Monday, October 14, 2019

Negative effects of Food Processing on Health

Developments in food system, food science and food technology have accelerated the production and availability of healthy beverages & nutrient foods. Consumers may acquire health benefits from some products, but they may also suffer adverse health effects and economic losses. Despite medicine, which is administered on the recommendation of health professionals, foods are chosen directly by the consumer. Food labelling has a major role in providing consumers with proper information when choosing the desired products.


What are the Negative impacts on health of Food processing and Technology?

The over reaching aims of modern food industry can be generalised as processing of food, developing food technology increases the shelf life of food using preservation techniques enhancing palatibility of food and to provide adequate nutrition. 

These technologies discussed above became important for the transition of food production from small-scale food producers and companies, to international corporations. They gave manufacturers the power to mass produce large quantities of inexpensive food with long shelf lives, which could be produced, stored, transported, and distributed across nations with relative ease.  Furthermore, flavor technologies became critical in producing palatable foods, as the thermal processing methods needed to maintain the safety of products all but destroyed their native flavors.

With the simultaneous development of modern food ingredient and preservation technologies, new, better flavored products became accessible to the general consumer that did not require refrigeration.  The low cost of sugar syrups made available through novel processes to enzymatically convert starches to simple sugars allowed manufacturers to add sugars to both improve the taste of foods and extend their shelf-life at room temperature.  Salt, another flavor enhancer and food preserver newly harvested from industrialized salt-mining operations, was judiciously added to foods as well. 

Processed foods are bad. They are a major contributor to obesity and illness around the world.

Now the question is how do you know that?

The word "processed" often causes confusion, lets clear what does that mean.
Most foods we eat are processed in some or the other way. Apples are cut from trees, butter is cream that has been separated from the milk and churned.
But there is a difference between mechanical processing and chemical processing.
Foods that have been chemically processed and made solely from refined ingredients and artificial substances, are what is generally known as processed food.
Now, let us talk about the negative effects that food processing has on our health.

1. High in sugar and high-fructose corn syrup

Processed foods are usually loaded with added sugar... or its evil twin, High Fructose Corn Syrup.
It is well known that sugar, when consumed in excess, is seriously harmful.
As we all know, sugar is "empty" calories - it has no essential nutrients, but a large amount of energy.
But empty calories are really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the harmful effects of sugar.
It can lead to insulin resistance, high triglycerides, increased levels of the harmful cholesterol and increased fat accumulation in the liver and abdominal cavity.
Most people aren't putting massive amounts of sugar in their coffee or on top of their cereal, they're getting it from processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.

2. Engineered for over-consumption

We all want to eat good food. That's just human nature.
Evolution provided us with taste buds that are supposed to help us navigate the natural food environment.
Our appetite gravitates towards foods that are sweet, salty and fatty, because we know such foods contain energy and nutrients that we need for survival.
Obviously, if a food manufacturer wants to succeed and get people to buy their product, it has to taste good.
But today, the competition is fierce. There are many different food manufacturers, all competing with each other.
For this reason, massive resources are spent on making foods as desirable as possible.
Many processed foods have been engineered to be so incredibly "rewarding" to the brain, that they overpower anything we might have come across in nature.
We have complicated mechanisms in our bodies and brains that are supposed to regulate energy balance (how much we eat and how much we burn) which, until very recently in evolutionary history, worked to keep us at a healthy weight.

3. Contain artificial ingredients

If you look at the ingredients label for a processed, packaged food, chances are that you won't have a clue what some of the ingredients are.
That's because many of the ingredients in there aren't actual food... they are artificial chemicals that are added for various purposes.
Highly processed foods often contain:
  • Preservatives: Chemicals that prevent the food from rotting.
  • Colorants: Chemicals that are used to give the food a specific color.
  • Flavor: Chemicals that give the food a particular flavor.
  • Texturants: Chemicals that give a particular texture.

4. People can become addicted to junk food

The "hyper-rewarding" nature of processed foods can have serious consequences for some people.
Some people can literally become addicted to this stuff and completely lose control over their consumption.
Although food addiction is something that most people don't know about, I am personally convinced that it is a huge problem in society today.

5. Often high in refined carbohydrates

There is a lot of controversy regarding carbohydrates in the diet.
Some people think that the majority of our energy intake should be from carbs, while others think they should be avoided like the plague.
But one thing that almost everyone agrees on, is that carbohydrates from whole foods are much better than refined carbohydrates.
Processed foods are often high in carbs, but it is usually the refined variety.
One of the main problems is that refined, "simple" carbohydrates are quickly broken down in the digestive tract, leading to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels.

6. Low in nutrients

Processed foods are extremely low in essential nutrients compared to whole, unprocessed foods.
In some cases, synthetic vitamins and minerals are added to the foods to compensate for what was lost during processing.
However, synthetic nutrients are NOT a good replacement for the nutrients found in whole foods.
Also, let's not forget that real foods contain much more than just the standard vitamins and minerals that we're all familiar with.

7. Low in fiber

Fiber, especially soluble, fermentable fiber, has various benefits.
One of the main ones is that it functions as a prebiotic, feeding the friendly bacteria in the intestine.
Soluble fibre can also help treat many cases of constipation, which is a very common problem today 
There is also evidence that fibre can slow down the absorption of carbohydrates and help us feel more satisfied with fewer calories 

8. Require less time and energy to digest

Food manufacturers want their processed food products to have a long shelf life. They also want each batch of the product to have a similar consistency and they want their foods to be easily consumed. Given the way foods are processed, they are often very easy to chew and swallow. Sometimes, it's almost as if they melt in your mouth. Most of the fibre has been taken out and the ingredients are refined, isolated nutrients that don't resemble the whole foods they came from.
One consequence of this is that it takes less energy to eat and digest processed foods.

9. Often high in trans fats

Processed foods are often high in unhealthy fats.
They usually contain cheap fats, refined seed- and vegetable oils (like soybean oil) that are often hydrogenated... which turns them into trans fats.
Vegetable oils are extremely unhealthy and most people are eating way too much of them already.
These fats contain excessive amounts of Omega-6 fatty acids, which can drive oxidation and inflammation in the body

IN CONCLUSION

When we replace real foods like fish, meat, fruit and vegetables with processed junk foods, we increase our risk of illness and poor health.
Real food is the key to good health, processed food is not
.

2 comments:

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