Why Are Highly Processed Foods Generally Less Healthy?

One of the biggest problems with the typical Western diet is the fact that much of our food is refined, or highly processed. The refining process removes important nutrients like fiber, iron and B vitamins, and this is done by food manufactures for two reasons. Firstly, it's to give the end project a softer texture, and secondly it's done to extend the shelf life of the resulting product. A heavily processed food is going to last longer on the supermarket shelf because pests, like mold for example, are less attracted to foods that are low in nutrients. A hamburger that's highly processed will spoil much more slowly than a hamburger made at home with mostly natural ingredients.

But the question is, if highly processed food is so low in nutrients that the pests don't even want to eat it, how healthy can it be for us?

In fact, the nutrient content of any given food is directly related to the spoil rate of that food. Foods that are very low in nutrients spoil much more slowly than foods that are rich in nutrients. Thinking about the nutrient density of the food is another conceptual way of making sensible food decisions. The nutrient density of a food can be thought of as the amount of nutritional value, including vitamins, minerals, and fiber, divided by the calories, or energy content, of that food. For example, a glass of soda is high in calories without providing much in the way of nutritional value. Foods that provide lots of calories with very little nutritional value are sometimes called energy dense foods, but their nutrient density is low. A bunch of fresh spinach, on the other hand, would be an example of a nutrient dense food because its nutritional value is relatively high compared to its caloric content. When people talk about fast food being cheaper than fresh food, they're often referring to the fact that the cost per calorie of highly processed food is lower than that of fresh, whole food. This is often true because highly processed food is so high in calories that the cost per calorie is relatively low. But, if we instead look at the cost of food per unit of nutrient density, then buying fewer calories of higher nutrient density food is a much better use of our food budget. 

In the midst of a serious epidemic of obesity, avoiding empty calories should be near the very top of our list of priorities. One of the reasons why highly processed food is usually higher in calories is that in order to make these products sell, significant amounts of fat, sugar, and salt are added to make the nutrient-stripped foods taste good. 

Additives like colorants, artificial flavors, stabilizers, and other preservatives, are also added to enhance packaged products and maintain the illusion that we as consumers have many choices when we walk through the supermarket aisles.

The last thing we need to be aware of are highly processed foods that masquerade as healthy foods. These are products that have synthetic nutrients added back to them after they've been refined, and this is usually done to make the product seem healthy to the nutrition aware consumer. It's important to remember that the most nutritious foods, like broccoli, don't come in packages that tell us how healthy they are.

Dietary Fats and their effects on human body.

For decades, the relationship between dietary fats and health was at the center of our attempts to understand the underlying cause of the obesity epidemic. Despite the important roles that fats play in our bodies, this entire category of food was shunned for much of the 20th century. This led to an enormous increase in the availability of fat free and reduced fat foods. But in spite of this, obesity rates continue to rise. Today, rising awareness about the difference between the so-called good fats and bad fats have allowed this important part of our food supply to make a comeback. But once again, the pendulum threatens to swing too far in the opposite direction. Dietary fats can be divided into two families, the saturated and the unsaturated fats. Saturated fats get their name from the fact that their fatty acids are saturated with hydrogen molecules. This means that they can lie flat and pack together densely so that saturated fats tend to be solids at room temperature. Animal fats, like lard and butter, are good examples. In contrast, the fatty acids that make up unsaturated fats are kinked in places where double bonds between the carbon atoms cause the chains to be less saturated with hydrogen. This also means that these fatty acids don't pack together as tightly, leaving most unsaturated fats in the liquid state at room temperature. Omega 3 fatty acids are a special kind of unsaturated fatty acid, with double bonds in specific positions of the hydrocarbon chain They're found in high concentrations in fish oil, and also to some degree in nuts, flax seeds, and other vegetable oils. Omega-3 fatty acids are the only kind of fatty acid that the human body can't make, so they're essential for our health and they need to be consumed via the food we eat.

Unsaturated fats can be naturally occurring like the fats found in olive oil, nuts and avocados. Or they can be man-made or chemically manipulated to become unsaturated. These are the fats found in some margarines and in the kinds of oils that are often used for repeated cooling and reheating in deep frying machines like the ones used in many fast food restaurants. The problem with chemically engineered unsaturated fats is that the chemical bonds between the carbon atoms are less stable, so they easily flip into a trans orientation, rather than a cis orientation. And this is where we get the name trans fats.

Trans fats are problematic for our health because they increase the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood and they lower the amount of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol in the blood. By doing this trans fats promote to formation of arterial plaques and increase the risk of heart disease.

While saturated fats have also been shown to contribute to increases in LDL cholesterol, they haven't been shown to lower HDL cholesterol or to contribute to the development of arterial plaques as significantly as trans fats.

