Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

What Exactly Is Considered "processed Foods"?

tomtom009

Recommended Posts

tomtom009 Apprentice
tomtom009
Posted

People toss this term around quite frequently and I was wondering, what exactly qualifies as processed food? Does a Lara Bar qualify as processed? What about Heinz ketchup? gluten-free cereals? I can't believe it's not butter? Just wondering what people consider processed?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


conniebky Collaborator
conniebky
Posted

People toss this term around quite frequently and I was wondering, what exactly qualifies as processed food? Does a Lara Bar qualify as processed? What about Heinz ketchup? gluten-free cereals? I can't believe it's not butter? Just wondering what people consider processed?

Well, the way I look at it, if God didn't make it.....if you can't pull it out of the ground or off of a tree, or squeeze it out of a cow, it's processed.

But, that's just me...... :P

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

I consider all of those things "processed". Any food that has been changed from it's natural state when harvested/slaughtered or had chemicals/preservatives added is processed. Some foods are more processed than others, IMO. The more ingredients (especially ingredients that you could not go out and pick/buy/grow yourself to duplicate the product in your own kitchen) the more processed the item has been (and probably the worse it is for you health-wise). Of the list you gave Lara Bars would probably be the least "processed" because they don't have added preservatives. You can buy all the ingredients in Lara Bars and play with making them in your kitchen yourself.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Well, the way I look at it, if God didn't make it.....if you can't pull it out of the ground or off of a tree, or squeeze it out of a cow, it's processed.

But, that's just me...... :P

Well, I think Connie took it a little too far, because of course that would exclude meat since I don't think too many of us go around butchering our own animals (although we may catch and fillet our fish :) ). But she had the idea correct; it is anything that man hasn't messed with and added stuff to that nature didn't put there in the first place. If you buy a bag of rice, sure it has been "processed" into the bag, but if it hasn't been turned into "instant" rice or a rice mix, then I would consider it unprocessed.

lucia Enthusiast
lucia
Posted

If anyone is super interested in learning about processed foods, I'd recommend reading Michael Pollan's books. To Connie's point, at the end of "Omnivore's Dilemma," he stages a dinner party where he serves only food he's gathered, grown, or hunted himself. Yes, you can find wild boar in Berkeley, California if you know the right people.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

. Yes, you can find wild boar in Berkeley, California if you know the right people.

Or know where to look :D Can't say as how I ever came across one, but I have come across coyotes at Anderson Dam, and bobcats and bears at Incline Village. Not to say that I am going to go hunting any of them :P I prefer someone else to catch my game for me - that's what men (except Sarah Palin) are for :rolleyes:

summerteeth Enthusiast
summerteeth
Posted

That is a really interesting question -- and quite subjective! I pretty much say the fewer ingredients the better. I wouldn't consider a bag of rice or a bag of beans a "processed food" although they technically have been processed. I use dried foods (that I have dried myself or bought) a lot and I don't consider them over processed.

What about spices? Obviously the ones I pick aren't processed, but what about table salt or pepper?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


luvs2eat Collaborator
luvs2eat
Posted

I'd even take it a little further and say that things w/ REAL foods as ingredients aren't processed. As soon as you start adding preservatives, stablizers, etc., it becomes processed.

I wouldn't consider 100% juice or bread made only w/ flour, water, salt and maybe eggs and oil or ice cream using only cream, sugar, and nuts/chocolate, etc., as processed food... like the Larabars thought.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

I think when people say try to eat "unprocessed" foods they mean simple stuff. Stuff without a lot of processing steps before you get it. The more steps needed to make it, the more likely it could be cross contaminated. Stuff without a lot of different ingredients, espcially ones you couldn't or wouldn't use. Example: Chicken broth: If the ingredients say chicken, salt, onion, carrot that's how you would make it yourself. When it starts to have "autolyzed yeast" and "artificial colors" its overprocessed. Plain spices that are just: "dried oregano" is pretty simple.

A few people go the whole way and grow and dry thier own oregano or make the chicken broth. Good for them. They have more energy or desire then I do.

So I think the moral of the story is: Eat as simply as possible and its better for you. Sometimes single ingredients you add to other single ingredients are easier to digest.

dilettantesteph Collaborator
dilettantesteph
Posted

Well, the way I look at it, if God didn't make it.....if you can't pull it out of the ground or off of a tree, or squeeze it out of a cow, it's processed.

But, that's just me...... :P

When I consider CC, it is Connie's definition I use. Once man gets involved...

