Avoiding the ultra processed foods
Studies on the impact of ultra processed foods has been doing the news circuits for a while now, but while it seems obvious that highly smoked, reformated foods (e.g. corn syrup is often cited here), and packaged foods (pringles anyone?), we should perhaps cast the net a little wider.
I love pesto: but it is not something I “cook with”. What do I mean? Well, olive oil is a processed food and a component of pesto. If I take some pastry, smear it with pesto and then bake it, the resulting pesto pastry is, by definition, ultra processed.
Cooking breaks down nutrients in food, it’s actually why we cook in the first place as it makes it easier to absorb those nutrients. But cooking more than once breaks the food down further. Should we consider such foods ultra processed too?
Breads are not all equal. A french dough doesn’t need sugar to help the yeast rise yet we class this food in the same class of processed food as a quick cooked “american styled loaf”.
Smoked foods such as sausages are commonly placed in the ultra processed list. But there is a big difference between an English style, unsmoked sausage and a 6 month smoked Falukorv. The English sausages are often sneered at in terms of taste (typically derived from herbs rather than processing) but the minced, otherwise uncooked meat is processed but not ultra processed…
Of course, our bacon was traditionally the way we preserved pork. Smoked and tasty but probably not the way we need to do things these days with fridges in every store and home.
Don’t get me started on “triple cooked” fries. Lets boil the goodness in potatoes away to just leave the simplest form of carbohydrate. Bring back the English chip, please.
Posted: September 29th, 2024 under 42.