I eat processed foods. And so do you. It’s almost impossible not to. Food is “processed” as a matter of course to get it from the farm (or factory) to your table. If you’ve done my Nourish program or worked with me privately you know I’m all about clean eating and avoiding processed foods.
So what’s the deal? Well, let’s start with what the word processed really means. Aside from what you can just pick and eat, most foods are processed in some way. At the same time, there are foods that to me are so processed they’re not even real food.
Let’s look at heart healthy olive oil. It needs to be processed in order for the oil to be extracted from it, right? So how do we differentiate between the good-processed and the-not-so good processed foods?
You might say that a good-processed oil is one that is naturally pressed and unrefined. A not-so-good processed oil is one that is chemically pressed and refined. Because we live in choice overload at the grocery store it can be confusing. My clients send me emails all the time asking are these crackers better than those? Which yogurt is better? And one of my favorites, would YOU eat this?
So let’s clear up the confusion about the “P” word, starting with what I consider to be good-processed and not-s0-good processed foods. And I can’t speak to every single food out there so here’s just a sampling of what I eat.
Good-processed foods
- bagged veggies (yes, those are processed)
- frozen fruit and plain frozen veggies
- miso
- oils (as noted above)
- raw or dry roasted nuts and seeds (I’m not talking Planters)
- oats and plain oatmeal
- single whole grains (i.e., quinoa, millet, wild rice, etc.)
- canned beans (BPA-free like Eden foods) OR boxed beans (Whole Foods has these)
- tuna and salmon in a can (high quality stuff like Vital Choice, Tonnino, Wild Planet)
- dried fruit (no sugar added)
- Plain and organic yogurt (this is a sketchy area; lots of good yogurt that’s not organic or plain)
- most hard cheese and soft cheese like goat and feta
- salsa
- granola
- crisp bread crackers (like WASA, Orgran, Finncrisp)
- some energy bars (like RX, Clif, Lara, and others)
I’ve got a bit of a hierarchy going with the good-processed foods. For one, I look for minimally processed items. These potentially boxed or bagged foods contain ingredients that I recognize and that I would use at home to prepare the food myself. Yes, this means that I take a bit more time while shopping to read the ingredients. I don’t mind this because the grocery store is my partner in eating clean. It also means that just because a food is gluten-free or is made with quinoa or greens — doesn’t mean it’s clean eats. You still want to read the ingredients to see if they align with your eating style.
Take, for example, the ingredients present in this roasted garlic chicken frozen dinner, a gluten-free gem made with spinach from Lean Cuisine.
Water, cooked chicken tenderloin (chicken tenderloins, water, seasoning), modified corn starch, sugar, potassium chloride, yeast extract, dextrose, spice, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika), soybean oil, isolated soy protein, sodium phosphates), spinach, skim milk, onions, carrots, 2% or less of modified corn starch, cheese flavor (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), soybean oil, white white, butterfat, Asiago cheese, salt, cheese flavor (cheddar cheese, cultured milk, salt, enzymes), water, salt, enzymes, cultures, phosphoric acid, xantham gum, seasoning, (autolyzed extract, flavors, water, chicken powder, chicken fat, sugar, sodium lactate, sodium, phosphate lactic acid) potassium chloride, roasted garlic, dehydrated onions, basil, enzyme modified Parmesan cheese, puree, whey, yeast extract, whey, carrageenan, spices, caramel color, chicken fat flavor, cultured whey, turmeric.
I don’t cook with many of these ingredients. I’m thinking you probably don’t either. So my answer to this is simple: I don’t buy the Lean Cuisine. Instead, I buy some chicken breasts, sprinkle on some spices, and cook at 375 for about 25 minutes.
Not-So-Good Processed Foods
The list of these foods is long and I will not even try to do it justice here. I’ll just say that these foods are ultra-processed in order to be edible, they are not found as is in your kitchen, or they are foods processed using ingredients that we don’t want to be eating regularly.
I’m talking mostly about food containing GMOs, unsavory additives and preservatives, and artificial flavorings. Now some in the food industry might argue that the healthiest food in the world is processed; that food fortification plays a large role in meeting our nutrient needs, and that processing helps enhance and preserve food quality. And all of that may be true. Whole grains are processed and I encourage you to eat them. However, you can absolutely get your whole grains in their natural state (see list above). You don’t have to buy into this type of cereal being a good choice for getting in your whole grains:
Ingredients: Sugar, corn flour blend (whole grain yellow corn flour, degerminated yellow corn flour), wheat flour, whole grain oat flour, oat fiber, soluble corn fiber, contains 2% or less of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut, soybean and/or cottonseed), salt, red 40, natural flavor, blue 2, turmeric color, yellow 6, annatto color, blue 1, BHT , Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid), niacinamide, reduced iron, zinc oxide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12.
Froot Loops lovers are cringing right now, I get it. And eating Fruit Loops occasionally isn’t the end of the world. But don’t be fooled into thinking that a bowl of processed cereal in the morning is good for you because it has whole grains in it. Because it also contains artificial flavors, colors (red 40, blue 1 and 2, and yellow 6) and preservatives like BHT.
If whole grains are what you’re after, this Kind granola would be a cleaner, less processed choice. A good way to know is by checking to see if the ingredients are those you would use if you were to make it yourself.
Ingredients: Whole grains (gluten free oats, brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, quinoa), evaporated cane juice, flax seeds, chicory root fiber, canola oil, molasses, cinnamon, sea salt, Vitamin E
Processed food does not have to be a curse on society. They can be a part of a healthy, clean eating lifestyle — if you choose better processed foods most of the time. But to me, eating clean is about more than just choosing the right nutrients on an ingredient list. It’s also about how your food is grown, sourced and prepared.
Yes, processed food is convenient and sometimes necessary, but preparing your own food is a necessity, too. One that takes a little more time, a little more confidence and a little more knowledge of cooking than does tearing open a bag or box and digging in. But I promise, the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it, and the more you’ll appreciate it.
