Study on super processed foods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, it seems like you need to plan on grocery shopping almost every day. I wish American supermarkets would make smaller packages of things. For example, smaller loaves of fresh bread. I can’t see starting to bake bread. And we can’t eat a giant loaf in a few days. Or I guess maybe we can just give up bread?

Just freeze it and toast as needed. My mom did that in the 80s and I do it now.

Exactly I always freeze most of the loaf and take it out as we eat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you read the study they divide food into 4 categories:

1) unprocessed (e.g. fruit, vegetables, milk, meat)

2) processed ingredients (e.g. grains, sugar, vegetable oil)

3) processed foods (canned fruit or vegetables, fresh baked bread, cheese)

4) ultra processed food (snacks, store bought bread, breakfast cereal, soda, processed meat, ready to eat meals)

The correlation they found was with the last category, although I don’t know if they looked at other correlations.

It was interesting to me, because for my family, bread and breakfast cereal are relatively easy changes I can make for my teens. Usually if my kids eat them it’s at home because they are easy and fast and not because they love them so if I make some other carb that’s easy and fast, or buy or make fresh bread, they won’t care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who has time for all of this? When I saw the study, I thought through our family eating habits and I just don't even know where to start - my kids eat cereal or oatmeal or toast (store bought bread) for breakfast. Then for lunch, they take a sandwich - usually with storebought bread and either storebought jam or peanut butter or cheese. They also may take store bought popcorn, or a fruit roll up or a store bought cookie. Maybe store bought hummus and crackers for dipping. For dinner, we have store bought pasta sometimes - I will make my own sauce but I don't have time to do that all the time (and don't suggest making a huge batch - I have 4 kids to feed, I'd have to have an entire freezer to keep it in!)

And then they have ice cream or maybe make a store bought cake on the weekends and eat that for dessert. On the weekends, they eat fast food. And don't even get me started on snacks.

Literally every meal has some element of super processed foods in it. My kids seem healthy enough, play sports, get good grades. Can someone post their no-super processed foods meal plan?

This is the problem. You know we spend a lot of time mocking women in the 50s/60s for how everything they did was cooking and recipes but what this does not adequately capture is that prior to the invention of both the refrigerator and modern food processing/preservatives the reason many women stayed home was not JUST lack of opportunity in the professional world. It is because the job of getting meals on the table was a FULL TIME JOB. Getting food, storing food, preparing food, etc etc etc most of human history has revolved around the acquisition of and safe preparation of food. We really cannot even fathom what the daily food requirements of a housewife living in 1948 were. It is a world as different to us as a world without internet is to kids born today.

I see entirely that our overreliances on chemicals in food could be causing some unintended side effects. But reverting to a non processed food world will take creativity because our society will not (and honestly IMO SHOULD NOT) revert to a pre 1970s lifestyle where women HAVE to stay home in part to feed their family. The processed food revolution has perhaps made us sick and fat, its also given us freedom and dramatically reduced starvation. Pros and cons for every new frontier.

+100
And I’ll add that every time I hear a WHO or study lecturing on the need for breastfeeding to age 2+ or entirely shunning all processed foods it makes me wonder if “barefoot and pregnant” isn’t the ultimate goal…

Oh yes, a cast WHO consipiracy to keep women at home. You cannot possibly be serious.

All of this is possible. You just have to make compromises, and nobody says it has to land squarely on one parent or another if the focus is healthy eating for your children.

And, all in moderation anyways. Nobody is suggesting eliminating short cuts. Most are suggesting that you don't eat entirely foods that are only shelf stable garbage.

[Anonymous]

I made my own bagels this week. Yea! Small win. I will try to do weekly.

I didn’t this partly because of this thread. I am usually pretty good about keeping processed food low, but my kids love bagels but never eat a whole one. So I bought a pack of basic mini bagels at the store and was disappointed in both the taste and quality. The kids didn’t like them anyhow. When I made my own, I was able to make mini size and they were lovely and not too hard

[Anonymous]

The MORE they process
the SICKER we get
the RICHER they get.

Funny how works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The MORE they process
the SICKER we get
the RICHER they get.

Funny how works.

Funny how that works.

[Anonymous]

What should my kids be packing for lunch? They usually have some fresh fruit and veggies but also pasta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What should my kids be packing for lunch? They usually have some fresh fruit and veggies but also pasta.

