Eat Less Processed Foods!
How to Eat Less Processed Foods? — 6 Tips to Start Eating Healthy
Most processed foods are detrimental to health as they contain a high amount of saturated fats, artificial flavours, and harmful preservatives to increase their shelf-life, but we still eat them. Why?
What are processed foods?
The processing of food is a transformation phase. It includes many forms of food processing, like grinding grains to make flour.
- Some food processing techniques are essential, like Primary food processing. It includes drying, threshing, winnowing, and milling grains, shelling nuts and butchering animals for meat, candling eggs, as well as homogenizing and pasteurizing milk.
- On the contrary, some food processing techniques are so complex that they lack essential nutrients and vitamins.
- Such techniques are Secondary food processing and Tertiary food processing (ultra-processed foods). It includes things like white bread, white sugar, processed meats (like sausages &hams), tetra pack fruit juice, and ‘ready-to-eat’ or ‘heat-and-serve foods.’
Why are processed foods bad?
Honestly, there is only one explanation for this.
- What will happen if you put petrol inside a diesel car? — Firstly, that is a stupid thing to do.
- Secondly, if you do that, the car might not work correctly or crash altogether.
- Similarly, please understand that our body comprises atmospheric elements like water, air, sunlight, and soil. We need all these elements in the form of our food to grow and survive.
- Organic fruits, vegetables, and grains grow with the help of sunlight, water, soil, and air. Hence proved, that’s what we need to eat more often to function better.
- Our body is not made of chips, burgers, pizzas, diet coke, preservatives, artificial chemicals, trans fats, etc. Neither our body needs them for survival or growth.
Thus, overindulging in processed foods is, firstly, a stupid thing to do. Secondly, it is bad for our system because they lack everything we need for growth and survival.
6 Lifestyle Tips to Eat Less Processed Foods
Here are a few simple, realistic, and sustainable practices to include in your healthy lifestyle.
These good eating habits will ensure that you minimize eating processed foods without rebounding back.
1. Do pantry shopping smartly- Sometimes packets can confuse you with words like “Natural” and “Organic.” Do not fall for that.
While shopping for groceries and your kitchen pantry, make sure you read the detailed Ingredients and Nutrition Information Panel at the back.
Don’t buy things with a high presence of harmful chemicals, saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and preservatives.
2. Cook at home & eat at home — The idea of simply buying “ready to eat” packet food seems pleasant and hassle-free. But you will never get vital nutrients from them.
Therefore, get into your kitchen, be creative, try some quick and straightforward recipes like smoothie bowls, vegetable stir-fry, couscous salad, and omelette.
Such recipes do not take much of your time and are proven to be the most nutritious meals of your eating regimen.
3. Buy more healthy snacks — Most processed foods we eat are a part of our snack time. But do you know, there are plenty of healthy snacking options that can undoubtedly keep you satisfied between your main course?
Must buy these healthy snack time foods next time you go grocery shopping:
- Buy your kids dark chocolate than sweet candies.
- Buy plain popcorn rather than flavoured popcorn.
- Buy more dry fruits like peanuts, foxnuts, almonds, and walnuts than packet foods like chips and wafers.
- You can buy good quality lean protein bars, which have no added sugar and preservatives.
4. Swap refined with whole foods — If you haven’t tried these healthy options yet. Just swap your refined snacks with these.
- Packet potato chips with homemade kale chips,
- Ice cream with frozen yoghurt and fresh fruits,
- French fries with vegetable sticks and hummus, or
- Sweet artificial beverages with flavoured milk or green tea.
5. Eat more water-based vegetables and fruits — The time we eat more processed food is when we are starving and want something to munch on quickly.
Foods like melon, cucumber, berries, green leafy vegetables are all high in water content. Thus, they help you keep your body hydrated. Plus, the higher fiber content in them will suppress our unwanted hunger.
6. Be realistic and change slowly — We live in the 21st century, and we are always fascinated by the idea of convenience.
The reality is that many processed foods are convenient like, bread, pasteurized milk, packet pasta, processed and canned meats.
Here, the right approach is making the right processed food choices with a balanced diet eating regimen. This way, you will never harm your body.
Make your swaps slowly if you want to swap artificial sugar, refined carbs, and packet foods. Please do not do them altogether. Take one step at a time. This will stop you from rebounding back on processed foods.
The Bottom Line
I’m not saying to quit processed food altogether. Foods like white sugar, white salt, white bread, and white rice are all processed, but you can occasionally enjoy them in moderation as part of a cheat meal.
Try to eat primarily nutrient-dense foods more that benefit your physical and mental wellbeing altogether.
Remember, anything packed, canned, or frozen has limited amounts of health benefits. Therefore, we must limit its consumption as well.
Please check out this article from “In Fitness And In Health” - The Easiest Way To Get Big Glutes.
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