Processed Foods – How Much Safe For Our Health

PROCESSED FOOD HOW MUCH SAFE FOR OUR HEALTH:

Processed food! It clearly means we do some mechanical, chemical, or physical changes of the original food which come from nature.So that it can be utilized a far better way to accomplish our nutritional purposes and also to make it eatable for a longer period of time.

For example; processed meat product; originally comes from nature but it is processed to make it more stable, means to increase its shelf life, to make it more tasty and well acceptable. All types of junk foods like Pizza, Pastries etc are processed food; containing preservative for longer shelf life. Example of some common processed foods are as follows: Margarine, refined vegetable oils, canned food, cereals, pasta, white wheat flour, soft drinks, fruit juices, processed meat and fish products, soya products etc.

Is processed food is safe for our health?? Let’s discuss on it!

Myth says processed food is not at all good for our health.

Well! It is scientifically true! If someone has two choices: one is freshly prepared food and another is processed food then his/her first choice should not be the processed food.

Why is it?

• While fresh food was processed to increase its shelf life and stability; some of its nutrients like vitamin-C, thiamine etc (ig; nutritional value) is lost automatically and also the food chemistry may be changed due to the treatment.
• Food additive, always added during or after processing. Though they are harmless but it is one chemical in nature and continuous consumption of such chemical has certain toxicity to the consumers, and also reduces the nutritional value.
• In terms of nutritional value, maximum processed food consists of refined sugar in very high amount (easily digestible food). It means consumption of these food increases the chance of obesity as it increase the carbohydrate load in blood more than other type of food.

Not only that , any food consists more refined sugar is far more harmful to take by the diabetic patients as it with increase the blood sugar level in vary fast ways, which is tough to control by them. So any processed food consumption should be restricted for them. Thus processed food consumption increases the chances of metabolic syndrome, obesity or adiposity more!

• Genetically engineered food is one such common food, used in the preparation of processed food at the industrial level, due to its high productivity and cheap in cost. Different countries of the whole world already preparing to ban this type of modification, as they already suffered from various ill effects of this type of food. But still it is continued till now.
• Sometimes processing of any food increases its Trans fat content. All we know that trans-fats are harmful for our heart but still it remains these. Natural food contains no or very low trans-fat.
• Processed food is modified so to enhance its taste and accessibility so that more people will like to take this type of food. Thus by increasing its addictive nature, sometimes mass people get addicted to take more such food and more consumption increases the tendency of ill health like obesity/or adiposity. For example cold drinks consumption.
• There is no or few dietary fibre in processed food .We all know that how important the dietary fiber is for a better nutrition. Thus low/or no fibre containing processed food is less protective from many disease and increases the chances of constipation.
• Processing of food is sometime beneficial as well, in some cases it actually neutralize the natural toxins in food before they are consumed.