Gluten the Enemy

Processed Foods

by Ms H

Foods prepared with physical or chemical treatments are considered as processed foods. They are almost always high in salt, which is their main negative point.  While salt in high quantities is unhealthy, small amounts are actually good for you and crucial for the function of all of our organs. However, the salt has its antibacterial properties, which make it ideal for preservation. Humans have been preserving foods for centuries. Your ancestors used to dry, freeze, can or pickle foods to extend their shelf life. Now with an increase in packaged foods also came an increase in different preservation methods. Chemical preservation is used to delay spoilage, enhance colour and flavour, and maintain consistency and texture of foods. The common preservative in many cured or smoked meats, such as bacon, jerky, deli meats and smoked salmon is sodium nitrate which helps to reduce colour changes.

Sodium nitrate in processed meat can damage the blood vessels around your heart, which can cause them to harden and narrow, which makes it more likely that you will develop heart disease. Eating regularly sodium nitrate with food you also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in additional to these your chances of developing certain types of cancer increases too.

Processed foods include synthetic additives; E numbers are codes for substances that are permitted to be used as food additives for use with in EU^] and Switzerland. They are commonly found on food labels.  Example cereals are very often fortified with calcium. Whenever cereals are refined the vitamins and minerals are removed and the companies must replace them later by law. This process is called “fortifying”. The nutrients that have been added to foods afterward they are less effective synthetic substances and often harder for the body to absorb but they are still better than nothing and they can provide an important way for us to get certain vitamins and minerals. For instance, someone who has a lactose intolerance might use a water fortified with calcium. Meanwhile fortification is the only way that vegetarians can get vitamin B12 in their diet, which is highly important for brain function and nerve health.

Often the reason that foods are fortified and processed is to improve the taste Often they will taste fresher after a longer amount of time.

Many of the processed foods we get from fast food chains have added saturated fats and trans fats. While these aren't good for us, they do make us feel full for longer due to their slowest digestion.

Generally the processed foods are not as healthy as getting fresh foods and nutrients by controlling your diet closely. 

Some foods are worse for you than others and are increasing your risk of many conditions and diseases. While cancer is one of the worst, regularly eating the cancer causing foods can also lead to heart disease, diabetes, chronic inflammation, and so much more.

Here is the evil food list: canned foods, refined sugar, salted, pickled and smocked foods, grilled red meat, carbonated beverages, white flour, farmed fish, hydrogenated oil, microwave popcorn.