7 Worst processed foods to avoid 

The concept of processed foods came into existence with the idea of convenience, availability and not everyone stays near the city’s supermarket or has a local store nearby or people who cannot cook or barely have time to prepare.

Not all package foods are equally bad, like pre-chopped frozen vegetables and canned fruits in their juices are two of the good examples, as the nutrients stay intact and they do not require preservatives. But there are some foods which have a large amount of sodium, fat, sugar and other preservatives.

A variety of techniques are used to process food and preserve them like frozen, dried, baked, canned or pasteurised foods. They go through various levels of processing and the ones which are highly processed are usually bad for health and watch out for these additives such as trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, sodium-based preservatives, use of MSG or other banned substances.

1) Bacon 

Bacon slices are loaded with sodium and saturated fat linked to obesity and heart diseases. You can substitute it with avocado as it is rich in healthy fats and tastes good.

2) Granola Bars 

Not all granola bars are healthy, some are just stuffed with whole grains which offer less protein and full of added sugars. Check the contents before going for it.

3) Flavoured Nuts 

Packed with extra salt and sugar, available in maple flavoured, wasabi dusted almonds, toffee coated walnuts or cashew nuts, etc.

Instead, opt for simple unflavoured versions to stay away from an extra dose of salt and sugar.

4) Margarine 

It is made from vegetable fat but has a lot of trans fats, which are even worse than saturated fats. They are responsible for increasing LDL levels and can lead to heart stroke.

It is better to use a tsp of organic butter instead, as it offers butyric acid which is good for digestive health or you can have nut butter like peanut, walnut or aloud

5) Ketchup 

If you are thinking – Are tomatoes not healthy? Then what’s wrong with ketchup? The problem is not tomatoes, the problem is it is diluted with too much sugar and salt. Also, a tsp of two won’t be problematic, but chances are one doesn’t stop at one and doesn’t keep a count on quantity. Try including homemade chutneys instead like mint chutney, tomato chutney.

6) Instant noodles 

Childrn, adolescents and even adults look for instant noodles as a saviour, if they have nothing good to eat or are hungry in between the meals. It can be prepared within minutes and is high in sodium. Some are not even aware that instant noodles are fried, high in carbohydrates and sodium. They are convenient to make and not easy to resist, you just simply need to boil them in water for a few minutes and they’re ready to be consumed. The reality check is they are already fried, high in sodium and a bad idea to have them. Instead, you can try rice noodles, zucchini noodles.

7) Frozen meals 

No matter how convenient it sounds, ready to eat versions of meals is a bad idea, they are packed with sugars, fat, sodium, lead to various heart problems, may raise your blood pressure. Also, microwaving leads to loss of nutrients and The alternative is to prepare your fresh meal and choose healthy yet easy to prepare recipes.

To summarise, only occasionally choose to have the above mentioned processed foods and should not be consumed on a daily basis at all.

REFERENCES 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/not-all-processed-foods-are-unhealthy