It’s fine. Don’t overthink this. Anything you send is better than school lunch.

Work on sourcing better food. Bread especially since it is a staple and time consuming to make yourself. Find a small local bakery that is using minimal ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast, perhaps some whole grains too). Middle eastern grocery stores have really good pitas that are super cheap and 4 ingredients. Super easy to make wraps with them.

My kids lunches consists of a fruit and vegetable plus some combination of the following:

Cheese and cucumber wrap sandwich
Peanut butter (just peanuts and salt) on oatmeal bread (homemade or local bakery)
Leftover rice or pasta dish
Homemade pizza or hand pies

My kids do eat things like pretzels, granola bars, triscuits, fig bars. While they are considered processed, I look for variations with fewer and better quality ingredients. I do a fair amount of baking muffins and such at home too for snacks.

No one is getting sent to an early grave because they ate some pretzels as a snack. As long your kids are eating heathy and home cooked meals most days I wouldn’t get too hung up on the “no processed food” thing.

[Anonymous]

Everyone's missing the point listing their virtuous meals.

We need packaging to be better period. Someone stated it above. We need to hold food companies to account, ban some of their ingredients and processes (yes! Big government! Get out of women bodies and into fat bodies!) and encourage these companies to R&D and develop better foods. We can have good taste, health and cost effective. We just don't demand it and the food companies get rich, as someone said above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone's missing the point listing their virtuous meals.

We need packaging to be better period. Someone stated it above. We need to hold food companies to account, ban some of their ingredients and processes (yes! Big government! Get out of women bodies and into fat bodies!) and encourage these companies to R&D and develop better foods. We can have good taste, health and cost effective. We just don't demand it and the food companies get rich, as someone said above.

There are plenty of food options, including packaged, without ingredients that are terrible. People just don’t pick them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone's missing the point listing their virtuous meals.

We need packaging to be better period. Someone stated it above. We need to hold food companies to account, ban some of their ingredients and processes (yes! Big government! Get out of women bodies and into fat bodies!) and encourage these companies to R&D and develop better foods. We can have good taste, health and cost effective. We just don't demand it and the food companies get rich, as someone said above.

There are plenty of food options, including packaged, without ingredients that are terrible. People just don’t pick them.

I'm the PP you're responding to. I actually just checked my bread and the only non-bready thing in there is sorbic acid for freshness!
Sorbic acid is not so bad guys!
Sorbic acid is a naturally occurring compound that’s become the most commonly used food preservative in the world, and it makes the global food chain possible. It’s highly effective at inhibiting the growth of mold, which can spoil food and spread fatal diseases. For example, when sorbic acid is sprayed on the exterior of a country ham, there won’t be any mold growth for 30 days. This allows for food to be shipped and stored all over the globe.

Sorbic acid is a preferred preservative compared to nitrates, which can form carcinogenic byproducts. It’s applied to food by either spraying or dipping the food with a solution of sorbic acid and water.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read this whole thread, but didn’t a PP write that this study noted a correlation between processing and cancer?

In other news, humans carrying umbrellas causes rain, and ashtrays cause cancer.

Might people who eat highly processed food be generally less able to avoid carcinogens? Like people living in a food desert who, due to lack of political clout, also have toxic waste facilities near where they live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who has time for all of this? When I saw the study, I thought through our family eating habits and I just don't even know where to start - my kids eat cereal or oatmeal or toast (store bought bread) for breakfast. Then for lunch, they take a sandwich - usually with storebought bread and either storebought jam or peanut butter or cheese. They also may take store bought popcorn, or a fruit roll up or a store bought cookie. Maybe store bought hummus and crackers for dipping. For dinner, we have store bought pasta sometimes - I will make my own sauce but I don't have time to do that all the time (and don't suggest making a huge batch - I have 4 kids to feed, I'd have to have an entire freezer to keep it in!)

And then they have ice cream or maybe make a store bought cake on the weekends and eat that for dessert. On the weekends, they eat fast food. And don't even get me started on snacks.

Literally every meal has some element of super processed foods in it. My kids seem healthy enough, play sports, get good grades. Can someone post their no-super processed foods meal plan?

