have dreamed of if we were just eating chicken tenders all the time. Ethiopian food, in particular, has a wide variety of traditionally animal-free dishes, and it’s convenient to make big batches of ahead of time to cut down on weeknight prep. If you’re feeling extra ambitious, try to master the art of injera, too: The spongey sourdough bread is rolled out like a crepe and used instead of utensils to eat dishes like warmly spiced mesir wat. Get the Vegan Ethiopian Trio of recipes.
Beans are burgers too
Lukas Volger
Concerned about cutting out iron when you cut back on red meat? Don’t worry: There’s a bean for that. Black beans are one of the top plant-based sources for iron, clocking in with 8.7 milligrams per 100-gram serving. They’re also easy to cook, inexpensive to buy canned, and they blend well with all kinds of spices and flavors—like sofrito, which is a fantastic topping to have on-hand anyway. (See? We’re looking out for you.) Get the Sofrito Black Bean Veggie Burger recipe.
Remember that it’s all about the sauce
Dashing Dish
Rather than mourn the loss of Buffalo Wing Wednesdays with your buddies, remember that the most exciting thing about those wings are the buffalo sauce itself, not to mention the blue cheese dip that makes the perfect hot-cold combination. The chicken was always an afterthought anyway, and who wants to gnaw around all those bones? Cauliflower is a weirdly perfect swap for chicken and makes a perfect vessel for all the sauces and dips you love. Plus, you can’t beat these little flavorful florets for their pop-ability—no choking hazard involved. Get the Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower recipe.
Related Video: How to Make Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese
All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. For more great hand-picked products, check out the Chowhound Shop.
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BBQ Meatloaf Bites
Continue reading "BBQ Meatloaf Bites" »
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