So, what's the bottom line when it comes to foods that contain fat? Probably the most sensible food recommendation is this. Enjoy reasonable amounts of foods that contain mostly naturally occurring unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil, nuts and avocados. Avoid all foods containing trans fats. And limit your intake of foods like red meats that are high in saturated fats.

Animal & Plant-based Proteins

Protein-rich foods, including animal and plant-based proteins can also vary enormously in their quality and their implications for our long-term health. Proteins are often said to act as building blocks for the lean tissues in our bodies. But they serve many other important functions in body regulation, supportive immune function and a variety of other roles in our physiology. There are 20 types of amino acids needed to fulfill all of these functions, but only nine of them are essential. Meaning that our bodies can't make enough of them, so we rely on getting these from our food.

In general, animal sources of protein like fish and eggs provide all of the essential amino acids in high enough concentrations that these foods are called complete protein sources. In contrast, plant-based protein sources like beans, lentils, nuts and tofu tend to be incomplete sources of protein. It might seem that since plant-based proteins are incomplete in their nutrient content that they're nutritionally inferior compared with animal-based proteins. But in fact, the health benefits of substituting plant-based proteins for animal-based ones, ideally a few days a week, this far outweighs the risk of falling short on essential amino acids. Plant-based proteins can be combined with other foods to provide a complete amino acid profile. In fact, many traditional food combinations like corn and black beans or rice and lentils are based on the principal of combining complementary proteins.

Meals that contain vegetarian sources of protein also contain more fiber and less fat, especially saturated fat, than meals that feature animal-based protein. And even though saturated fat may not be as harmful as we once thought, it can still contribute to elevated levels of LDL cholesterol if we eat too much of it. Moderating our intake of red meat, for example, is still a sensible idea. In general, the typical western diet contains more animal-based protein than we need to sustain good health. So, if you're thinking of trying a low card, high protein diet, it's important to pay attention to the kinds of proteins that are being consumed, and in what quantities. A diet high in animal protein, especially if it's poor quality animal protein, like processed meat or high fat cuts of meat, this kind of diet can be harmful to our health even if it leads to weight loss in a short term. Processed meats often contain nitrates used as a preservative, which can damage blood vessels and contribute to hardening of the arteries. These meats also tend to be very high in sodium, which can be a contributor to high blood pressure. 

The most sensible diets are usually those that encourage us to eat moderate amounts of high quality protein foods. These should come from a variety of different sources, including some fish if possible. As well as plenty of vegetarian sources of protein that are combined for completeness.

Carbohydrate-rich foods and the Glycemic index

All nutrients are not created equal especially when it comes to their effect on our health. So shifting our focus from nutrients to foods which can help us develop better eating habits that will support our long term health.

In recent years, a lot of attention has been focused on the fact that many of us are eating too many carbohydrates. There are lots of popular diet trends that encourage us to drastically reduce the carbohydrates in our diet, even to the point of limiting our intake of fresh fruit. At the same time, some of these low-carb diets seem to suggest that protein and fats can be eaten freely. But a diet that's very high in animal protein and contains no whole grain or not enough fruits and vegetables could leave us with serious problems in the long run. In fact, the category carbohydrates include a wide spectrum of foods. Some of which are really important for our health. And some of which can compromise it. Whole grains like brown rice and rolled oats are carbohydrates that provide our bodies with a usable source of energy and bound together in that very same food is a significant amount of fiber, which slows the release of glucose from that food into the bloodstream. The glycemic index of a food is the measure of the speed at which glucose is released into the blood stream after it's digested. A whole grain like brown rice or quinoa will result in a slower release of glucose and a more muted insulin response. On the other hand, a food that's high in refined carbohydrates, like white bread or soda, will lead to a more rapid release of glucose into the blood. And in response to this, the body releases a large amount of insulin, the hormone in our bodies that lowers blood sugar. Because of spike of glucose and insulin lead to less stable blood sugar levels, eating foods that are refined, especially highly processed carbohydrates, can result in an earlier return of hunger and a tendency to overeat. The glycemic index of a food is lower when the food contains fiber or when it's eaten in combination with protein foods or foods containing some dietary fat.

For people who are struggling to manage their weight, or their blood sugar levels, eating foods that have a low glycemic index is especially important, but choosing low glycemic foods is generally a good idea for all us. So when we talk about dietary carbohydrates we're actually talking about a very broad family of foods. Some that can be harmful to our health, and some that can support it. Learning how to choose the right foods within each nutrient category is one of the keys to long term success.

Macronutrient structure and Metabolism

In order to survive, the human organism needs to take in oxygen, water, and food. We can survive only about three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Because food is so important to our survival, it's been studied extensively.
But, to some extent, the focus on nutrients rather than food has confused many people. A basic understanding of the nutrients can give us a helpful background of our discussion about food.Ultimately people eat food,  not nutrients.

