just exactly what does "processed" mean?

[Freelance Superhero]

so when speaking with some slightly more health-conscious people about food, the subject of junk food always comes up. part of the exchange, paraphrased, usually goes something like this:

"don't eat at mcdonald's because it's unhealthy."

"what makes it unhealthy exactly?"

"it's all processed food."

this adjective, "processed," also comes up when talking about artificial sweeteners and so forth, but that's a little easier to grasp because it's not as difficult to imagine that there are scientists out there playing with test tubes and creating some sort of chemical concoction to replace sugar.

but what exactly does it mean when people say certain foods are "processed?"

[zippyjuan]

There are vast varying degrees of "processed" when it comes to food. Each level of processing removes more of the natural flavor and nutrients found in the fresh food ingredients. The process can be a simple as a mechanical process (squishing olives to make olive oil) or chemical (adding to the oil molecule to change its saturation to give it a longer shelf life). Generally, the less processed foods are, the better they are for you since they still retain most of their natural nutrients. Things like frozen dinners have things added to them like more salts, sugars, and saturated fats to help taste. Hotdogs and lunch meats have salts and nitrates and sodium added to preserve the longer (just don't ask what parts of the animals went into the dogs!). These are not healthful items in the quantities found in these types of products. Of course some will be better than others.

[Houdini]

Funny thing is, that "natural flavors added" and "artificial flavors added" are exactly the same things. Big study done in NJ, I believe a couple of years ago. Flavors even come from the same factories. The "artificial" ones are chemically IDENTICAL to the natural ones, etc. So yeah, it's good to be safety conscious about your diet and all, but some things just are stupid.

Re: the processed stuff, I guess that can mean about anything. Processed meat can just be been ground into hamburger, etc. I usually don't let that adjective bother me, as it has no real definition, though people often define it as evil with assertions that may or may not have any evidence to back them up.

[Airencracken]

Funny thing is, that "natural flavors added" and "artificial flavors added" are exactly the same things. Big study done in NJ, I believe a couple of years ago. Flavors even come from the same factories. The "artificial" ones are chemically IDENTICAL to the natural ones, etc. So yeah, it's good to be safety conscious about your diet and all, but some things just are stupid.

Re: the processed stuff, I guess that can mean about anything. Processed meat can just be been ground into hamburger, etc. I usually don't let that adjective bother me, as it has no real definition, though people often define it as evil with assertions that may or may not have any evidence to back them up.

Yeah I read about that natural/artifical flavors thing in Fast Food Nation, fairly interesting.

Proccesed is a bad word, it doesn't really describe anything, it just says that the foods are no longer in their natural state. This can mean they've been put into a recipie and cooked, or it can mean they've been chemically altered and had all sorts of preservatives added to them. Generally the best thing to do is just to stay away from things you know are unhealthy. Its usually fairly easy.

[riskykougra]

Processed =lips and asses....:ptlaugh:

[Napoleon54]

Processed =lips and asses....:ptlaugh:

HEH! I thought it was peckers and lips (source: Carl in Sling Blade, talking about potted meat).

Same difference though, guess.

:puke:

(edit: I think it was the boy [Frank?] who had that line in Sling Blade)

[riskykougra]

giggle.. giggle.. snort.. snort ..yup definately time to stop posting and go to bed before I earn myself a time out... giggle