Why It’s Important To Limit Processed Foods

Food is fuel, certainly, but few think of food in such simple terms. A healthy diet is essential for maintaining good physical health, but food is more than that, food can and should be a pleasurable experience and it's typically at the center stage of gatherings of friends and family. But it can be difficult to balance the benefits and the potential harm that certain foods can bring to the table, namely among them, processed foods. Processed foods are purposely produced with the intent to make them difficult to avoid and to stop eating them. It's why the lifestyle changes often recommended can be so hard to maintain, especially when dealing with food. Major changes like that are important but hard to keep up with if you're going about it on your own, it's why it's just as important to seek help. You can become better informed and receive the tools needed to improve your life by reaching out to your Rome, NY, Preventive Medicine physician Dr. Camille Dillard of Natural Health Center.

Sugar and Calories

Just about every food sold today is processed in one way or another, but what is referred to when speaking about processed foods is ultra-processed foods, and it's these that will be discussed going forward.

There are many reasons to avoid processed foods if you are trying to start a healthy diet, the primary reason has to do with all the extra and unnecessary ingredients tacked onto food to make it more palatable. All the extra processing often adds more calories to the final product, and even foods that claim to be low-calorie can be equally unhealthy. As any health expert will tell you, although calories are important to consider when choosing healthy food, they do not tell the whole story.

Processed foods also often boast of being low fat, accomplishing this by instead adding more sweeteners to make them taste better.

Sugar is one of the most common additives to processed foods, which in many cases are marketed to children.

Avoiding processed foods altogether may not be feasible, or even necessary, but they need to be a less prominent part of your diet.

Preventive Medicine in Rome, NY

If you are looking to improve your health, including your diet, you can schedule a visit in Rome, NY, with Dr. Dillard of Natural Health Center by dialing 888-338-WELL.

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