Processed Foods Versus Whole Foods

Added May 15, 2012, Under: Children's Health, Diseases, Health, Nutrition

Did you know that any illness or disease can be traced to one of three causes – genetic, environmental or poor nutritional habits. The third one is the most important and the easiest for you to change because the food you eat or do not eat is the number one contributing factor to any ill health.

Just by giving up the unhealthy food and changing to healthy eating for a period of time (and hopefully for the rest of your life) can bring about a positive and long lasting health improvement.

Poor dietary habits can even trigger genetic tendencies towards disease such as cancers and others. In spite of this, the mainstream medical industry fails to educate their patients on the importance of what they eat or do not eat while concentrating on a pharmaceutical or symptoms approach to their health care. Very little time is spent in medical school on the importance of nutrition. Sadly, it is all about diagnosis and disease rather than the prevention of disease and the maintenance of good health.

But that is no reason why you cannot yourself prevent disease and maintain your own good health. After all, ultimately you are solely responsible for your own health and of course that of your children and perhaps even your elderly parents. And one of the best ways you can carry out such responsibility is to change completely from refined, sugary, processed foods to whole, living, natural foods.

Many people use the argument that processed foods are so much cheaper than whole foods. Well, they might be cheaper when you are paying out dollars in the supermarket but at what cost to your health? You will also find that when you change to a whole, living, natural food diet that the hunger pains diminish and you actually feel more satisfied because of the nutritious value. Unfortunately, processed foods are often lacking in nutrition so they leave you less than full but craving more of the same.

Several decades ago, we ate mostly fresh, local food with meals cooked from scratch and we knew where that food was coming from. As fast food and refined, processed foods gradually took over, they changed both our palettes, our tastes and the food business in general. And what was the result? Well the obvious ones were obesity and weight gain but cancer, heart disease, diabetes, liver overload and other conditions are taking a huge toll too. Many of the problems stem from the ingredients used in processed foods including artificial and toxic colorings and additives, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), hydrogenated oils, high sodium content, genetically modified foods, meat, dairy, poultry and eggs from factory farms, chemicals and insecticides sprayed on to vegetables and crops and so much more.

90% of the housekeeping money that Americans spend on food is used to buy processed items whether it is boxed, bagged, canned, jarred, frozen, refrigerated, dehydrated or aseptically processed.  Manufacturers would have you believe that processed foods have been altered from their natural state for “safety” and convenience reasons.  Unfortunately, convenience isn’t the only thing you get when you eat processed foods. You also get colorings, stabilizers, emulsifiers, bleaches, texturizers, softeners, preservatives, sweeteners, odor maskers and flavorings and none of them are natural.

There are over six thousand different chemicals used in processed foods. Do you really think that they are not going to cause you harm? And some more ammunition in the fight against processed foods is that your taste buds become so used to the strong flavors of processed foods that at first you want to add more salt or sugar to the natural flavors of whole foods. Fortunately your taste buds renew themselves every two weeks so you can soon get used to new healthier tastes. To make up for the loss of nutrients during processing, manufacturers add synthetic vitamins and minerals to their processed foods in the hope that they will enhance their nutritional content.

Changing to whole, living and natural foods means avoiding the central aisles at your local supermarket but cruising the perimeter aisles where the fresh produce lives. It means supporting your local farmers markets and it means going organic if possible but not if it entails buying wilted produce that is not locally produced but has had to travel long distances. It means using common sense to buy the best natural, fresh and local produce for your dollars and for your good health. Do your own research but please seriously consider making that change.

Processed foods versus whole foods? There is no contest.

About Jane Chitty

Jane Chitty writes regularly for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions. After living for many years in Cape Town, South Africa, Jane has now settled in the UK but is able to spend part of the year in the USA as she has close family living in both countries. She loves to compare natural treatments and lifestyles – especially in the areas of health, green living and nutrition – in these three very different countries. Her daily posts can be found at www.amoils.com/health-blog.