Processed foods have played a responsible part in our nation due to its health concerns. They are very tasty and often addictive too kids and young adults because of their high levels of sugar, sodium, and fat content. Almost everyone in the twenty first century has been used to eating processed food as part of their daily diet. Kids are always seeing eating a bag of chips rather than munching on an apple. Processed foods can increase your risk of being obese and getting diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. According to the article, Avoiding Processed Foods? by Sharon Denny, it states that “… processed foods is more than boxed macaroni and cheese, potato chips, and drive-thru hamburgers.” Surprisingly, homemade soup or …show more content…
Have you ever heard of something called a food processer? I think we get really caught up in the word processed without realizing what it truly means. Processed food falls on a spectrum from minimally to heavily processed.” In other words, Giancoli is defining that almost every food is processed but it all depends on what type of food it is and how they are packaged and preserved. For example, minimally processed foods include “… bagged spinach, cut vegetables, and roasted nuts…” which hold the purpose of simply facilitating us for our convenience. Canned beans, tomatoes, and tuna, and frozen fruits and vegetables are great options of processed foods. These are splendid sources of processed foods because they lock in nutritional quality and freshness. Present-day adolescents are heavily consuming ready-to-eat processed foods such as crackers, deli meat, and chips which are all heavy processed with high contents of …show more content…
Sugar is not just supplemented in pastry items, but also in various sorts of breads, pasta sauces, and cereal. Carbohydrates are a variety of sugar, and it also contains the naturally occurring amount of sugars in the food. “We think that just because a product says ‘organic’ or ‘natural,’ that means it’s better and healthier for us, but that’s not always the case…” This quote summarizes that we should judge a product by what it says on its box labels, but by looking at its ingredients. In order to find the types of hidden sugars in a product, we should take a glimpse at the ingredients. Products with added sugar usually always mention that there are amounts of “… sugar, maltose, brown sugar, corn syrup, cane syrup, honey and fruit juice concentrate.” in them. Another ingredient that is high in a lot of processed foods is called sodium. Sodium plays a role in canned vegetables, soups, and sauces by enhancing the taste and texture. It acts like a preservative. “Three quarters of our sodium intake comes from processed foods…” “We need some sodium, but we often consume much more than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ recommended 2,300 milligrams a day…” High sodium intake can lead to diseases such as hypertension, or high blood pressure. Some tips on how to avoid high sodium intake is by simply looking for products with low sodium content.
“Food as thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating,” is an article written by Mary Maxfield in response or reaction to Michael Pollan’s “Escape from the Western Diet”. Michael Pollan tried to enlighten the readers about what they should eat or not in order to stay healthy by offering and proposing a simple theory: “the elimination of processed foods” (443).
The problematic aspect of processed food is all the added hormones, preservatives, and antibiotics that are injected into the food. Organic foods have none of these additives, and the pure characteristic of organic food is a valuable thing. Pollan (2008) agrees with this when he writes, “instead of worrying about nutrients, we should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature” (p. 424). I have a medical condition in which I am not supposed to eat any foods that have added preservatives, hormones, or antibiotics. This is because my body is hypersensitive to chemicals and, especially, added hormones. It can easily cause serious health problems. Pollan (2008) also added an opinion made by a food politics and policy lecturer, Gyorgy Scrinis, who believes that, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing” (p. 423). If everyone would stop their constant consideration in nutrient content and turn their attention to additives; America could become a much healthier
When we say processed food what does this really mean? The food industry has changed the way food is being made today. This concept of natural and healthy food simply does not exist. Today, food is mass produced, genetically altered to grown faster, bigger and in a lot less time. We all know that vegetables grow in the soil, thi...
The food we eat today is processed faster than ever; however, some may say this is a bad thing. A quote by Michael Pollan says “Don’t eat anything that your great-grandmother would not recognize as food.” This quote’s underlying meaning is that the food of our great-grandparents’ time is more nutritious and healthier than the food of today. Even with today’s processed foods, the food is still healthier than the food of the past.
Michael Pollan discusses two categories of food: one is real food (the kind our great-grandmother would recognize), while the other is “edible food-like substances”. The category that needs defending according to Pollan is the real food. This category of food is minimally processed, fresh (will eventually rot), and includes mostly things that are taken straight from the source (the ground, tree, etc.). When one walks into a store, they should look for and pick the foods that are more “quiet”such as fresh produce than the ones that have more labels that say they are more healthy, or better for you.
