REFINED (AND PROCESSED) FOODS ASSIGNMENT

What are “processed” foods, and why do we hear that they’re bad for us? What is the alternative? From a nutritional perspective, a refined food is one that has some of its edible parts removed, while a whole food is one that has all of its edible parts intact. An example would be white rice (refined) vs. brown rice (whole). A processed food is one that has been altered in some way from its original form. Ultimately, most foods are subjected to processing, whether that process is chopping, cooking, or—at the extreme of processing—rendered utterly unrecognizable as its starting material (think corn starch or high fructose corn syrup—you’d never know that those came out of an ear of corn!). Many nutrition professionals start to feel concerned about food’s nutritional value once it has been subjected to high amounts of processing. You can learn a bit more about what constitutes a highly processed food by reading the 2 articles that follow. For this assignment, please complete the following:

  1. Attempt to spend one day (24 hrs) without eating any refined or heavily processed foods. You might find that this is a difficult exercise. It might be so different from what you normally do that it is too time-consuming or interferes too much in your family and lifestyle. Just go ahead and give it a try. Here are some pointers:
  2. Take a look at what you habitually eat. Think of some unrefined substitutions that would work. If you can imagine yourself picking, hunting, fishing, or otherwise harvesting it, then it’s probably a whole food. Examples of relatively unprocessed foods that are helpful to include are:
  3. Cooking oils/fats: extra-virgin olive oil, butter, cold-pressed oils
  4. Mustards, vinegars, salt, and spices without added sweeteners or artificial ingredients
  5. Dairy products, like milk, cheese (not “American!”), plain yogurt
  6. Items such as beans, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats (the unseasoned, raw, cook-it-yourself variety), eggs, fresh seafood, nuts, and nut butters (the natural variety—read the ingredients and look out for added sugars and processed fats!).
  7. Choose a day during which you can reasonably expect to have the greatest success actually doing this. Maybe a weekend day is better for you, maybe not. Think about the challenges that might be involved, including the logistics of obtaining unrefined foods.Plan out what you might eat, and go shopping, if needed.
  8. If you do eat some refined/processed food, don’t worry! You didn’t fail (completely).  Make note of why you had to do it, as this will be interesting information for your written assignment.
  9. Make note of at least one substitution that you made of whole food for refined food. For example, if you normally eat cereal for breakfast, a whole-food substitution could be steel-cut oats with walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, and a pat of butter.
  10. Remember that this is an experiment. Foods are not "good" or "bad," and such judgments can steal the enjoyment out of our food experiences. Some refined foods are important to our cultures and our family traditions! Some we simply consume out of habit. What is interesting from a health perspective is to look at the effects of these foods on the body. Sometimes we can notice these effects in the way that we feel after eating certain foods, while some effects are more subtle and take time to establish themselves.
  1. The articles supplied below to give background information for this assignment are not scientific articles. Using scholarly articles and information published in science textbooks (including perhaps our nutrition textbook!), research the topic of processed/refined foods and health. With this research, answer the following questions (a through c). You should need about 2-3 pages to answer fully. Please use Times New Roman, 12-point, single spaced.
  2. How do whole, unprocessed foods differ in their health effects from refined, heavily processed foods? Give examples of both relatively unprocessed and highly processed carbohydrate sources, meats, and fats/oils. Discuss the respective health effects of your examples of unprocessed vs. processed foods.
  3. Please state whether spending the day without refined/processed foods was difficult or not. Why or why not? What was the whole food substitution that you made for your usual refined food (see item #1.d, above)? How did that substitution go?
  4. Would you like to continue exploring this topic on your own? Do you think it would make a difference in your lifestyle and eating habits? If so, how might that affect your health?

INFORMATION ON REFINED FOODS

FIRST ARTICLE: FROM ABOUT.COM

Question: What are processed foods?

I am having a hard time understanding what exactly is considered to be "processed food." Do you have a list or something that would help me?

Jen - About.com User

Answer: Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons and for convenience. The methods used for processing foods include canning, freezing, refrigeration, dehydration and aseptic processing.

We tend to think of processed foods as bad, but it turns out that many processed foods are not unhealthy. For example, milk would be considered a processed food because it is pasteurized to kill bacteria and homogenized to keep fats from separating. While some people prefer to drink raw milk, most of us should consume the "processed" version we find in our grocery stores.