Dietary carbohydrates are combination of sugar units that come in both complex and simple form.
Simple carbohydrate include monosaccharides, or single sugar units like glucose or fructose. As well as disaccharides, or two-sugar units like sucrose, or table sugar. complex carbohydrates, or polysaccharides, include dietary starches that our body can digest and breakdown, and indigestible polysaccharides that make up dietary fibres. During the process of digestion, carbohydrates are broken down and converted to glucose, which can be metabolized by the body to produce usable energy in the form of ATP. If energy demands are low, glucose can be stored, and most of the time it is stored as adipose tissue.

Dietary proteins are also broken down into their component part, amino acids, during the process of digestion. These amino acids and build and repair the lean tissues in the body and perform many other important functions. But amino acids can also be broken down and used for energy. And if they're consumed in excess, they can contribute to fat stores in the body as well.

Dietary fats can also be broken into smaller components and used for energy. Or, they can be stored as adipose tissue, depending on our energy needs.

Fats are most energy dense storage form, providing nine calories of energy for every gram, and alcohol provides seven calories per gram. In contrast, carbohydrates and proteins provide only four calories per gram. This is one of the reasons we've evolved to store excess nutrients as adipose tissue, and this brings us to the underlying physiological cause of  overweight and obesity. Any calories that aren't converted into usable energy in the form of ATP are stored in the body for later use. Most of the time they are stored as adipose tissue. So disturbing the energy balance to favour energy expenditure over energy storage need to be one of the priorities for people who are trying to loose excess weight. This can be achieved by consuming fever calories, burning more calories through exercise, or a combination of both. But in addition, when long term health is the end goal, the quality of food matters just as much as the number of calories we consume. Within each category of macronutrients, we need to choose foods that support our health, rather than working against it.

A socioculture history of obesity

The human body runs on food. Once food shortage was the major concern. Technological advances have led to a new era that is characterized by an overabundance of inexpensive food, and relatively little physical activity. Other socio-cultural shifts continued to contribute to the changing way we ate.
The processed food industry have started to capitalize on our need for fast convenient food. Fewer meals are being cooked at home, and since convenient foods are generally higher in calories than home-cooked meals, the average persons caloric intake has also increased.

The changes in the way, we, as a society eat, has led to the emergence of obesity as a recognized chronic disease with well defined health consequences, and medical recommendations are made to try and address this growing health crisis. In recent years a lot of attention was focused on reducing saturated fat, and total fat in our diets. And the processed food industry responded by giving us what we wanted. But they still had vested interest in selling their product, so they found other ways to make the reduced fat products taste good. One way they did this was by adding significantly more sugar, like corn syrup to almost everything we ate. This not only made the reduced fat foods more appealing, but it also increased their shelf life. So the food industry had a huge incentive to add corn syrup, and other sweeteners to packaged foods. The resulting increase in our intake of simple sugar fueled our modern epidemics of obesity and diabetes. These shifts in our food consumption pattern has led us to a point in history where our physiological adaptation, our ability to store energy as fat, has become maladaptive. The balance between food consumption and energy expenditure has been disrupted, and has left us with an exponential increase in the incidence of obesity over the past 60 years. An epidemic that World Health Organization has labeled a worldwide public health crisis.

Some most popular diets.

There are various kinds of diets available today. some are for building muscles, while others are for loosing weight, lowering cholesterol, living a healthier life and many other reasons.

A diet is best described as a special course of food to which a person restricts himself, either to lose weight or for other medical purposes. It is also defines as the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight management.

Here are some details about the most popular diets according to Google:-

1.ketogenic Diet 

The ketogenic diet involves reduction of carbohydrate intake and increase in fat intake.

This allows the body to burn fat, rather than carbohydrates.

Healthy fats such as coconuts, olive oil, peanut butter, oily fish are added to the diet to maintain an overall emphasis on fat.

It is basically a high-fat, adequate-protein and low-carb diet that is used in medicine to treat epilepsy in children. 

2.Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet, focuses on controlling the levels of insulin in the body through low-carb diet.

People on the Atkins diet avoid carbs but can eat as much protein and fat as they like.

Anyone considering the Atkins diet should speak with the doctor because some times it comes with certain risks.

3.The zone diet

The Zone diet aims for a nutritional balance of 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fats, and 30 percent protein in each meal. It also controls blood insulin levels which may result in more successful weight loss and body weight control than other approaches.

4.Raw food diet

The raw food diet, involves consuming foods and drinks that are not processed, are completely plant-based, and ideally organic.

Raw foodists believe that at least three-quarters of a person's food intake should consist of uncooked food. A significant number of raw foodists are also vegans and do not eat or drink anything that is animal based.

5.Mediterranean diet

Emphasis is on lots of plant foods, fresh fruits as dessert, beans, nuts, whole grains, seeds, olive oil as the main source of dietary fats. Cheese and yogurts are the main dairy foods. The diet also includes moderate amounts of fish and poultry, up to about four eggs per week, small amounts of red meat, and low to moderate amounts of wine.