This is the problem. You know we spend a lot of time mocking women in the 50s/60s for how everything they did was cooking and recipes but what this does not adequately capture is that prior to the invention of both the refrigerator and modern food processing/preservatives the reason many women stayed home was not JUST lack of opportunity in the professional world. It is because the job of getting meals on the table was a FULL TIME JOB. Getting food, storing food, preparing food, etc etc etc most of human history has revolved around the acquisition of and safe preparation of food. We really cannot even fathom what the daily food requirements of a housewife living in 1948 were. It is a world as different to us as a world without internet is to kids born today.

I see entirely that our overreliances on chemicals in food could be causing some unintended side effects. But reverting to a non processed food world will take creativity because our society will not (and honestly IMO SHOULD NOT) revert to a pre 1970s lifestyle where women HAVE to stay home in part to feed their family. The processed food revolution has perhaps made us sick and fat, its also given us freedom and dramatically reduced starvation. Pros and cons for every new frontier.

+100
And I’ll add that every time I hear a WHO or study lecturing on the need for breastfeeding to age 2+ or entirely shunning all processed foods it makes me wonder if “barefoot and pregnant” isn’t the ultimate goal…

Because you can’t imagine men preparing food?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone's missing the point listing their virtuous meals.

We need packaging to be better period. Someone stated it above. We need to hold food companies to account, ban some of their ingredients and processes (yes! Big government! Get out of women bodies and into fat bodies!) and encourage these companies to R&D and develop better foods. We can have good taste, health and cost effective. We just don't demand it and the food companies get rich, as someone said above.

There are plenty of food options, including packaged, without ingredients that are terrible. People just don’t pick them.

People often do — when they have the option and when the prices for this are reasonable. See, for example, the wild popularity of Trader Joe’s. Yes, most of their offerings are highly processed, but they also avoid artificial flavorings, dyes, and a lot of the known really bad additives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who has time for all of this? When I saw the study, I thought through our family eating habits and I just don't even know where to start - my kids eat cereal or oatmeal or toast (store bought bread) for breakfast. Then for lunch, they take a sandwich - usually with storebought bread and either storebought jam or peanut butter or cheese. They also may take store bought popcorn, or a fruit roll up or a store bought cookie. Maybe store bought hummus and crackers for dipping. For dinner, we have store bought pasta sometimes - I will make my own sauce but I don't have time to do that all the time (and don't suggest making a huge batch - I have 4 kids to feed, I'd have to have an entire freezer to keep it in!)

And then they have ice cream or maybe make a store bought cake on the weekends and eat that for dessert. On the weekends, they eat fast food. And don't even get me started on snacks.

Literally every meal has some element of super processed foods in it. My kids seem healthy enough, play sports, get good grades. Can someone post their no-super processed foods meal plan?

This is the problem. You know we spend a lot of time mocking women in the 50s/60s for how everything they did was cooking and recipes but what this does not adequately capture is that prior to the invention of both the refrigerator and modern food processing/preservatives the reason many women stayed home was not JUST lack of opportunity in the professional world. It is because the job of getting meals on the table was a FULL TIME JOB. Getting food, storing food, preparing food, etc etc etc most of human history has revolved around the acquisition of and safe preparation of food. We really cannot even fathom what the daily food requirements of a housewife living in 1948 were. It is a world as different to us as a world without internet is to kids born today.

I see entirely that our overreliances on chemicals in food could be causing some unintended side effects. But reverting to a non processed food world will take creativity because our society will not (and honestly IMO SHOULD NOT) revert to a pre 1970s lifestyle where women HAVE to stay home in part to feed their family. The processed food revolution has perhaps made us sick and fat, its also given us freedom and dramatically reduced starvation. Pros and cons for every new frontier.

+100
And I’ll add that every time I hear a WHO or study lecturing on the need for breastfeeding to age 2+ or entirely shunning all processed foods it makes me wonder if “barefoot and pregnant” isn’t the ultimate goal…

Oh yes, a cast WHO consipiracy to keep women at home. You cannot possibly be serious.

All of this is possible. You just have to make compromises, and nobody says it has to land squarely on one parent or another if the focus is healthy eating for your children.

And, all in moderation anyways. Nobody is suggesting eliminating short cuts. Most are suggesting that you don't eat entirely foods that are only shelf stable garbage.

Right?! Do people expect researchers to lie about what's best for children just so they feel better about their life choices?