Quote:
Originally Posted by toastedsmoke
I definitely still eat processed food like canned tomatoes, baked beans, tuna, sardines, condiments (mayo, mustard, humus, soy sauce, vinegar etc), chocolate, white grains, sugar substitute etc. I wouldn't say that's ALL I eat but I get my processed calories in daily without a second thought to it.
This reminds me that "processed" is very much in the mind of the beholder.
I don't consider canned tomatoes or canned fish or chicken "processed foods" even though they technically are (minimally processed I would argue, but still processed).
I don't stress at all over whole-processed foods. Frozen or canned veggies and meats... where the only added ingredients are herbs, spices, and salt (I tend to have very low blood sodium levels, so my doctor actually will encourage me to add salt if the blood levels get too low).
Condiments I also don't worry about because I use them in such small amounts, and I'm definitely not going to learn to make my own soy sauce (ketchup maybe... then again maybe not).
I do now make my own yogurt (though some folks considered all pasteurized dairy products from milk to cheese - processed foods).
I make my own jerky, but because of the high salt levels (despite what I said about salt earlier, jerky is an acception) I do consider even my own jerky highly "processed."
Some folks don't consider home-baked goods processed foods, but I do, because nothing like brownies grow on trees.
I consider most flours even whole grain flours highly processed - some people don't.
Processed really is in the eye of the beholder.