How To Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods for Healthy Living

My child came up to me with a question about ultra-processed foods and how to avoid them. I was really surprised to hear such a question from him. With more probing, I found out that he heard of this term in one of the YouTube videos and wanted to know more about it. Here I am typing away some of the key points about this topic on the ultra-processed foods.

What is Ultra-Processed Foods?

The definition of an ultra-processed food is credited to a Brazilian nutrition researcher Carlos Monteiro. He refers to foods and substances occurring during food’s frying, baking, hydrolysis, hydrogenation, extruding and moulding.

This is a fairly new term and concept in nutrition and is still evolving. But what clear from a definition of ultra-processed foods is that the most convenience foods fall into this category.

Why to Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

One thing is for sure that ultra-processed foods have been created from whole foods. The final result is not necessarily a healthy version of that whole food. And here are WHY these ultra-processed foods ruin our health and contribute to a vicious chronic diseases cycle. At the end, as we age, all our food options will catch up with us when we make choices skewed towards more processed and less real foods.

Here are the reasons why eating ultra-processed foods interferes with our bodily functions.

– Fiber has been removed for the most part from such foods
– Ultra-processed versions of food are void of or very low in vitamins and minerals
– These foods boast of a long shelf life
– Look for ADDED sugar, salt, preservatives, colors, and all kinds of substitutes of real ingredients
– Watch for high calories in these highly processed foods

These ultra processed foods are so tasty, we cannot stop eating them! We want to reach out only for a handful of chips, but end up eating the most of the bag, if not the entire bag of chips!

The clinical studies show that ultra-processed foods increase our dependence of such food choices and contribute to the chronic diseases such as heart diseases, obesity, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. Plus, the ultra-processed foods have been linked to an increased risk of cancer.

Fact: Increase of ultra-processed foods by 10% in your diet is associated with a significant increase in cancer.

10 Ultra-processed Foods to Avoid

There are more than 10 ultra-processed foods in the market today. But to mention a few food categories that are considered ultra processed can help you to make your choices.

– Energy bars, protein bars, muesli bars – You can actually make your own bars and cereals at home by using wholesome ingredients!
– Highly processed cheese sticks – Advertisers want us to buy them for our kids, oops.
– Instant noodle and alike – Just pour water, and you shall be having a “wholesome” meal. Don’t think so.
– Flavored drinks of all kinds – I actually examined every drink on the shelf of my local super store. All displayed drinks contained High Fructose Corn Syrup, except water.
– Chocolate spreads with different flavoring
– Chips

This list is not the end list. It is to give you an idea what to consider as an ultra processed food.

Tips On How to avoid ultra-processed foods

There’s no secret that the less of the processed foods we eat, the healthier it is for our gut bacteria, our immune system, our robust anti-aging living. The top three things you can take away with you today without being too overwhelmed are these value points.

1 – Include more fresh greens, vegetables, berries and fruit into your daily food choices
2 – Cook less and use modern technology to help you with it – See on the convection cooking below
3 – Read labels when buying processed foods

Add Fresh Salads and Fruits to Your Meals

By cutting the time you cook your food also adds to more vitamins and minerals saved for your benefits and well-being. With a convection oven, for example, you can cook faster by not compromising the quality of the ingredients inside your recipe. LG Combination Double Wall oven speeds the cooking time anywhere from 2 to 4 times! It is not a small detail when we have a crowd to feed!

Cook Less and Cook with Convection Oven

Cooking your dinners and celebration meals with the help of convection oven is the thing to go with. You can control the heat temperature for a deliciously tasting meal. Plus, you bake, not fry your food. For example, each convection oven like LG Combination Double Wall Oven distributes evenly the heat to make the recipes like healthy pizzas, potatoes, vegetables, chicken and desserts. There’s no over cooking like in a traditional oven. You have more flexibility to create a meal of your desires and dreams.

To avoid ultra-processed foods in your daily living, you gotta use the modern technology that supports you in doing so. Check out the convection method of cooking and what is available on the market. Best Buy has individual experts in each store who could tell you in detail what to expect from any of the kitchen appliance they sell. Take advantage of the sale going on to elevate your healthy living with the savings you can afford.

Get cooking flexibility, the looks and the style for your modern kitchen and enjoy healthy cooking with the convection oven like LG Combination Double Wall Oven.