What Are Considered Processed Foods?

To the average American, a processed food is defined by the food industry. Usually these food products are low in nutrition, high in fat and/or sugar, and are generally marketed for taste.

How To Make Good, Low-Processed Foods

The lower the “processing,” or the more processing steps a food has undergone, the higher the added amount of calories, added sugar, salt, and fat in the food. This is just one reason why processed foods are worse for you than their unprocessed counterparts. We have to admit that processed foods do make for some good eats. In fact, there are processed foods that make many people’s taste buds go wild. Processed foods do come in many forms. In this article, we’ll cover the difference between processed and unprocessed foods.

How To Make Processed Foods Taste Good

There are a lot of people who are turning to processed foods when trying to live healthier. While it’s important to keep nutritious foods in your diet, some people have trouble sticking to a balanced, whole food diet. Some of the most popular processed foods include breads, pastas, rice, and canned foods. Other processed foods can include snacks such as chips, crackers, and granola bars. The issue with processed foods is that they typically don’t provide any nutritional benefits. What’s more, they also typically contain a lot of added sugars and salt.

What Should You Avoid?

Processed foods aren’t necessarily bad for you. However, many of the foods that are processed and packaged are loaded with unhealthy ingredients. Some of these ingredients are: High-fructose corn syrup
Sodium
Dyes
Artificial flavors
Hydrogenated oils
Artificial trans fats
Artificial sweeteners
What Should You Avoid?
This guide to healthy eating is packed with helpful tips and easy-to-follow recipes. It includes food lists and buying guides for each food group. Even though there are more than 20 food groups, this guide only includes the top five food groups. The other food groups, such as the dairy and meat group, are discussed in a separate guide. This is because they’re covered in another guide in this series. Some of the food groups, such as protein, are covered in the Animal Nutrition section of this series. However, this guide is ideal for anyone looking to learn about these food groups, regardless of whether or not they intend to follow a ketogenic diet.

How To Avoid Processed Foods

Commonly known as “junk food”, processed foods are foods that are typically made by taking less nutritious food and adding preservatives or additional ingredients to make it taste better. These foods are usually cheaper than the foods they replace and contain added sugars, salt, fat and preservatives. Some studies have shown that this type of diet may be a contributing factor in weight gain. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health published a study in the journal BMJ Open in 2015, in which they found that people who eat a diet high in processed foods have a greater risk of weight gain.

What Are Processed Foods?

There are many terms used to describe food that has been processed, or altered in some way. Some of the main terms used are modified food, processed food, fast food, and convenience food. Modified food is anything that has been modified in some way. A common modification is adding fat and sugar to foods. Processed food is anything that has been processed. Many food items are processed, from bread to frozen foods to breakfast cereals. Fast food is food that is made quickly, to be eaten quickly. This is typically served in fast-food restaurants. Convenience food is any food that is easy to prepare, has a short shelf life, and is convenient for consumers. Some other terms that are commonly used to describe processed foods are packaged food, and canned food.