Processed Foods

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Do you eat processed foods?

  • No processed foods for me!

    Votes: 7 14.0%
  • as many whole foods as possible, but some processed food in moderation is fine.

    Votes: 30 60.0%
  • i love processed foods! gimme that baloney and cool whip!

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • never really thought about it before, i just eat food.

    Votes: 12 24.0%

  • Total voters
    50
Hey I think that I figured it out :rolleyes: I think that it is Olive Oil. Wow I'm getting smart am I not?
 
A unhealthy processed food would be with anything with something on the label you can't pronouce, or with a lot of colors listed.
Always, Always read the ingredient list. That will tell you what is inside and whether or not you want to eat it or not.
Scratch is always best. That way you know what is in your food!
Wheat flour is better than white (because it has not been processed. Same goes for rice), butter is better than margerine (My mom says that margerine clogs your arteries), sugar is better than any substitute (My mom also says that sugar substitute embalms your body).

Any questions?

Cameron
 
Hi, Mac:

You sound like an intelligent young man. It's always good to have those around. You have some good ideas about foods. Everyone should know and understand what's in the food they eat.

Whole wheat flour is more nutricious than white flour but that doesn't mean white flour is bad stuff. Actually, even whole wheat bread has white flour in it.

I also prefer sugar to the sugar substitutes but a diabetic has to rely on substitutes to help control their disease.

Many of the foods we eat are processed to a greater or lesser extent. It's important to know what the processing is and what it does to the food in question. Some processing is needed to make some raw foods edible.
 
Unless I have good leftovers in the fridge, I eat a lot of canned soups for lunch, and it's always interesting to read the ingredients on those. I choose the ones that are lower in fat and calories, as I like to keep my lunch under 500 calories, including skim milk and crackers. Of course they are full of sodium, but most of the other ingredients sound pretty healthy, until you look a little closer, and see that the fat is replaced with sugar, corn syrup (more sugar) and cornstarch (turns into sugar).
Still, they're quick, are loaded with vegies, and must surely be healthier than lunchmeat.
 
Andy M. said:
Hi, Mac:

You sound like an intelligent young man. It's always good to have those around. You have some good ideas about foods. Everyone should know and understand what's in the food they eat.

Whole wheat flour is more nutricious than white flour but that doesn't mean white flour is bad stuff. Actually, even whole wheat bread has white flour in it.

I also prefer sugar to the sugar substitutes but a diabetic has to rely on substitutes to help control their disease.

Many of the foods we eat are processed to a greater or lesser extent. It's important to know what the processing is and what it does to the food in question. Some processing is needed to make some raw foods edible.

You should give the credit to my mother. Well I knew the wheat/white flour thing because I gave a speech for a 4-H contest talking about the wheat kernel.

Cameron
 
I'm here... but not necessarily by choice

Now I am not eating processed food. But it all came about because of a forced choice actually. From a heart condition that resulted with an operation some weeks ago I am on a cardiac diet. Low sodium, low fat. As you probably know, processed food is pretty much out of the question for me now. Not that things did not taste good before. I loved and still love hot dogs, hard salami, corned beef and probably 20 dozen other things that are processed to death (ony been 3 weeks). "Processed to death"... what a strange sounding phrase to use now. A phrase "Death with processed food" now vividly comes to mind.

I can say though that things taste a lot better now. I am concerned about coming home with the energy to cook... about taking lunches (but I think I'm going to cook larger dinners so I have a lot of leftover for lunch). About being able to restrain from eating junk food that my wife loves.. or that I happen to come about during my day and there is no food conviently available. Cooking and food is now more complicated for me. On the plus side I do LOVE to cook. I even started to make my own bread again (used to do it all the time). I finished school, started to work, got married and poof... got lazy! No really... I GOT LAZY. I started drinking slim fast shakes because of convience.

The nice thing is all this is happening when I'm pretty young... 38 years old. So I have basically a life time of ability to reap the benifits of healthy eating and life style changes that for many who would have needed to be "forced" into this change, would not have been till probably much later in life. With all that is happening I suppose I am trying to see the positive side of things (what else can you do huh:-p ).

One thing that is interesting is some of the reactions I get from people. Some have told me that because of what they have seen with me, they will change the way they eat as well... be more health conscious. Yeah right... this takes work and is not that easy... I just can't get a Big Mac anymore (although a friend of mine who just can't believe I had a heart attack in my mid 20s without knowing it went to the doctor for a checkup. He wants to make sure his health, expecially cardiac health, is not completely out of control). Another thing is some people have said... oh yeah... you are changing now, but wait 6 months. It will all come back. Well, I hope not. The book I am reading says that for many it happens like that. Makes me very nervous though. Every doctor I have seen so far has told me the same thing... you have Coronary artery disease... your heart is VERY WEAK.... there is no going back to how you lived before. Everything has changed for you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MS, I am happy for you that now you are well on your come back trail to regain your health, and that you have found the joy of healthier eating. Yes, I agree it takes hard work and dedication, but it will be worth it. And it is a good thing that you enjoy cooking. As you may be starting to realise, that healthy eating doesn't mean boring or tasteless at all, with some creativity and zest for research. There are tips and ideas for healthy, tasty, easy&quick-to-prepare dinners and lunches abound, here in this forum, on internet or bookshops. Absorb all the information that is useful to you, and soon you will be enjoying things much tastier and more interesting than Slim Fast!!
I was born with a hole in the heart which they had to operate on when I was 5. I was told any endurance exercise or sports were to be avoided for the rest of my life. However I became involved in physical fitness when I was 18 or 19, certainly my endurance was not my fortè at the beginning and I had to build it up very carefully, but now I can go for an hour of intense Spinning or Fitboxe regularly with more energy left to do some other exercises afterwards. You must have your health level monitored closely with your doctors for sure, but do not dispair about the loss, where there is a will, there is a way. You are still young, and if you stay on a right track I am sure you will have many, many fullfilling years ahead of you!! Good luck and keep it up!!
 
Have you read the label on a tuna fish can lately? Most have some sort of protein added. I only buy pure tuna with no additives.
I am with Piccolina I am sensitive to MSG and its cousin HVP or hydrolized vegetable protein.
After eating battered fish at a national seafood restaurant I felt like I had a hangover the next day. I contacted the restaurant and asked what was in the batter and they told me HVP was in the batter. If you are sensitive to MSG you will probably react to HVP.
I cook from scratch. Once in a while I will eat prepared food but I usually pay for it.
If I buy hot dogs I buy low salt Kosher all beef for a rare treat. Mechanically separated chicken doesn't sound appetizing as a hot dog meat.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom