Hold the Processing, Please!
September 1st, 2009 by Candice Baxter
At one time, our bodies were designed for hunting and gathering, storing extra calories to provide energy during leaner months. Some 10,000 years ago, our ancestors formed farming communities and worked the fields growing produce. Today, we can pull up to the drive-thru and grab an order of cheeseburgers and fries. Fast food, TV dinners, one-bag skillet meals, might be convenient, but our bodies haven’t evolved to handle the constant stream of food additives.
“The body was never really meant to process chemically modified food,” says Dr. Stacy Smith, MD, FACC, a cardiologist with Memphis Heart Clinic. Instead of eating fresh fare, many families consume mass amounts of processed food that’s been scientifically altered for quick preparation and a longer shelf life. “The consequences of this are obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. We are going to see young people dying early because of what their parents are feeding them,” says Smith.
That’s Not How Grandma Made It
The industrial revolution of the early nineteenth century brought people into cities, where they often didn’t have space to grow a garden or keep farm animals. As growing populations demanded more sustenance, assembly-line manufacturers applied their principles to food production. Factories used machines and pasteurization to transform raw ingredients into products which would last longer and still be safe to eat. During World War II, discoveries in preservatives, made to supply meals for the military, pushed food processing another step. And as women began to work outside the home, demand for convenience grew.
Today, plants across the country run machines to peel, mince, fry, emulsify, freeze dry, and package what we find on grocery store shelves. Some procedures remove toxins from dairy products or add vitamins to cereals. But others, like the addition of high-fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils, pack in empty calories. With each processing step, a portion of the original nutrition is lost, taking our food farther and farther away from what nature intended.
“Who has time to cook?” asks Judy Hammond, who works at Morgan Keegan and raised three kids. She echoes the sentiments of many parents today. “By the time I got off work, fought rush hour traffic and picked up the kids from daycare, it was already 6 o’clock. One daughter would need a green poster board for a project and another would need a red shirt to wear for spirit week. When we got home from the store and I checked their homework, it was bath time, then bed.”
Parents often resort to processed food because it’s easy and quick. Yet kids need the nutrients gained from eating whole foods: red tomatoes for lycopene (heart healthy anitoxidant), oranges for vitamin C, yellow bananas for potassium, green spinach for folate (red blood cell production), blueberries for anthocyanins (memory-loss prevention), and purple plums for fiber. Cooking with fresh ingredients isn’t more time consuming when you take the time to plan. Once you start cooking, double up on recipes and freeze extra portions, so you’ll have healthy meal options when schedules run tight.
4 WAYS TO EAT FRESH
Live on the edge. “Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, and avoid the inner aisles,” advises Stacy Baumeister, a registered dietician at Methodist University Hospital. “Even the lunch meats in the refrigerator section have added sodium to preserve them. Instead, go to the deli section get it shaved for you.”
Avoid sugary snacks. Buy less fruity snacks made with “natural” strawberry flavors and more actual strawberries. According to the FDA, a natural flavor must be derived entirely from natural sources. Loosely interpreted by the food industry, that could mean an enzyme cultured in a Petri dish.
Buy fresh produce when possible. Between supermarket visits, hit the nearest farmers market. Easy Way Produce stores also carry milk and bread, and much of their food comes from a 100-mile radius, which guarantees freshness. Shop with your children and let them see, touch, and choose different kinds of fruits and vegetables. At home, invite them to help wash and taste test.
Make leftovers into soup. When veggies start to turn, cut off the bad parts, dice the rest and throw them in a pot full of tomato juice. Add companionable leftovers from the fridge: spaghetti sauce, rice, or yesterday’s pork chop, shredded. It’s a no-waste meal with easy clean up.
KEEP THIS BOOK HANDY
Eat This, Not That! for Kids is a helpful food swapping guide designed to help parents make more informed food choices. It’s the third work in a best-selling series by David Zinczenko, editor of Men’s Health. Inside you’ll find menu decoders, restaurant report cards, and tons of visuals, making it read more like a magazine than book.
The author rates food items on kid’s menus at the most popular restaurant chains in America, Displayed on one page are the eatery’s four healthiest options: Eat This, and on the opposite page appear its four unhealthiest options: Not That. Meals are broken out according to calories, fat and sodium content. What you discover is that all kids’ meals are not created equal.
My daughter used to love Chili’s Pepper Pals Country-Fried Chicken Crispers with ranch and a side of fries. But when I discovered it contained over 1,000 calories and 82 grams of fat, I almost passed out. Where does it say that on the menu? Now, she orders Pepper Pals Corn Dog with mashed potatoes, at only 600+ calories/ 60 grams of fat.
In the supermarket section, you’ll find grocery swaps, comparing brands of foods kids love — like cereal, popsicles and frozen pizza. Did you know Original Spaghetti Os have more nutritional value and 18 less grams of fat than Kraft Macaroni and Cheese? Who knew. Other helpful sections include smart choices for vending machine munchies, school cafeteria food, and even candy bars. If you’re trying to eat smart, this is a good way to start.