Processed Food for Thought

Add eggs, sugar, butter, flour, and mix… this is as processed as your food needs to be because the thing about processed food is this: you never know what’s in it.  And, what’s in your food is what feeds your body so it’s worth to learn about processed food to resist the irresistible allure of it.

We debated how to talk about this subject for a while.  You hear a lot about the horrors of processed food, and while we are not saying that everything you eat needs to be harvested directly from nature (many of our recipes rely on flours, vinegars and yogurts, which are certainly processed), the honest truth is that while processed foods are more convenient, most of them are just not that good for you.

We don’t want to overwhelm you with too much information at once (in fact, we were quite overwhelmed by what we learned in our initial research).  We are going to discuss this topic with you over time.  Check in over the next few months to learn about some of the worst offenders coming to you straight from the lab. These particular culprits are near and dear to our hearts (but not our mouths): sodium and MSG, GMO foods, a whole host of sweeteners including the ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup, and those beauties in your snack cakes, trans fatty acids.

Let’s start with the basics: by definition, processed foods have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons, for taste, or for convenience. Processing can be beneficial as it helps neutralize the natural toxins that exist in foods before they are consumed, which is why we should not think that all processed foods are bad and unhealthy. The game changes, however, if processed foods are made with trans-fats, saturated fats, sugar, additives and chemicals, large amounts of sodium, or alternative taste enhancers such as MSG. Delicious snacks that are healthy in their natural state are suddenly bad for you not only because the processing depletes them of the vitamins, minerals and fiber they offered originally, but also because processing adds ingredients that are not good for the body.

So, the next time you are in the supermarket shopping for your baked goods, breads and pasta made with refined white flour, frozen or boxed meal mixes and canned foods that are high in fat, sodium or sugar, packaged cakes and cookies and high-calorie snack foods, processed meats such as cold-cuts and many sausages, and sweet breakfast cereals, read the label and think of us as the cheering squad for the home team – fresh fruits and vegetables. Turn around and head over to the produce section! There’s a butternut squash waiting for you there.

Author: Kathrin

My weekly blog, originally started with my friend Jessica, entices readers to get into the kitchen and cook meals, every day. I provide inspiration, recipes, and reasons to overcome the struggles that keep people from cooking at home: confidence, time, desire, money or priorities. No excuses! Come and cook with us! View all posts by Kathrin