So a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition analyzed how food is processed. It explains processing was created and continues to extend the shelf life. These steps significantly reduce the nutritional content and biochemistry of the food. The typical forms of processing include: adding preservatives, adding colorings or flavorings, fortifying or enriching, dehydration or drying, smoking, and flash freezing! Wow, I get overwhelmed thinking about these yet we eat these sorts of things all the time.
The researchers found that 76.9% of all the foods reviewed within people’s homes were processed and over 1.2 million products were included in the study. Create a list of the foods you have eaten so far today that have some sort of processing. In just my breakfast which was a yogurt parfait I had plain yogurt*, cashew milk*, nuts & seeds, cinnamon, homemade strawberry jam, oats, and dried fruit*. So in this nutritious breakfast I had 3 different processed foods. This just puts in perspective how much processed food we truly eat throughout the day.
So how can we eat less processed foods?
- Stick to the produce aisle and buy fresh produce while grocery shopping.
- Grow a garden.
- Make fresh food and then freeze it if there are leftovers to use within upcoming weeks.
