Ask Leah! The Ingles Dietitian

Sponsored: Processed Foods … should you avoid them?

Sponsored: Processed Foods … should you avoid them?

Sometimes we hear people make statements like, “I don’t eat any processed foods!” …and then open up a Greek yogurt or order hummus with pita bread… and all of those foods are processed. What I think some health gurus are trying to say when they make that sort of pronouncement is in fact, “Avoid or limit foods that have been highly processed and include high amounts of fats, sodium (salt) or sugars.” 

The definition of “processing” of food simply means taking a food item from an inedible or raw state to one that is edible,  so in fact processing can include: boiling, baking, milling, grinding, peeling, homogenizing, pasteurizing cutting, etc. Some processing is done to make foods safe to eat (pasteurizing, roasting) and other types of processing (adding emulsifiers or mold inhibitors) can be used to improve taste, color or shelf stability. 

If we think of the processing of foods as more of a continuum let’s look at some general examples moving from minimally processed to ultra or highly processed.

 

Screen Shot 2018 11 14 at 12.00.35 PM

 

Related Items

Note This is not to say that ultra or highly processed foods are “bad” but just that more often we should be choosing foods that are minimally or moderately processed rather than foods that are highly/ultra processed. 

Source: https://naitc-api.usu.edu/media/uploads/2016/01/14/LevelsFoodProcessing_handout.pdf

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN

Ingles Markets Corporate Dietitian

twitter.com/InglesDietitian

facebook.com/LeahMcgrathDietitian

800-334-4936

 

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.