Another healthy example of food processing is frozen vegetables. While fresh may be best, freezing vegetables preserves vitamins and minerals and makes them convenient to cook and eat all year around. Fruit and vegetable juice is also an example of a healthy processed food. In fact, some orange juice is fortified with calcium to make it even more nutritious.

Of course, there are a lot of processed foods that aren't good for you. Many processed foods are made with trans fats, saturated fats, and large amounts of sodium and sugar. These types of foods should be avoided, or at least eaten sparingly.

Processed foods that may not be as healthy as fresh foods include:

  • canned foods with lots of sodium
  • white breads and pastas made with refined white flour, which are not as healthy as those made with whole grains
  • packaged high-calorie snack foods, like chips and cheese snacks
  • high-fat convenience foods, like cans of ravioli
  • frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners
  • packaged cakes and cookies
  • boxed meal mixes
  • sugary breakfast cereals
  • processed meats

Processed meats might be some of the worst of these foods. Eating these meats may increase your risk of colorectal, kidney and stomach cancer. Processed meats include hot dogs, bologna, sausage, ham and other packaged lunch meats.

These processed foods and prepackaged meals are very convenient and popular. If you do shop for these foods, be sure to look for products that are made with whole grains, low in sodium and calories, and free of trans fats. Make sure you pay attention to serving size, too, and balance out the processed foods you eat with a delicious fresh salad and some whole grain bread.

Sources:

Larsson SC, Wolk A. "Meat consumption and risk of colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis of prospective studies." Int J Cancer. 2006 Dec 1;119(11):2657-64. Faramawi MF, Johnson E, Fry MW, Sall M, Yi Z. "Consumption of different types of meat and the risk of renal cancer: meta-analysis of case-control studies." Cancer Causes Control. 2007 Mar;18(2):125-33. Epub 2007 Jan 22.

Larsson SC, Orsini N, Wolk A. "Processed meat consumption and stomach cancer risk: a meta-analysis." J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Aug 2;98(15):1078-87.

SECOND ARTICLE: FROM AUTHORS OF THE BODY ECOLOGY DIET

A stroll down your grocery store's aisles can be a tempting experience. Rows and rows of delicious food all wrapped up in colorful packages, encouraging you to give it a try with catchy names and creative graphics.

Good food, delicious food that's appealing to the eye, and convenient to boot. Anything that yummy has to be nourishing, right?

Processed Foods Aren't Just What You Pick Up At A Drive Thru

The first image that comes to mind for most people when they hear the term "processed food" is a wrapped burger and a sleeve of fries served over a counter at a fast food joint.

But the truth is, the very food you have in your cabinets is processed.

What Exactly Is Processed Food Anyway?

  • If it's boxed, bagged, canned or jarred and has a list of ingredients on the label, it's processed. Methods used to process foods include:
  • Canning
  • Freezing
  • Refrigeration
  • Dehydration
  • Aseptic Processing

Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for "safety" and convenience reasons. And scary as it seems, about 90 percent of the money that Americans spend on food is used to buy processed items.1

Food Is Good The Way It Is, Why Process It?
Processed foods are more convenient - that's what it comes down to. It's so much easier to bake a cake by opening up a box, pouring out a dry mix, and adding an egg and some oil than starting from scratch.

Having Jambalaya in five minutes after pouring hot water into a carton makes your prep time for lunch a breeze.

But convenience isn't the only thing you get when you eat processed foods. There's a whole list of ingredients that manufacturers add to2:

  • Color - It gives your orange soda that neon glow
  • Stabilize - So your gravy isn't watery
  • Emulsify - Who says oil and water can't mix?
  • Bleach - Let's disinfect and deodorize
  • Texturize - Nothing's worse than soggy cereal...
  • Soften - It's as if the ice cream was churned twice
  • Preserve - What if you want to eat the cupcake six months from now?
  • Sweeten - Sugar is sweet but saccharin and aspartame is sweeter
  • Hide Odors - Do you really want to smell the fish paste in your instant Pad Thai?
  • Flavor - Nothing like having the sweet taste of watermelon all year round

How kind of them!

If You Can't Pronounce It, Do You Want To Eat It?

The problem is, most processed foods have a laundry list of ingredients similar to that of a can of paint. It's not as simple as adding a little sugar to canned bisque or lemon juice to a scone mix.

