Are we eating too much processed food?
Processed food has become a huge part of our culture. Not many people have the time to make a meal from scratch, so we rely on processed food for our meals. It is quick and convenient and with our busy lives we can make a meal in ten minutes. But do you really know what is in the processed food that you eat or serve to your family?
The danger lies in constantly relying on processed food for our meals rather than serving our families homemade nutritious meals most of the time. Now, I understand that processed food is necessary is some situations, but there is a lot of danger of falling into the pattern of constantly eating processed food.
Have you ever looked on the back of the box or can of the processed food you eat. Though the ingredients are listed, do you actually know what half of them are?
There are so many preservatives and additives added to processed food to give it a longer shelf life. The ingredients list does not list just how much of an ingredient is in the food. It will give the calourie count and the amount of carbohydrates, but does it tell you exactly how much additives is added to the food? You can never be quite sure exactly what you are eating with processed food. If you make a nice homemade meal, you know the ingredients and the amounts that are going into the meal. Many times you may think that a processed food is healthy and it could be loaded with unhealthy dyes or additives.
Also, because of the way the processed food has been pre-cooked and then frozen or dried out, processed food loses much of it's nutritional benefits. It loses much of the vitamins or minerals that the original food contained. If you have a frozen meal that has broccoli or other vegetables in it, you are not reaping the benefits from the vegetables as much as you would if you used fresh broccoli. The processing of vegetables, meats, and whole grains is a detriment to the nutrition of your meal.
Your food is the main source of your vitamins and minerals that you need everyday to make your body function. If you are not getting these materials, our body is going to suffer from it. So, if you keep eating processed food with no nutritional benefits, you are going to feel the side effects from doing so. Some of those side effects may include fatigue, headaches, dizziness, lack of energy, and stomach aches from the food.
Another danger of eating too much processed food is that most of the processed food is laden with sodium and sugar. Adding salt to the processed food helps aid in preservation of the food. Well, too much sodium in your diet can cause many different healthy problems. It can cause high blood pressure and dehydration.
Many people who already have health problems have to avoid too much sodium in their diet or their healthy problems may worsen. It is unbelievable how much sodium is in processed food. The makers of processed food like to use salt and sugar because it is cheap and bulks the food up.
Too much sugar from processed food can also cause severe health problems such as diabetes, tooth decay, high sugar levels, and dehydration. You are a lot better off eating a homemade meal were no extra salt or sugar is added into the meal.