Contents:
- Medical Video: Healthy Eating : How to Maintain a Non-Processed Food Diet
- What is processed food?
- Why are processed foods adversely affecting health?
- Usually contains high sugar
- Contains high salt
- Contains high fat
- Many are low in nutrition
- Tends to be low in fiber
- Contains artificial ingredients
- How to be healthier to eat processed foods?
Medical Video: Healthy Eating : How to Maintain a Non-Processed Food Diet
Right now, of course you can easily find processed foods. When walking to a supermarket or minimarket, you will find lots of processed foods in the packaging. You also often buy it. But, actually consuming too much processed food is not good for your health. What is the reason?
What is processed food?
Processed foods are foods that have passed certain processes, such as heating, drying, canning, freezing, packaging, and so on. This process is deliberately carried out on food with a specific purpose. Like, so that more nutrients in food, food is more delicious, food is more durable, and so forth.
With these various goals, it means that not all processed food is a bad choice. Some foods do need to be processed to make it safer when eaten. For example, warm up in milk to kill harmful bacteria in it.
Why are processed foods adversely affecting health?
Food that is processed and through a long process is actually not harmful, but can also be said to be detrimental to health if eaten too much or too often. Why? The content in processed foods can usually be detrimental to health if too much is entered in the body.
The following are the reasons why most processed foods are said to have a detrimental effect on health:
Sugar levels that are too high in the body can certainly harm your health. Sugar can increase the calories that enter the body, causing weight gain. High sugar levels in the blood can also cause diabetes.
Every food that is preserved must contain high salt (sodium). Whether to add flavor, for preservation purposes, or for other purposes. This is certainly not good for health, considering the need for our salt (adults) every day is only 6 grams (1 teaspoon). Too much salt that enters our body can cause hypertension.
In addition to high sugar and salt, processed foods usually also contain high levels of bad fats. Too much bad fat in the body can increase the risk of oxidation and inflammation in the body. In addition, it also risks developing heart disease.
In some cases, food that goes through a long process has a low nutrient level so it is added with vitamins and synthetic minerals to replace lost nutrition. However, these synthetic vitamins and minerals are certainly no better than nutrients that are naturally contained in unprocessed foods. So, the nutrients you get from processed foods can be less than what you get from unprocessed natural foods.
In fact, fiber is needed by our body. Fiber can smooth your digestive system, so you avoid digestive problems, such as constipation. Fiber is also a food for good bacteria in the intestine. By eating fiber, you also feel more full, so that not too many calories enter your body every day.
Have you ever read the ingredients in processed foods? Do you understand what is meant there? Most people may not understand this because these ingredients are artificial chemicals that are added to food for certain purposes.
How to be healthier to eat processed foods?
Indeed, to escape dependence on processed foods is very difficult in this day and age. These foods make our lives far more practical. However, that does not mean you can just arbitrarily eat processed foods. If your life wants to be healthier, you should do the following tips in eating processed foods.
- Not too often consume processed foods in the packaging
- Reading the information label on nutritional value before consuming processed foods, pay close attention to the sugar content, salt (sodium), and fat
- Pay attention to the expiration date before buying processed food
- Don't forget to eat vegetables, you can combine them with processed foods
