The biggest problem with highly processed foods is the processing removes important nutrients like fiber and vitamins. There are two reasons manufacturers do this. One thing is to give the food a softer texture, but more importantly,it increases the food’s shelflife. This is because pests are less attracted to food with less nutrition. But if we think about it,if the food is so low in nutrition that not even the pests want to eat it,how healthy can it be for us?! In fact,the nutrition density of a food is almost inversely proportional to it’s shelflife.
Food manufacturers try to use the cheapest ingredients and make them attractive by adding way too much salt,sugar and fat.
Nutrient Density
The nutrient density is another thing that tells us what food is good for us. Nutrient density can be thought as the amount of nutritional value,like the amount of fiber and vitamins,divided by the amount of calories. Hard to understand? Here are some examples: a glass of soda is high in calories,so it is an energy-dense food,but it has little benefit to our health,so its nutrient density is low. On the other hand,a bunch of fresh spinach has a high nutritional value compared to its caloric content,so it has a high nutrient density.
Is Fast Food Cheaper?
People often say that fast food is cheaper. This is true if you look at the cost per calorie. Since fast food is so energy-dense,you easily get full. However,fast food doesn’t provide much nutritional value. If we look at the cost per unit nutritional value,then buying fewer calories of nutrient dense food would be a much better choice. Highly processed foods contain large amounts of salt,sugar and fat because it makes the food sell. For food poor in nutrition,only these flavors can attract people. When we walk through the supermarket aisles,it might seem like we have many choices,but these food are all the same under their diguise.
Healthy Processed Food?
Some processed foods have certain nutrients added back to them after being refined to attract consumers that care about health affects,but this is certainly not a better choice than simply buying fresh food. We have to remember that the healthiest foods don’t come in packages saying how healthy they are.