On Whole vs. Processed Foods
The lovely folks currently participating in the Spring Fuel Your Fitness program were recently assigned the task of prioritizing whole foods over processed foods, as much as reasonably possible, within their daily meal and snack choices.
Since processing is a vague term, I further specified the goal as such: limit foods with 5+ ingredients to no more than two per meal. This effectively means that *most* food items existing in some form of packaging count as “processed” - pre-made dressings, condiments, bread, crackers, cookies, [most] protein bars and powders, etc.
The hope is that, over the course of the two weeks of this particular goal, one comes to realize the extent that they do (or, with any luck, don’t) rely on processed foods to get them through the day
Okay, I get it - but I’m still a bit stuck on what processed food actually is.
Fair point! Let’s secure some definitions:
As stated by the Harvard Health Blog,
Unprocessed or Minimally Processed Foods are:
“whole foods in which the vitamins and nutrients are still intact. The food is in its natural (or nearly natural) state. These foods may be minimally altered by removal of inedible parts, drying, crushing, roasting, boiling, freezing or pasteurization, to make them suitable to store and safe to consume.” Examples of minimally/processed foods would include: the produce you see in the produce section of the grocery store, raw meat, raw and unsalted nuts, etc.
Processed Foods are:
Foods that have been altered in any way from their natural state. This may involve: boiling, roasting, canning, hulling, fermenting, freezing, pasteurizing, etc. There might be one or two ingredients like salt, oil, or sugar added. Sometimes, nutritional quality is enhanced via vitamin and micronutrient fortification (e.g. adding vitamin D); other times, vitamins and minerals are lost via refining, heating or freezing. In many cases, alterations make the food edible, palatable, shelf-stable, or safe for consumption by removing harmful microorganisms - which, of course, is a good thing! Not all processing is bad, and in many instances, it is necessary.
So then, what’s all the hullabaloo? Why are we making processed foods out to be the devil?
Well, we do have one remaining category of food, and this is the one we have to look out for:
Ultra-Processed Foods are:
Also known as highly processed foods, these are the ones who processing is taken a step further, past the point of the useful benefits previously mentioned, primarily for the sake of being hyper-shelf-stable (not a word, I think) or extremely palpable. Ultra-processing adds excessive amounts of sugar, salt, hydrogenated fats, artificial coloring, preservatives and stabilizers. I’m sure you can guess the classic culprits included in this category, sometimes also referred to as “the middle of the grocery store”. Hot dogs and other processed meats, potato chips and other salty snacks, packaged cookies, brownies, ice cream and other sweet treats.
Okay... that doesn’t sound great. But where’s the actual problem?
Well, for one, hyper-palatability tends to result in mindless consumption that far exceeds your body's caloric needs, without meeting its nutrient needs. Diets rich in ultra processed foods are strongly correlated with excessive caloric intake and weight gain [source]. They are also associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and overall cancer rates [source]. Ultra processed diets have also been observed to be characterized by an increased intake of carbohydrates and fat, but not protein.
Whole foods typically take more work to get through: consider both time spent eating and fullness ratio when eating a chef salad vs. bag of veggies chips, or rotisserie chicken vs. chicken nuggets. When you eat whole foods, you’re getting more nutrients out your food, and eating greater volumes of food with lower energy density.
Okay ... but I like A LOT of ultra processed foods. Are you suggesting that I should be cutting them out entirely?
God, no. Anyone who has spent any semi-significant amount of time with me involving food knows that on any given day I will likely be eating: giant salads and grain bowls, and ice cream. I freaking love ice cream. Ice cream is, obviously, an ultra processed food. But as a human trying to enjoy life who is not a robotic health-machine, I enjoy my ice cream while knowing it is not a nutrient-dense food. 99% of the time, I think this is the move, and I would suggest it to anyone: Eat what you like, enjoy the heck out of it, and eat whole/minimally foods the other 80-90% of the time.