Take a look at the list of ingredients from the strawberry flavoring of a milkshake served at a zip-through restaurant:

Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamylvalerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl Nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerbate, heliotropin, hydroxphrenyl-2butanone(10% solution to alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbone, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl slicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobulyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, sore rum ether, g-undecalctone, vanillin, and solvent3

Looks delicious, doesn't it? And this is just a small sampling of the SIX THOUSAND chemicals used to process foods.4

That Wouldn't Go In My Body!

By now you might be thinking that you have nothing to worry about because you wouldn't dream of drinking a milkshake let alone anything else from a fast food restaurant.

But this goes far beyond fast food.

What's In Your Cabinet?

A study conducted at UCLA's Center on Everyday Lives of Families videotaped 32 families including their dinner routines for a three-year period. Although 70% of the dinners were home-cooked, most included moderate amounts of packaged food. 5

How many processed foods are you using each day?

Always The Last To Know

The FDA doesn't require food manufacturers to list additives as ingredients that they consider Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS). All the label has to say is "artificial flavor" or "artificial coloring" or (are you sitting down?) "natural".6

Yes, "NATURAL".

A Frozen Fish Stick Never Killed Anybody

Here are just a few reasons you might want to think twice before throwing a jar of Vienna Sausages in your shopping cart:

  • CANCER - Some synthetic chemicals used in the processed foods industry are known to have carcinogenic properties.
  • In fact, a seven-year study conducted by the University of Hawaii of almost 200,000 people found that those who ate the most processed meats (hot dogs, bologna) had a 67 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer than those who ate little or no meat products.7
  • OBESITY - Heavily processed foods are usually higher in sugar, fat and salt, and lower in nutrients and fiber than the raw foods used to create them, making them the perfect choice if you're interested in unhealthy weight gain and water retention.8
  • According to the World Health Organization, processed foods are to blame for the spike in obesity levels and chronic disease around the world.9
  • HEART DISEASE - Many processed foods have trans fatty acids (TFA), the dangerous type of fat you don't want in your diet. TFA's give a rise to LDL and lower HDL—the opposite of the effect one would want for health.

Harvard recently conducted a study which found that women who avoided high-carb processed foods cut their heart disease risk by 30%.10

And If That's Not Enough To Make You Avoid Processed Foods, Try Swallowing This:

  • Your taste buds become used to the strong flavors of processed foods and make you want to add more salt or sugar to the natural flavors of whole foods.
  • Some processed foods are filled with indistinguishable parts and pieces, like snouts, ears and esophagi (yum!).
  • To make up for the loss of nutrients during processing, synthetic vitamins and minerals are added to "enhance" their nutritional content.
  • Spending more on processed foods just means spending less on locally grown foods, particularly organic.
  • Eating a diet high in processed foods can lead to diabetes, and liver overload.

OK, You're Convinced, But What Are Some Options?

You wouldn't be the first person to think eating a natural, wholesome diet with nutrient-dense foods means eating foods that could easily be mistaken for Styrofoam. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Eating food in its natural state (food without ingredients!) is a great reminder for your palate of the clean, crisp tastes of nature.

And The Benefits Are Endless...

Sources:

1.) All the Health Risks of Processed Foods – In Just a Few Quick, Convenient Bites, SixWise.com, …

2.) You Are What You Eat, Paul Chek,

3.) Schiosser E. :Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, New
York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2001

4.) The Dangers of Preservatives and Additives, Freedom You,

5.) Convenience Foods Save Little Time, Lack Nutrients, Judith Groch, Senior Writer, MedPage Today, http:

6.) Convenience Foods Save Little Time, Lack Nutrients, Judith Groch, Senior Writer, MedPage Today, http:

7.) All the Health Risks of Processed Foods – In Just a Few Quick, Convenient Bites, SixWise.com, processed_foods_--…

8.) Convenience Foods Save Little Time, Lack Nutrients, Judith Groch, Senior Writer, MedPage Today, http:

9.) Processed Foods to Blame for Obesity and Chronic Disease, healingsearch.com,

10.) NewsTarget.com, Women and Processed Foods, http:

For your surfing enjoyment:
Here are three informational links (with URLs listed below) to the FDA website, if you're interested in learning more about food additives.
Everything Added to Food in the United States (EAFUS)

This is a complete database of all food additives.
Additive Regulations
This is a page linking to Codes of Federal Regulations (CFR) on food additives. Of potential interestis the second code listed in the table (CFR 173), which details the parameters for a class of additives called "secondary direct food additives." The FDA does not require the listing ofthese additives on food labels.
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)

Details on the FDA's regulation of food additive safety.