Has anyone ever stopped eating processed food?

We have gone off on a bunch of tangents, Standup2me. I'm certainly among the guilty, so let me offer My Top Five Reasons.

I think we eat processed food because:

• Everybody's doing it.
• It's readily available & safe.
• It takes less time & thought.
• It's relatively inexpensive.
• It usually tastes quite good.

Of the two options you offered, my five would all fall under the suggestion that we eat processed food.... because our thinking has moved away from the "I must provide for myself" thinking.

Roads

We still haven't defined processed food, so we are not ready to discuss such questions. You posed the questions as if we had form a shared understanding what a processed food is, but we do not have such shared understanding. It is different for different people. And, I thought that I was clowning around suggesting that kale chips from Whole Foods are more virtuous in the minds of people than same chips from a regular store, but in reality I was, unwittingly, Right. Honest to god I was simply trying to be funny! But in a recently published research experiment, the same milk shake was given to one group as a low cal Sensishake and to the other group as a high cal Indulgence shake. The two groups secreted different amounts of ghrelin!!! It is hilarious. Just based on perception and nothing else.

Processed food as I see it is used as a term to vaguely describe everything connected with the advent and development of agricultural technology in any shape or form. Strictly speaking, by this definition steam-in-the-bag microwaveable artichoke hearts with nothing added are processed and some kind of a drink full of artificial colorings, flavorings, and a long list of ingredients is processed as well. Clearly, this word - processed - does not allow to even begin to have a meaningful discussion because it fails to distinguish between actual vegetables and a fluorescent color solution of sugar and additives.

***

I am resuming exercise and have made two attempts to refuel after workout with chocolate milk, as it is supposed to offer the best protein/carb ratio for recovery. First, I bought a half gallon of one percent chocolate milk in a plastic jug, a store brand. There was no full fat alternative. It was disgusting. The drink foamed too much for normal milk and the chemical aftertaste was awful.

Then I bought a single serving bottle of Nesquick fatfree calcium fortified chocolate milk with less than 2% of Cocoa mass processed with alkali (read - cheap, bad way to use cocoa beans). It was horrendous.

There were no full fat options at the grocery store. I will try Costco tomorrow. I think they have single serving cartons of organic chocolate milk, for children. Hopefully, for children and organic would mean less adulterated. If not, I will have a piece of dark chocolate with a glass of whole milk for the same effect.

Greetings, hamster-bamster ~
Have you read the whole thread? Based on what I've picked up here, I sure don't think a "steam-in-the-bag microwaveable artichoke hearts with nothing added" would be considered processed. My only concern about microwaving is that I'm not sure what effect it might have on the nutritious quality of the food ... yeah, I know: If only that were all I had to worry about!

This where I keep needing advice. How do we define a processed food?

Raw milk is unprocessed, I would not drink it (sorry to raw milk drinkers)

Lettuce is (usually) unprocessed, but bottled dressing is.
Homemade dressing, if mayo based is processed
The definition is so subjective

How do we start?

You seem to have a good understanding of it. Here's one who agrees with everything you listed above as being processed or unprocessed--so on that shortlist at least it's not subjective.

When it comes to milk, I think there are many of us who prefer it processed (unless the cow is in a big backyard). "Processed" is not necessarily bad, but IMO we do ourselves a favor by knowing what that process involves.

roads

Primer on how to define processed foods:

Some benefits of processed foods, from the webpage:
When I'm trying to eat healthy, I don't judge based on whether a food is processed or not per se. Rather, I'll think about the nature of the processing, review the ingredients list for additives and preservatives, and then decide whether the food might be harmful for me.

So for me, "processed" in the negative sense depends on how many possibly unhealthy, unnatural ingredients are added to a food. For example, store-bought lemon juice contains added preservatives and buffer-agents. Store-bought Greek yogurt might be fine, but flavored yogurt might be a problem because the "fruit" flavoring is chemically synthesized, and instead of natural fruit sugars we have high-fructose corn-syrup instead.

I've attached another handout on how processed foods are defined, along with FAQs. The file is a PDF, so you might have to right-click and save to your computer in order to read it.

Most of my food is frozen fruits, veggies, and boneless skinless chicken. I make my own pasta sauce but we all hate noodles. My downfall is cheese, bread (though I get only 12 grain), lucky charms and mountain dew (By the way I haven't had mountain dew in almost a month, go me.) We do however have dry fruit loops for snack.

