What is Processed Food?

When I try to explain to people that we have been giving our diet a healthy makeover, one of the first things I mention is that we've cut out most processed food (we're still working on it too). I often hear the question "What is processed food?".
I have also noticed that when I talk about something that is "homemade" or "I made from scratch", many people will claim they do the same, when in fact, many of the ingredients in their "homemade food" are not from scratch.
I thought I might answer some of those questions from our perspective, after about 6 months of changing our diet and lots of research too!


Processed food: Food that has been altered from their natural state.

The first thing many people think of are boxed or frozen meals. Yet, according to this definition, when you pull your zucchini out of the garden, (it is not processed (in it's whole state), but as soon as you throw it in the frying pan for some yummy stir fry, it is processed.

More examples:
Processed Foods (some of the worst/difficult to detect): White Sugar, White Flour, boxed meals (including all boxed cereal), canned soups/food, etc.
Whole Foods: Cracked wheat, fresh & local produce (organic), other whole grains (oat groats for example).

Why whole foods? Whole foods have more nutrients and, in addition, the nutrients are easier for your body to absorb what is needed and discard what is unwanted. They provide your body with more of what it NEEDS to survive.


Quality Counts!
After watching a few documentaries and reading up on the way much of the "food" in our great country is "made", I was totally grossed out!!! There is something to be said about the way your food is grown or raised (animals). It means a healthier product. There is a reason we are commanded to eat meat sparingly (or meagerly). A market that wants more meat, produces businessmen and farmers who produce it and the result is disgusting quality of altered food, which process treats animals and humans inhumanely.
The same holds true for those delicious and healthy fruits and vegetables. Organic foods have more natural nutrients because the soils are tended to with care to provide a natural environment the plants can best grow in. On the other hand store bought tomatoes (for example) are often picked when green and then a chemical agent is added to turn them to red. Are they really ripe (peek flavor and nutrients)? No, because the ripening agent is in the plant itself. Once picked, they never really ripen.
Additionally, there is a lot to be said for the method of cooking or processing. If I can home grown produce myself, I know what is in it and how it was processed. If I buy a can from the store, there is no telling! If I deep fat fry potatoes and call them french fries it is a lot different than baking them in the oven. So are potatoes "healthy"? Do you see how there can be such a big spread now between what is "healthy" and what is not?


The baby steps:
There are lots of variations from the boxed, frankenstien, "pretend" food, to pulling something out of your organically home grown garden). We have had to slowly wean ourselves away from processed foods and begin enjoying more whole foods. You can do the same thing by slowly changing the choices of the food you eat to real homemade food and improving the quality of the ingredients that you choose. Be patient with yourself as you transition. Take time to learn how to cook and eat in a new way.

Self-Mastery:
This has led me on a additional journey. Honestly, how do you choose the food you eat?
"I feel like eating _________."
"I can't live without __________."
"I don't have time to eat well."
"I don't know how to cook."
"But it tastes so good!" (warning: they genetically alter them to so you will want to eat them)
"It's convienant."
"Most everyone else doesn't eat this way, so how do I deal with social pressure?"
"It's just this once."

How should I really be choosing what I eat? Am I in control of my appetite, or is it governed by social pressure, convenience, or taste alone?

I have learned that taking care of our bodies helps us feel better, live healthier lives, and enables us to have energy and strength to do God's work. Taking care of our bodies shows gratitude to God for the great blessing it is to have a physical body and to have the simple means of taking care of it.


Additional Resources:
1. Alton Brown (the Food Network) is a great resource for showing you how to make food from scratch and explaining how food works.
2. Food, Inc. (movie) & "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser (haven't read the entire book yet)
3. What are Whole Foods? Video
4. How to Avoid Processed Foods in a Healthy Diet
5. Dr. Christopher - a wholistic healer whose philsophy is that the health of the body begins with the environment you create in it (eating whole foods, drinking clean water, etc.)
6. All the pictures/cartoons I downloaded from a google search, typing in "processed food + pictures." They all come from interesting websites that I'd like to read, but haven't yet had a chance. Feel free to check them out!
**I'm still researching a bunch to find more really good resources, so if you have some, please share!