Could You Go 100% Unprocessed?

By Sara Novak, Planet Green

It seems every other eco-foodie talks about skipping processed foods and replacing them with whole foods. But what does that really mean? How many processed foods do you really eat? Well, often times, we eat more processed junk than we would ever even realize.

I’m working from San Francisco this week so I can attend a Fall Ayurveda cleanse with one of my favorite yoga teachers Scott Blossom. One of the tenets of the cleanse is avoiding all processed foods. Once the cleanse is done, we can cautiously reintroduce them back into our diets. I thought this would be easy. I thought I ate little to no processed foods at all. And while for the most part, I don’t, I did still find some hidden culprits.

What Exactly Does Unprocessed Mean?

I really like Andrew Wilder’s definition over at Civil Eats. He says, “[u]nprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients.”

This is a fair definition. You’re not expected to process your own olive oil and wine, or churn your own butter. But on the other hand, condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise can be made at home quite easily.

Going Out to Eat Counts

Often times we may try and eat unprocessed foods when we’re at home, but when we’re eating out, that all goes out the window. Stick with places where the majority of the ingredients like breads, sauces, tortillas, veggie burgers, and soups are homemade. No mini ketchup packets or frozen chicken fingers allowed. These places are likely a bit pricier, so eat in most of the time and then treat yourself to a worthwhile meal out once in a while.

Don’t Start the Day Processed

Many breakfast foods tend to be processed. That granola may be organic but it still took energy to be manufactured and then transported to you. Instead, make your own granola. The same goes for breakfast bars. If you’re going to eat them, make them yourself or choose homemade oatmeal or local eggs and homemade bread.

What About Dessert?

Dessert is another place that processed foods hide. My motto is that if you’re gonna splurge, make it yourself. Enjoy a good dessert once a week instead of snacking on processed cookies and candy each night.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Jennifer C.

5:19PM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

Thanks for this great article.

send a green star

Maria S.

3:19PM PDT on Jun 3, 2011

I guess I could say I'm fortunate to live in a country where we can still find real fresh food and mostly in season.I cook everyday and over the weekends make a dessert or two for the family and various snacks to have for sudden company. I basicly use olive oil (very very rarely I'll use butter)yogurt instead of any other kind of creamor cream fresh) and honey if needed in a dessert recipe instead of sugar.I can and freeze veggies and fruits when in season to have available during the rest of the year.

Courtney B.

7:17AM PDT on Jun 1, 2011

This gives a really good guide to what to avoid. I'm going to have to work harder!

Janice L.

8:23PM PST on Dec 12, 2010

If you read labels, you find out how processed something really is.

Sheri P.

10:47PM PST on Nov 17, 2010

Make it yourself! It's not that hard and it's definitely worth it in the long run...

Katia M.

2:54PM PST on Nov 8, 2010

Samantha, you definitely need toread this on what processing means, and much more. It is an excellent new article on the subject: http://www.wphna.org/wn_commentary_ultraprocessing_nov2010.asp

Marion Nestle commented recently on it.

Cheers,

Katia

Manuela C.

7:47AM PDT on Nov 3, 2010

I try to eat mostly unprocessed, but some "ingredients" are very difficult to "process"...

Jay E.

6:54AM PDT on Nov 3, 2010

very difficult to do for one reason, our society frowns upon it.
with long work hours, very little time for family and farming quickly disappearing in many rural county's, everything our society is moving towards is processed garbage. within 20 years there will be more corporate farms then you could ever imagine, water companies will own many of the third world countries water supplies and cities will get even more crowded and disorganized than ever before.
this is our world and all because people allow this to happen.
progress has to be stalled and reinvisioned before it gets out of hand.

Loo S.

8:40PM PDT on Nov 2, 2010

thanks for the article.

2:35PM PDT on Nov 2, 2010

I try to eat mostly unprocessed, but some "ingredients" are very difficult...