Psych - thanks for the handout. It was really good

For myself I define bad processed foods as those foods that contain fake chemicals I can not pronounce, fake sugar, artificial colors, trans fats and genetically modified foods who's seeds must be purchased every season. I don't care for animal that have been fed antibiotics either.
We are messing with nature and it's similar to killing off one species and not understanding how that affects the whole, because we haven't evolved to the point where we understand the interconnectedness of nature. So eating all these fake chemicals can be affecting us and our children at a level we can't understand.

Does anyone think that there is a way to stop eating processed food cold turkey?

Or would it be better to eliminate the easy ones (chips, ice cream bars, etc) first
and workthrough continual elimination, get to a point of sustainable process free?

I think that Psyche has a really good and attainable approach. Her hand-out was really great

I think it would be easier to eliminate them slowly, and then step up. I say this because I think you would "get burnt out" and find your self going back if you tried to cut it all out at once. Also it would be easier to start finding foods to replace them with that you like.

Yes, it's true. And interestingly, there are wells in Ireland, Scotland & elsewhere which have been tested & found rich in lithium. People would bring their "mad" friends & relatives to drink of the water or bathe in it. The effects would last for days or weeks. I read a book about this but here is a link that might interest you.

Gleann na nGealt | Fáilte Romhat (Welcome) to West Kerry

one of the big questions comes from what is processed food?
Oranges are sprayed with chemicals to make them orange, so would they be processed?

Is bread from a real bakery not processed?
The cornmeal we use is processed.

How do we make determination?

I think the more accurate word is "organic" rather than "processed". Lets see, cheese is processed, milk is processed, hamburger is processed, and so forth.

Change over fairly slowly, because your digestive system is larde and has many diverse parts. The older you are, the slower you might want to make changes. Your body chemistry needs to change a lot--but it's all for the good

I drink non-fat milk, and I'm able to buy it from a dairy farm & it's not pasturized. I consider it unprocessed because it's separated from the butter fat and cream, then bottled and cooled. Most commercial milk has vitamin D and often calcium.

Most commercial bread products are processed, if only to increase shelf life. You would need to ask the baker for the ingredients. Some flours have preservative, pesticides, niacin, and such added--again to extend shelf life or add supplements. That they will advertise

My argument with foods that add vitamins or minerals do not always provide enough to make a difference in normal portions. They do not always make an effort to add the supplement in a form that is easily taken up and used my the human body--e.g., calcium in itself isn't proceeded well by the digestive track and most of it passes through and out ... as calcium citrate, most people will get the maximum benefit. Calcium, e.g., mostly passes through the digestive system if it's just calcium, because our bodies aren't able to use it; the calcium in calcium citrate, though, can be taken and used for nutrition. Vitamin D in itself doesn't do much by itself, but it's vital for intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate and zinc. Again, there needs to be enough added to be actually beneficial.

Most commercial bread had at least preservatives added to extend shelf life. Small bakeries, which make what they expect to sell that day, may not add anything. You'd have to talk to the baker, though, to fine out for sure. Flour is all processed in that they are milled, but that's something like my fat free milk. The processing is mechanical & doesn't necessarily add preservatives of flavoring, dyes, etc, and they don't undergo heating at high temperatures (way higher than the temp needed for baking).

It's complicated ... another reason to take it slowly. In my case, it was worth the effort. Some many allergies and digestive problems (gas from both ends) went away.

roads

Yes, and I feel great. Basically, you need to be able to prepare all your food. The only exception for me in terms of 'processed food' are fiber/protein bar. When I had my last blood draw (full panel), my sodium and cholesterol (bad type) were on the low end of the scale - felt good!

Jenny - do you limit red meats also?

Do you use margarine or butter?

Roads - did you start ruling out processed food that are super processed (chips, Doritos, ice cream...etc) first? That sounds like the best way to start

It sounds like this is an area where you've done a lot of research

when you started eliminating them, how did you structure it?
By meals? By food groups? By ???

Your advice has a lot of meaning

I cut out foods with the most additives first, but I didn't map out the whole plan ahead of time. Basically food with a long shelf life tended to have many non-food items under "Contents." I was already a vegetarian.

As I got used to less extra fat, sugar, salt, etc, I found fewer and fewer prepared things I wanted. My body more or less made the decisions from then on.

The only thing I still miss is really good home-made turkey gravy over seasoned bread stuffing and mashed potatoes ...

roads

Thanks! Fascinating.