About All Natural Foods Vs. Processed Foods

Processed food represents one of the most significant social changes to occur during the Industrial Revolution. Women were rightly cautious when these products first hit the market, since the only meals they had ever served their families consisted of fresh, wholesome, natural ingredients. Their skepticism toward nutritional value quickly waned, however, once they realized how convenient ready-made food really was. It wasn't long before processed edibles represented one-third of all American-produced packaged goods

Diet and Disease

• Ancient man ate a variety of foods that maintained nutritive balance; while he was unaware of these benefits, he nonetheless learned which choices pleased his palate and provided the energy, stamina and strength needed to stay alive. Today's food, which only vaguely resembles its unadulterated, nutrient-rich self of the past, is so highly processed and nutritionally void that the body's defense has been to manifest a multitude of health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity, according to The New York Times article "Factory Food."

Lessons Children Learn

• Poor nutritional choices are directly related to childhood obesity.

  Supplying the body with nutritionally viable and natural food is not difficult to achieve in today's health conscious society, yet the ever-growing problem of childhood obesity illustrates how the processed foods industry has quite a captive audience. Walk down the aisles of contemporary grocers, says Jordan K. Davis, M.D, and you wander through an environment of artificially-colored, flavor enhanced and altogether fake food choices that have overtaken the foundation of natural, healthful eating. Children in today's post-Industrialized society have little understanding why boxed cereal for breakfast, a pocket sandwich, chips and soda for lunch and a frozen meal for dinner have a collectively poor impact upon both body and mind. As products of their own upbringing, too many kids don't realize why a wholesome, home-cooked meal is far superior to a chain burger and fries.

Fueling Mind and Body

• Fast food is the epitome of today's processed products.

  People whose diets consist mostly of refined, sugary and high sodium processed foods deprive their bodies of vital nutrients that keep physical and mental processes operating at optimum levels. Morgan Spurlock illustrated this with great accuracy in his documentary "Supersize Me," where he spent an entire month eating three meals a day of nothing but McDonald's food. It was just a few days before he realized an obvious change in body shape, increased exhaustion and the onset of depression. By month's end, Spurlock gained 24.5 lbs., raised his cholesterol by 65 points, increased body fat to 18 percent, turned his liver to fat and doubled his risk for heart disease and heart attack, notes United Nations Radio. This experiment also illustrated how a person can be obese and malnourished at the same time.

Supplementing Nutritionally-Deficient Food

• Natural foods provide health benefits missing from processed foods.

  The ongoing debate over the need to take vitamins is waged from two diverse perspectives: No. 1 advocates who argue today's mainstream food is so void of nutritional value that it's necessary to buy organic and take supplements; and No. 2 critics who contend that while much of today's food may be processed, it is already supplemented by manufacturers who add back some vitamins depleted during production. Consumers who do supplement their diets are becoming wise to how they pay twice for what should already be in their food; as such, the switch from adulterated, processed and vitamin-deficient foods back to fresh, organic and nutrient-rich alternatives is essential, according to Robert Thiel, Ph.D.