Eating a healthy diet is getting harder and harder. All thanks to the evolving food industry.
The food we eat today is not as nutritious as it used to be. People have fallen in love with processed foods. Rather than eating natural foods, they prefer visually appealing, pleasant, and heavily processed foods.
Processed foods are becoming one of the biggest problems in the health industry. Approximately 80% of disorders in your body are caused by the food you eat, which is either unhealthy or processed. Most people are unaware of this and continue to consume them. It is critical to understand that these foods can harm the body in a variety of ways.
These foods contain preservatives, artificial flavors, and other harmful ingredients, but people continue to eat them because they are addicted to them.
The processed food giants create their food products so that after you’ve eaten them, you won’t be able to say no to them. According to researches, the sugar present in processed foods is eight-time more addictive than cocaine. It’s quite tough to get away from these foods once you’ve become addicted to them.
The purpose of my writing this post is to help people understand that how processed foods are destroying their health.
What exactly are processed foods?
Processed foods are foods that have been changed from their original state to make them last longer and taste better and make them easier to transport and store. These foods are often high in calories, sodium, sugar and low in essential nutrients.
But, you might be thinking, isn’t every food we eat processed in some way? You are correct!
Let’s look at it this way. Food processing can be broken down into two sections. Chemical and mechanical processing are two types of processing.
Mechanical processing is a process that includes grinding, heating, and pasteurizing foods. These all process does not necessarily make your food harmful.
On the other hand, chemical processing is a method of altering the taste and nutritional value of food by using a unique chemical or artificial ingredient. It uses chemical flavoring agents, colors, and sweeteners. This processing technique is done to increase the life span of stored food and to reduce its perishability.
What is the primary reason for eating? Obviously, supplying nutrition to the body.
But if you eat heavily processed foods that lack essential nutrients, there are no benefits. It will be all about stuffing your tummy with harmful ingredients.
Let’s look at the impacts of processed foods on your health and body.
8 ways processed foods destroy your health
Processed food makes you fat and obese
You must be enjoying that late-night weekend party that includes foods like soda, pizza, burgers, ice cream, chocolate, and other sweet beverages. But what you don’t realize is that these foods are pushing you towards the ground (simply making you fat).
These foods are not only loaded with fat, sugar, and calories, but they also contain harmful chemicals that can not only make you overweight but cause a wide range of health problems as well.
According to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. One of the main causes of this obesity increase is the consumption of energy-dense foods high in fat and sugar.
It also reported that obesity is a risk factor for many health problems, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
It is a root cause of nearly every disease
The food you eat nowadays is nothing like the food your great-grandparents ate.
Processed food is at the root of almost every modern disease, and as more people become aware of this, processed food companies will be forced to change their business practices.
Many people wonder why they don’t have the energy they once did, why they are constantly sick, bloated, and tired, and so on. The answer to all of these questions is the food you are eating. It has been processed in a way that strips all of the nutrition out of it. It has been pumped full of chemicals that are getting into your body and making you sick.
Studies have shown that people who consume many ultra-processed foods are more likely to develop more diseases sooner or later in life.
Increases the risk of cancer
According to research, a poor diet and a lack of physical activity are two major factors that increase a person’s cancer risk.
A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2019 showed that a 10 percent increase of ultra-processed foods in the diet is linked to a 12 percent increase in overall and breast cancer.
This study, however, does not prove that processed foods are the cause of cancer. However, the long-term effects of food additives are unknown.
According to another recently published study, processed food may increase cancer risk through a different mechanism. It may raise your cancer risk by changing your gut microbiome.
A “gut microbiome” is the collection of bacteria that live in your gut. These bacteria in your gut help digest food and fight off disease.
When you eat processed food, you may be increasing the amount of sugar in your gut. High levels of sugar in your gut can change the types of microbes that live there.
The study showed that people who ate more processed food had a lower diversity of microbes in their gut. This may increase the risk of cancer. It was discovered that processed foods alter the types of microbes in your gut and raise your cancer risk.
More clinical trials are ongoing to learn more about how the microbiome might affect a variety of other cancers and treatments.
Contain artificial and harmful ingredients
Nowadays, processed food is everywhere. It can be found in grocery stores, gas stations, vending machines, movie theaters, restaurants, and even airplanes. You will almost certainly not be able to find a single street corner or building without processed foods.
