Eat processed foods, die slowly .

For those of us who have arrived in many ways than one, settling for processed foods is a lot easier than preparing regular meals at home. For one, these foods come in handsome packs, they are attractive and they have this unspoken message of opulence attached to them.

While we may feel good about ourselves each time we put down money at the check-out counters, bearing the attractive bags with which our purchase has been packed, experts are warning that processed foods have been tested and proved to be slow killers.

These foods are so numerous and available effortlessly that it’s hard not to be caught eating one. Do you want it as breakfast, lunch or dinner? Your wish has been granted even before you made it! From cereals such as corn flakes to skittles, milk chocolates, cakes, drinks, etc., you can’t beat the idea behind them, what with their catchy names and the creative graphics that simply arouse your desire to want to have a taste.

Nutritionists warn that processed foods aren’t just the fast foods such as burgers, pastries and fried treats; they include foods that have been boxed, bagged, canned or jarred, each of which always features a list of ingredients on the label.

They may be frozen or refrigerated at the point of purchase; they may be dehydrated or ones that have undergone what experts call aseptic processing.

On the surface of it, these foods come in handy: you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen trying to prepare a meal from the scratch. But then, with this convenience comes a huge price: your health.

A new study by researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America, suggests that apart from their high sugar contents, processed foods are heavily dyed!

Lead researcher, Laura J. Stevens, notes that, “Most of the highly coloured cereals contain the most popular artificial colours such as Red #40, Yellow #6, Yellow #5 or Blue #1, some of which are derived from… wait for it: petroleum!

In general, the researchers say, the brighter the colour, the more the dye. And if you think you could avoid ingesting dyes by eating white processed foods, Stevens and her team say even those white foods are white courtesy of colour enhancers!

Stevens says one of the reasons why food processing companies don’t use natural colour alternatives is because natural colours can’t survive the heat, processing and lights involved in the manufacturing processes.

Experts also warn that because processed foods are generally denatured, manufacturers generally pep up things by adding synthetic vitamins and minerals to make up for the lost nutrients and enhance the taste.

That’s why experts lament that up to 3,000 chemicals are available and deployed for this dirty job.

Beyond colouring

But beyond food colourings, there are also other processing methods that are used to make processed foods what they are — dangerous. These include stabilisers which, in reality, are food gums; emulsifiers, which are used to maintain freshness and smoother texture; or preservatives, which give long shelf life to foods.

All these processes affect consumer’s health, researchers say, and the implications are as terrible in children as they are in adults.

The consequence

While once-in-a-while diet of processed foods may not be bad, nutritionists warn that eating a diet high in processed foods can lead to a myriad of health problems, including diabetes, liver overload, cancer, heart disease and obesity.

In fact, the World Health Organisation attributes the increase in obesity and other chronic health problems to the consumption of processed foods.

Osteoporosis is another health problem that can develop when you eat processed foods all the time. A physician, Dr. Goke Oluwole, says man-made chemicals — as found in processed foods — acidify the body’s pH balance, which consequently accelerates bone loss.

“By eating your foods as naturally as possible, you will not only avoid certain diseases, you can actually stop some diseases in their track, even after they may have developed,” Oluwole counsels.

Check your cereal pack, for instance, and you may likely see an ingredient simply called BHT. Its full meaning is Butylated Hydroxytoluenes, a common additive that has been said to cause cancer!

The America-based National Toxicology Programme even says this particular ingredient is also used in jet fuels, rubber petroleum products, transformer oil and embalming fluid. And this ingredient is so dangerous that environmentalists warn that if it enters the environment, it could cause liver damage and is harmful to aquatic organisms.

This being the case, what is it doing in your food?

As for the colourings, scientists say they are derived from coal tar and may contain lead and arsenic. By the way, most coal tar-based colourings are also believed to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing).

Worse still, experts warn, some of the food thickeners, stabilisers and emulsifiers such as Propylene glycol alginate (E405) have industrial uses as automotive anti-freezes and airport runway de-icers!

Jaw-breakers

As you may have noticed, many of these names are jaw-breakers. It’s even one reason why scientists counsel against eating what you cannot pronounce.

Again, online portal, naturalnews.com, warns that processed foods ruin digestion. “Because they have been stripped of their natural fibres, enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients, processed foods tend to wreak havoc on the digestive tract.

“Chronic consumption of such foods can throw your internal ecosystem off balance, harming beneficial bacteria and exposing your system to infection,” the portal warns.

The bottom-line: Your health is in your hands. You don’t have to sacrifice it on the altar of processed foods. Eat your foods as naturally as possible. And if you must eat a processed meal, let it be rare and far between.