Are Processed Foods Bad For You?

While the term "processed" often gets a bad rap and is wrongfully considered "unhealthy," there are plenty of highly nutritious processed foods most dietitians recommend you incorporate into your diet. Processed foods are ubiquitous and also not something you need to strictly avoid.

According to the Department of Agriculture, "processed food are any raw agricultural commodities that have been washed, cleaned, milled, cut, chopped, heated, pasteurized, blanched, cooked, canned, frozen, dried, dehydrated, mixed or packaged — anything that alters their natural state. This may include adding preservatives, flavors, nutrients and other food additives, or substances approved for use in food products, such as salt, sugar and fat."

There are endless nutritious processed foods out there. In fact, processing can make a lot of healthy foods more available, convenient, accessible and shelf-stable. For instance, chickpea or lentil pasta is a processed food that packs in an excellent source of digestion-regulating fiber, iron, energizing b-vitamins, plant protein and blood-sugar stabilizing magnesium.

Other processed foods that you would never think twice about NOT including in your diet are probiotic-packed Greek yogurt, all-natural almond or peanut butter, tomato sauce, frozen organic wild blueberries, omega-3 rich canned tuna, sprouted grain bread and oatmeal.

As you can see, not all processed foods are created equally. When we refer to processing as being unhealthy, it comes down to the level of processing the food undergoes, which nutrients the food product is fortified with and how often you're consuming these ultra-processed foods.

For example, most popular kids' cereals are heavily processed (unfortunately). This means they take grains, strip them of fiber and most of their nutrients, add preservatives and sugar, and then put them in a package that makes them appealing to impressionable minds. However, some of these cereals only have minimal amounts of sugar added and are also fortified with fiber, calcium, iron, and a plethora of other essential, valuable nutrients. This makes the cereal a bit more acceptable for kids to consume and therefore not a major detriment to their health. If the cereal was completely devoid of valuable nutrients, had no fiber or any other vitamins and minerals, and was packed with sugar (more than 10 grams of sugar per serving) then it might not be a great choice to eat regularly and first thing in the morning.

It's not whether a food is "good" or “bad” for you, but yet the overall pattern of one's diet that makes the biggest difference to their health.