Processed food is the new junk food.
We’ve all been there, rushed for time, empty fridge, 5pm, kids screaming, stuck in traffic and no dinner. So we opt for convenience, but at what cost? Cheap take out food, is now being replaced by an absolute saturation of processed food in the form of ready meals. So what’s the problem? We make them ourselves, so how are we different?
Well, once considered a marvel of modern food technology, processed foods and in particular ultra-processed foods have now earned the dubious title of the "new junk food."
The Rise of Ultra Processed Foods
Ultra processed foods have steadily emerged as a solution to the need for convenient, long-lasting, and easily accessible meals. It’s like someone cooking for you, when you don’t have the time. But delve a little deeper into what they contain, and how they’re made and it might make you think twice about which on you choose. Ultra processed foods typically contain ingredients that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen, including additives, emulsifiers, thickeners, stabilisers and preservatives. We add refined oils because of just how ubiquitous they’ve become in modern food - often without question - and how nasty they are in the way they’re prepared and the effects they have on the body.
The Health Risks of Processed Foods
Low Nutritional Value: Many processed foods are stripped of essential nutrients during processing. They are often low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, leading to poor overall nutrition. The oils used, include vegetable, soybean and canola, which all come from highly refined processes and contain the wrong balance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids, which can contribute to inflammation and chronic disease. As well as this, in Australia canola, soy and safflower are approved for genetic modification.
Additives and Preservatives: To maintain freshness and enhance flavor, to improve texture or palatability, processed foods are loaded with artificial additives and preservatives. These include colours such as caramel III (commonly found in gravy) which has been found to be carcinogenic. Many emulsifiers, thickeners and other common additives (which we will explore in another blog post) contribute to gut inflammation, raise blood sugar and can also lead to chronic disease.
Conventionally farmed meats: In order to keep below a certain price point, many ready meals contain conventionally farmed meats, which are bred and raised with added hormones and antibiotics.
A healthier alternative
Read Labels: This is the most important thing as a consumer. Paying attention to the ingredients list and nutritional information goes a long way to understanding whether what you are eating is real, whole food or hyper-processed food. Avoid meals with ingredients that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen. Contact the manufacturer and question the ingredients used, especially with items like gluten free flour, which can contain a myriad of different additives.
Avoid food with refined oils: Choose health-promoting oils like coconut and extra virgin olive oil and avoid refined seed oils such as canola, safflower, sunflower and soybean. Not only are they refined using processes such as chemical solvents, some of them are genetically modified and they also contribute to inflammation with the wrong ratios of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids.
Choose Products with Whole Ingredients: Opt for whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. These foods are naturally nutrient-dense.
Talk to your food producers and manufacturers: We live in an age of digital communication where we can reach out more easily to the very people who make our food. Ask them what’s in their food, and why?
Shop farmers’ market local: We are lucky to have so many great farmers’ markets in and around Perth. We’re often at the Sunday Freo Farmers’ Market which has such an abundance of local producers of food and food products.