One of the biggest trends these days is avoiding processed foods. Processed foods have become a big staple of most people’s diets.
Getting them out of your diet is one of the best things you can do to improve your nutrition, improve your health, and even help you lose weight.
5 Reasons To Avoid Processed Foods
- Processed foods contain added artificial flavorings, sugar and fat. They have more calories than the same food prepared fresh.
- Processed foods lack nutrients. Because they are often prepared with the primary purpose being long shelf life, many of the nutrients are gone by the time you eat them.
- Processed foods contain additives we don’t even understand. Many of the preservatives and stabilizers in processed foods are not things we really want in our bodies.
- They dull your taste buds. Because of the extra additives, processed foods tend to make us want more processed foods and dull our taste buds to natural tastes.
- They’re more expensive. You can typically buy the fresh ingredients needed to prepare foods from scratch for less money than you can buy the processed counterpart.
5 Reasons To Eat More Organic Foods
- They’re lower in calories and fat. When you prepare foods from scratch, you avoid all the added fats, sugars and additives found in processed foods.
- They have more nutrients. When you prepare fresh vegetables, for example, you can ensure that they retain their nutrients. Processed foods are so over processed that most of the nutrients are gone.
- You help grow the natural market. When you spend your money on processed foods, you help the processed food market grow. When you buy fresh foods, you help the fresh foods market grow. This is, in addition to being healthier for your body, healthier for your local economy, because it supports farmers in your area.
- They protect your health. By eating fresh fruits and vegetables, you’re increasing your anti-oxidant intake. You’re also reducing your intake of saturated and trans fat. Both of these steps reduce your risk of serious illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes and cancer.
- You learn to appreciate natural tastes again. In just a short period of time, you can regain your appreciation for the natural tastes of vegetables and fruits. You’ll learn to enjoy natural flavors without all the added fat and preservatives.
Eating natural foods instead of processed foods is not difficult, but it does require a little more planning.
Many people have become accustomed to eating meals “out of a box”, so they may not have natural spices needed to flavor natural foods, or even recipes to create their family’s favorites using natural ingredients.
But, spending a little time learning how to make some of those boxed or frozen processed foods from scratch is well worth your time. You’ll be giving your body the nutrients it needs and you may even lose a few pounds in the process.
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