One of the things we spend a lot of time working on in our Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Weight loss program is being mindful of how much processed food we eat.
Processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats have invaded grocery stores at an extremely fast pace over the past few years.
Add to it fast food which is also for the most part a highly processed food product (there’s a reason it ALWAYS tastes the same) and well it isn’t hard to understand why we’ve seen huge increases in obesity and health issues in the past 50 years.
And while in moderation processed foods can be a part of a healthy diet the truth is for many people processed foods are almost their entire diet.
Processed foods or as I like to call them manufactured foods often have chemical ingredients added to them in order to make them tastier and prolong their shelf-life. Again that’s not always a bad thing but unfortunately when mass consumed as so many do, they can also be devastating for your body, as they interfere with several biochemical reactions and may act as toxins.
The reason it’s difficult to stop consuming many of these products (ever eat just 1 potato chip or oreo? Prolly not!) resides within their addictive properties that stimulate our brain’s pleasure center (i.e., nucleus accumbens) and make you want more. Over time, the harmful substances may lead to debilitating medical conditions, including a wide range of cancers, especially colorectal cancer.
Like any addiction, there is no magical way to stop consuming processed foods, and the best way is still to gradually stop buying them while switching to whole foods in the process.
For instance, instead of buying canned tuna, it’s better to get fresh fish and cook it yourself at home. This way, you’ll avoid being exposed to all the harmful toxins and learn to enjoy making your own meals.
Another thing to consider is Oxidative stress and how processed foods create it and add to it.
You see, in our bodies, the cells stock compounds known as reactive oxygen species or free radicals, which are used to destroy the components of foreign pathogens (e.g., bacteria, viruses, fungi).
However, reactive oxygen species have one major flaw: The inability to distinguish between foreign pathogens and self-tissues.
As a safety net, the cells stock antioxidants (intrinsic and dietary) to maintain balance. Unfortunately, this process is not perfect, as the number of free radicals often exceeds that of antioxidants, leading to a metabolic state known as oxidative stress.
This pathological process predisposes people to premature aging, as well as a wide range of maladies.
Oxidative stress is significantly higher in individuals who consume large amounts of processed foods, which is another reason to cut them from your diet.
The takeaway… Again we don’t want to ever demonize a food but as the saying goes.. All Good Things In Moderation!
Processed foods are extremely damaging to the human body when consumed in large quantities (as in the Standard American Diet) and should be minimized and in some cases outright avoided.
While doing so, try to switch to whole foods like fruits, veggies and meat (think ingredient list of 1), as they carry more nutritional value and health benefits.
The bottom line… If you eat a bunch of crap don’t be surprised that your body feels like a bunch of crap. Garbage in = Garbage out
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