What are 'processed foods'?

[MPJJJ]

Someone told me that it would really help DH's diet to cut out processed foods, but i'm not entirely sure what they are, so I'm having a hard time cutting them out.

Is Cream of Mushroom soup a processed food? How about cereal, canned spagetti sauce, and macoroni and cheese? Are Stofer's Pot Pies processed foods? This may seem like a really stupid question for a natural living mom, but I'm clueless!:

[Malva]

Originally Posted by MPJJJ

Is Cream of Mushroom soup a processed food? How about cereal, canned spagetti sauce, and macoroni and cheese? Are Stofer's Pot Pies processed foods?

Yes, all of these are processed foods. Examples of non processed foods would be whole fruit, whole vegetables, whole grains, meat that's not been seasoned or marinated or half-cooked already, milk.

Processed foods are basically everything that comes ready-made, such as canned things, boxed things, frozen entrees, etc.

[rstump]

YUP....anything not from scratch would be processed. Think just about anything with more than one ingredient in it!

[apmommy76]

Boxes, packages, bags..

Most things that come in boxes, packages, bags, etc are processed. Just remember that you want to eat food in the most NATURAL state possible.

If you have to get Cream of Mushroom soup, buy AMY'S. More and more organic versions are coming out which don't have the nasty additives.

For example, I buy "processed" mac-n-cheese for my kids, but I buy ANNIE'S which I can feel good about giving them. Sure, the real stuff is better but sometimes I'm in a rush so it's nice to have it around. I also buy ANNIE'S ravioli which they LOVE.

[Ravin]

Another good rule of thumb is that if it still looks like what it came from, it's not processed. Evaporated cane juice is just sugar crystals, but big, brown ones, for example. Cheerios look nothing like steel cut or even rolled oats. Definitely processed.

A box with just one ingredient (ex: pasta made from 100% Semolina wheat) can be considered relatively not processed. A TV dinner or kraft mac and cheese is about as processed as it comes.

if it's shelf stable and you know it's not in it's natural state (UHT milk, shelf stable bacon, etc.) it's processed.

If more than one ingredient is a preservative or there are ingredients with names that don't really say what they are (e.g., "natural flavor"), it's processed.

If there are artificial colors or flavors, it's processed.

[Benji'sMom]

Originally Posted by MPJJJ

Someone told me that it would really help DH's diet to cut out processed foods, but i'm not entirely sure what they are, so I'm having a hard time cutting them out.

Is Cream of Mushroom soup a processed food? How about cereal, canned spagetti sauce, and macoroni and cheese? Are Stofer's Pot Pies processed foods? This may seem like a really stupid question for a natural living mom, but I'm clueless!:

Yes those are all processed. Unprocessed means if you want a pot pie you have to buy a chicken and some veggies and flour and bake a pot pie yourself. And use cream instead of a cream of mushroom soup. (Actually I do use cream of mushroom soup, it's my one naughty thing that I can't seem to do without. It's so handy to keep in the pantry! That way it won't have any wierd ingredients or extra salt or anything. Ceral is processed, with all kinds of wierd extra ingredients added. Except maybe Kashi but most cereals will be full of ingredients you can't pronounce. Canned Spaghetti sauce probably has a lot of added sugar and salt that you could do without. And some ingredients you can't pronounce. If you don't know what it is, don't eat it.