It is true that processed foods are convenient and inexpensive, but they do not offer the same nutritional value as a whole, fresh foods.
Apart from no nutritional value in processed foods, they contain harmful chemicals such as refined sugar, hydrogenated oils, sodium nitrates, sodium nitrites. All of these additives put you at risk for a variety of diseases.
Also, because your eyes are the first thing before your tongue that tastes the food by only looking, most processed foods contain artificial colors to make your food more appealing, which is not healthy.
Lack of nutritional value
Processed food, aside from the fact that they are very unhealthy, lack nutrition. This is due to the fact that they are manufactured and cooked in such a way that all of the nutrients and natural ingredients are removed, and chemicals and additives are added instead.
Food lacking in nutrition, such as processed food or packages food, are often called dead foods that have no life force.
Dead food doesn’t contain live enzymes or in which the enzymes are destroyed or removed. Enzymes are important for the body as they aid in developing muscle, the destruction of toxins, and the breakdown of food particles during digestion.
To increase shelf life, food packaging companies remove enzymes from food , allowing it to be usable or eatable for longer periods of time without spoiling or rotting.
Although it is convenient and necessary for modern living, it is harmful to one’s health. The digestive system, pancreas, immune system, and entire body suffer from dead foods.
High glycemic index
The majority of us are probably unfamiliar with the term “glycemic index.”
The glycemic index is a scale that measures how much and how quickly a food raises blood sugar levels after it is consumed. The higher a food’s glycemic index, the faster it breaks down into sugar and increases blood sugar levels in the body.
Processed foods contain a lot of refined sugar and have a high glycemic index, so your blood sugar levels will spike quickly. Processed foods can raise a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes and other health issues like heart disease and obesity.
Increase the risk of heart disease
People are concerned that additives or preservatives in processed foods contribute to the rise in heart disease risk. But is there any evidence to back this claim?
A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality.
In addition, the study showed that eating ultra-processed foods was linked to being overweight/obese, having high blood pressure, having metabolic syndrome, and having Type 2 diabetes.
Another study published in The BMJ looked at the diets of over 135,000 people over eight years. The study showed that people who ate the most processed foods had a 64 percent higher risk of heart disease and dying from it.
So, the next time you reach for processed food, keep your heart in mind.
Affects your brain and memory
Have you ever noticed that you forget things more often than you used to? or maybe you are struggling more to learn something new? You might be surprised to find that these problems are related to what you eat.
According to a new study, eating a high processed food diet can cause a strong inflammatory response in the brain and behavioral signs of memory loss.
The study showed that a processed diet can cause increase your risk of developing memory loss and that rapid memory loss in older people has a higher risk of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
This study, however, was conducted on elderly rats, and it has yet to be confirmed in humans. However, the data I gathered suggests that it may have a similar effect on humans.
How to reduce the consumption of processed foods?
It’s not easy to stop eating processed foods, as I’ve already stated that they’re more addictive than cocaine. This means that people who consume processed foods may find themselves eating them even when they are not hungry.
Avoiding processed food would mean you won’t eat out at restaurants, friends’ birthday parties, or even on weekends. That’s a lot of sacrifices, but there is also a lot of health benefits.
The best thing you can do is limit your consumption of these foods. Here are some suggestions for reducing your consumption of processed foods for the sake of your health.
- Begin by gradually replacing processed foods with fresh, unprocessed foods.
- Always read the labels on the foods you buy. If the label contains a lot of chemicals, you should consider buying something else, something healthier.
- Avoid meats that have been heavily processed.
- Get your hands dirty in the kitchen and prepare more meals on your own. You should be aware that cooking is a life-saving skill that everyone should possess.
- Learn to say no to appealing processed foods offered by friends and family members. Believe me, this is hard.
- Include high-fiber foods in your diet because they will make you feel full and prevent you from overeating.
- Join a group of people who care about their health and eat a balanced diet.
Final words
Finally, no matter how tasty your food is, you won’t get the nutrients you need to stay healthy if it’s heavily processed.
After reading this article, you may have decided to avoid or at least limit your intake of processed foods up to this point. I understand that it is not an easy task, but if you succeed, you will reap numerous benefits that others will not.
I hope you find the information in this post useful and that you will share it with anyone who could benefit from it.
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