The article that I read on “Processed Foods: What’s OK, What to Avoid” say “It’s blamed for our nation’s obesity epidemic, high blood pressure and the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes.” (Jill Kohn, 2015) It also says that it is surprising to “learn that whole-wheat, homemade soup a chopped apple are also processed foods.” (Jill Kohn, 2015) Even some of the conveniences we have could be considered processed like our bagged spinach or even the roast nuts. The conveniences that are not so good are like canned fruits, vegetables, because of the sugar or sodium that is in them.
We Americans are always on the go, no matter if it is on our way to work, school, or exercise. Most people are eating some types of processed food usually for almost every meal due to how quick it is to prepare. However, most Americans do not realize that the nutrition facts on the other side of their granola bar shows the ugly truth about what they are eating. Michael Pollan who is a highly esteemed author on this subject refers to the “Western Diet” as mostly processed foods. Pollan’s main argument is that Americans need to reduce the amount of processed foods that are consumed so that health risks will be reduced.
Many food industries concentrate on developing the processed foods because of the high profit margin from its products. The processed foods have excessive calories.
Growing up we are conditioned to eat or like certain foods that our family is able to provide for us. Every meal whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner is placed on our dinner table for us to eat by our family and we grow up to become so used to it, that these foods are still a part of our everyday lives. What we don’t come to realize is how bad all of the packaged and processed food is to us, or how money and being lazy has taken a very huge part on what is said to be the “National Eating Disorder.” Although some may consider unhealthy snacks to be “food,” they are, in fact, just junk- not food. Food is something that is needed in order to survive, but our thought of food is to consume processed foods, fast foods, packaged foods, and what
Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.
People in modern times tend to consume more oily, fattening, and overly processed foods compared to whole, natural, “organic” products. Not only are people eating more overly processed foods, but they are left dealing with the consequences that come with it. Obesity and diabetes are just the beginning of health problems that can be caused by poor diet.
When choosing carbohydrate-rich foods for your diet, always select unrefined foods such as fruits, vegetables, peas, beans, and whole-grain products, as opposed to refined, processed foods such as soft drinks, desserts, candy, and sugar. Refined foods offer few, if any, of the vitamins and minerals that are important to your health. In addition, if eaten in excess, especially over a period of many years, the large amounts of simple carbohydrates found in refined foods can lead to a number of disorders, including diabetes and hypoglycemia (low sugar). Yet another problem is that foods high in refined simple sugars often are also high in fats, which should be limited in a healthy diet.
Sugar can negatively affect the human body in numerous ways. The concerning thing about added sugars is that it is in most everything. People know sugar is in their cookies and ice cream, but most do not know it is in their salad dressing, pasta, and bread, and even meat products. At the University of North Carolina, they conducted a study of packaged food and drinks in the United States and found that 60% include some form of added sugar (Sanger-Katz). The average American consumes about twenty tablespoons of added sugar per day. An average female should have no more than six tablespoons a day and no more than nine for males. Americans think they are avoiding sugar but it can be under other names like corn syrup, agave nectar, palm sugar, cane juice, or sucrose
Processed foods can be greatly inexpensive and quick to cook. There is no surprise that it takes less than three minutes for some tv dinners to cook and for this reason, people will continue to buy processed foods. In the article “10 Processes Foods to Avoid” Elea Carey explains how, “Processed foods are convenient, and not all of them are bad for you.” After a long day, there is nothing like putting on a tv dinner to eat instead of cooking. Unlike going out the house just to buy fast food or spending hours to cook a meal. Elea Carey also states, “Sometimes, however, convenience can mean large amounts of hidden sodium, fats, and sugar, which are always bad news.” Quick and easy is not always the best route to
You need to eat food so that you can get energy and remain healthy all the time. This is the reason why most people buy foods from supermarkets, marketplaces and so on. You will realize that there is processed foods and fresh foods. Processed foods are those that come in a box, can, bag or carton and often modified to extend their shelf life leading to a little or no nutritional value. These foods are usually high in calories and have a little proportion of nutritional value. The more processes your food undergoes before you eat it, the less nutrition it provides. You will realize that food manufacturers normally use refined sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, preservatives and so on prolong the shelf life of their food products.