No-Processed Foods Diet
In today’s busy world, most people can’t find the time to make food from scratch every day, let alone sourced fresh produce for the entire week.
This has paved the way to consumption of unhealthy food items that people consume without even realizing the potential side effects that they come with. The general rule of thumb is that any food item that is frozen, canned, dried or ready-to-eat comes under the category of processed foods.
Why should we avoid processed foods? Simple: they aren’t good for our health.
Multiple studies and research over the years have linked the consumption of processed foods to cancer. If one suffers from cancer or simply wishes to live a healthy life then cutting processed foods from one’s diet is the way to go.
To do so, we first need to know what processed foods actually entails.
What Are Processed Foods?
Just think of anything that’s cheap, convenient and easy to make – from ramen to frozen pizza and even bacon, they’re all processed foods. While the first thought that comes to mind is about “unhealthy” food items, frozen foods, packaged salads, cut fruits also fall under this category.
When someone refers to processed foods they’re mostly talking about foods that aren’t minimally processed, but those food items that have preservatives and additives. These are also known as “Ultra-Processed Foods”.
And yes – famously “healthy” snacks like granola bars and flavored yogurt also happen to be heavily processed foods.
They’re made for convenience, they cost less and have a long shelf life. Why? Because they’re mass-produced and chock full of additives.
Why Are Processed Foods Risky?
To begin with, processed foods are highly unhealthy. They contain large amounts of additives, like sugar and sodium. This is most common in common snacks like granola bars, which contain a lot of added sugar for taste and preservation. Ultra-processed food items also have a lot of trans-fats which aren’t good for your body.
Processed foods are also linked to weight gain, cancer, and early deaths. A study of more than 100,000 French adults established a link between processed food consumption and cancer. Another study showed that ultra-processed fats and sauces and sugary products and drinks were associated with an increased risk of overall cancer, and ultra-processed sugary products were associated with the risk of breast cancer.
As per researchers, 20% of cancers have links to excess weight. When dependent on processed foods, not only are we depriving our body of the necessary nutrition but we’re also digesting hazardous ingredients that aren’t good for our health.
Processed foods are usually high in fat content, thus leading to excessive weight gain. The mere accessibility of these processed foods is what makes it so dangerous to everyone’s health and well-being.
Which brings us to: if not processed foods, then what? Everywhere we look, processed foods are available en mass – so what are the alternatives?
What Are The Alternatives To Processed Foods?
If you’re suffering from cancer or someone who wants to avoid the risk of cancer, you’re probably on the lookout for healthy food items and items that are alternatives to processed foods. What you’re looking for is generally called “clean foods” or leading a “clean eating” lifestyle. We’ll explain what that is below.
Clean-eating refers to the practice of avoiding processed food and consuming food items that nourish one’s body. You don’t have to necessarily go all out – it can just mean a precise moderation of consumption of processed and packed food items.
How To Recognize Processed Foods?
There is one simple trick behind recognizing processed foods: check the label.
If it has words you can’t pronounce, don’t consume it. If it has carnauba wax, soy lecithin, and artificial flavor, don’t consume it.
On the other hand, if it has ingredients that you recognize, that’s probably a good place to start.
Which Food Items Should Be Consumed?
Food items range from unprocessed to ultra-processed. Based on your likes and requirements, pick and choose what you can or can’t eat.
Here are some of the most common “Clean” food items:
- Fresh fruit
- Vegetables
- Beans
- Peas
- Whole grains
- Nuts and seeds
The rule of thumb is to consume whole foods. If something looks completely different from what the original food looks like, avoid it: think chicken nuggets vs chicken breast or apple juice vs a whole apple.
Are All Processed Foods Bad?
The answer is no.
Remember that range we talked about? There are certain food items that fall under “lightly processed”, these are food items that have gone through minimal processing.
Milk and eggs usually go through pasteurizing, which is good for them. If you don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, you can opt for frozen ones as they’re frozen at their peak so they’re safe to consume and packed with nutrition.
Let’s Process All This Information
In short, we avoid anything that’s been highly processed and stick to whole food items. While avoiding processed foods, it’s important to consume all forms of nutrients – eating clean doesn’t mean a 24/7 juice-cleanse or a smoothie spree.
Clean eating means eating like a human. Don’t fall for fad diets or trends that do more harm than good. If you feel like clean eating can’t be done on a daily basis, don’t worry. It’s very easy to meal-prep your way through the week and just eat those meals.
As long as you’re generally consuming healthy, unprocessed and nutritious food items, that’s all that matters.
If you think all of this is overwhelming, start slow. Start by easy to replace items like yogurt and store-bought juices with homemade ones. Not only will you start liking the process, you’ll love how your body responds to the change.
Now that we have all this information with us, the next step is to do what makes the most sense to you and to the best of your abilities. Everyone’s bodies are different and they react differently to food items, always keep that into consideration before switching it up.
Good luck!