There are so many buzzwords that fly around when we start talking about nutrition. There are always new things to try or trends to follow. I have heard some people following the most insane diets because they saw someone talk about it on social media. Now I am all about trying new things and figuring out what works best for us but I also see rigid rules being spread around and that is where I feel the trouble comes in. In this post we are going to focus on and talk about processed food and whether or not you should be avoiding them!
People have said the most wild things to me about food and diets and I wanted to share some of them with you before we dive into the topic of processed foods. I have had people tell me all carbs are bad, that I shouldn’t eat fruit, that eating donuts would ruin my progress. I have heard that you shouldn’t eat sugar at all or that you need to be eating around 1200 calories to lose weight. The list could seriously go on and on but you totally get the point. So why am I telling you this? Because there is so much information out there and just because someone claims it online doesn’t make it valid.
I wanted to touch on that quickly before we dive into the topic of processed foods because there is so much information out there on whether or not you should eat them. The purpose of this post is to give you information and then have you decide for yourself. I am not here to tell you what to do!
Processed Foods, What Are They?
Processed foods are any foods that have been changed in any way. This could be simply freezing or drying or it could be more in depth like turning the food into things like cereal or sausage. The term processed foods can actually mean so many different things.
From the examples above you can see that all processed foods are not the same. You can have minimally processed foods and highly processed foods. It’s important to know the difference because so many people throw around this idea that they do not want to eat any processed foods but because they are not all the same I just wanted to make sure it was clear for you.
Should You Eat Them?
I told you in the beginning that I am not really going to answer this question because it is up to you. Instead I am going to take this time to share with you my view on eating processed views and tell you what I do in my own life. Like I mentioned before there is a big difference in types of processed food. This is why I don’t treat them all equally.
What I like to do is really try my best to limit the highly processed foods. For me this would be things like cereal or cookies. The items found in boxes with a ton of ingredients. Now I didn’t say I eliminated them completely. I don’t like to eliminate anything totally because I feel it just doesn’t work out well for me. I like to try and limit certain things, like highly processed foods, most of the time. That is a better outlook for me and works well.
For minimally processed foods like frozen veggies or canned tuna. I don’t make a habit of eating them all the time but I don’t also make a point to limit them. I’d much rather eat fresh fruits and vegetables but when I need to turn to frozen I totally will. Also things like canned tuna are game changers for me. Our schedules are so busy and sometimes I just need a quick lunch!
Next Steps
The biggest advice I can give you here is to just be intentional about your decisions. To do this make sure you are reading labels, know what you’re eating! If this is not something you do often then you are going to be surprised at all the ingredients you find hidden in foods you are eating. So just be mindful of that!
So friends, there you have it, a simple overview of processed foods and what you should do about eating them! If you decide you want to start cutting out more highly processed foods than just know this could take some time to get used to. Don’t expect change to happen overnight. Be kind to yourself and realize you are going to make some mistakes and that is ok! You got this!