Looking for answers Contributor
Looking for answers
Posted

I eat only "unprocessed" foods - meaning, I do eat some packaged foods like Coconut milk, protein powders, etc., but I only buy it if it has natural ingredients. If it has a chemical, was packaged in a foreign country, etc, it goes back on the shelf. Mostly I try to eat organic veggies and meat, but I still makes smoothies, etc, where the former items I mentioned come in handy. In a perfect world, I would only eat things I could find at my local farmer's market.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,921
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Rusty49
    Newest Member
    Rusty49
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • cristiana
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi @Dizzyma I note what @trents has commented about you possibly posting from the UK.  Just to let you know that am a coeliac based in the UK, so if that is the case, do let me know if can help you with any questions on the NHS provision for coeliacs.    If you are indeed based in the UK, and coeliac disease is confirmed, I would thoroughly recommend you join Coeliac UK, as they provide a printed food and drink guide and also a phone app which you can take shopping with you so you can find out if a product is gluten free or not. But one thing I would like to say to you, no matter where you live, is you mention that your daughter is anxious.  I was always a bit of a nervous, anxious child but before my diagnosis in mid-life my anxiety levels were through the roof.   My anxiety got steadily better when I followed the gluten-free diet and vitamin and mineral deficiencies were addressed.  Anxiety is very common at diagnosis, you may well find that her anxiety will improve once your daughter follows a strict gluten-free diet. Cristiana 
    • trents
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celic.com community @Dizzyma! I'm assuming you are in the U.K. since you speak of your daughter's celiac disease blood tests as "her bloods".  Has her physician officially diagnosed her has having celiac disease on the results of her blood tests alone? Normally, if the ttg-iga blood test results are positive, a follow-up endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining to check for damage would be ordered to confirm the results of "the bloods". However if the ttg-iga test score is 10x normal or greater, some physicians, particularly in the U.K., will dispense with the endoscopy/biopsy. If there is to be an endoscopy/biopsy, your daughter should not yet begin the gluten free diet as doing so would allow healing of the small bowel lining to commence which may result in a biopsy finding having results that conflict with the blood work. Do you know if an endoscopy/biopsy is planned? Celiac disease can have onset at any stage of life, from infancy to old age. It has a genetic base but the genes remain dormant until and unless triggered by some stress event. The stress event can be many things but it is often a viral infection. About 40% of the general population have the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% actually develop celiac disease. So, for most, the genes remain dormant.  Celiac disease is by nature an autoimmune disorder. That is to say, gluten ingestion triggers an immune response that causes the body to attack its own tissues. In this case, the attack happens in he lining of the small bowel, at least classically, though we now know there are other body systems that can sometimes be affected. So, for a person with celiac disease, when they ingest gluten, the body sends attacking cells to battle the gluten which causes inflammation as the gluten is being absorbed into the cells that make up the lining of the small bowel. This causes damage to the cells and over time, wears them down. This lining is composed of billions of tiny finger-like projections and which creates a tremendous surface area for absorbing nutrients from the food we eat. This area of the intestinal track is where all of our nutrition is absorbed. As these finger-like projections get worn down by the constant inflammation from continued gluten consumption before diagnosis (or after diagnosis in the case of those who are noncompliant) the efficiency of nutrient absorption from what we eat can be drastically reduced. This is why iron deficiency anemia and other nutrient deficiency related medical problems are so common in the celiac population. So, to answer your question about the wisdom of allowing your daughter to consume gluten on a limited basis to retain some tolerance to it, that would not be a sound approach because it would prevent healing of the lining of her small bowel. It would keep the fires of inflammation smoldering. The only wise course is strict adherence to a gluten free diet, once all tests to confirm celiac disease are complete.
    • Dizzyma
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By Dizzyma · Posted

      Hi all, I have so many questions and feel like google is giving me very different information. Hoping I may get some more definite answers here. ok, my daughter has been diagnosed as a coeliac as her bloods show anti TTG antibodies are over 128. We have started her  on a full gluten free diet. my concerns are that she wasn’t actually physically sick on her regular diet, she had tummy issues and skin sores. My fear is that she will build up a complete intolerance to gluten and become physically sick if she has gluten. Is there anything to be said for keeping a small bit of gluten in the diet to stop her from developing a total intolerance?  also, she would be an anxious type of person, is it possible that stress is the reason she has become coeliac? I read that diagnosis later in childhood could be following a sickness or stress. How can she have been fine for the first 10 years and then become coeliac? sorry, I’m just very confused and really want to do right by her. I know a coeliac and she has a terrible time after she gets gluttened so just want to make sure going down a total gluten free road is the right choice. thank you for any help or advise xx 
    • xxnonamexx
      Fermented foods, Kefir, Kombucha?

      By xxnonamexx · Posted

      very interesting thanks for the info  
    • Florence Lillian
      gluten free cookie recipes

      By Florence Lillian · Posted

      More cookie recipes ...thanks so much for the heads-up Scott.  One can never have too many.  Cheers, Florence.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.