Cereals Can Be Fortified and Healthy or Not!

If you follow dietary advice on online, you may have heard negative remarks about processed foods. Although not all processed foods are bad for your health, added sugar and salt can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. A good way to reduce your intake of minimally processed foods is to do more food prep and cooking at home. This may be less convenient for busy people, but your diet will include more whole foods including vegetables and fruits.

Even foods labeled natural or organic can be processed. Processes such as pasteurizing milk, canning fruits and vegetables, and vacuum packing meats help prevent spoilage and increase overall food safety. Heavily processed foods have unhealthy ingredients added to make them more appealing or make them last longer on the shelf. Preparing food at home allows you to control the amount of each ingredient, but even frozen foods are not as bad as they once were.

Most processed food products are found in the interior aisles at the supermarket. The secret is look beyond the product marketing and read the ingredients label. Here are some healthier processed foods, such as:

• Cereal – Cereals are often rich in complex carbohydrates that provide you with ample energy and help to prevent cancer, constipation, colon disorders, and high blood sugar levels. But whether it is puffed, baked, or flaked, read the labels, and choose products that low in added sugars.
• Packaged Salads or Vegetables – Making a salad from scratch, you will have to clean the produce and chopped or shred the ingredients before you realize you needed two of that and only one of this. Minimally processed foods help to reduce food waste and save you time.
• Rotisserie Chicken – Check the food label as some rotisserie chicken sold in major food chains have been injected with a solution to enhance flavor and keep the meat moist. Shop around as there are markets that sell organic and non-organic rotisserie chickens that have not been injected.
• Plant Based Pastas – Bean pasta might not be considered a whole food to some, but next to sliced whole-grain bread, it's one of the most nutritious pre-packaged, processed foods you can buy that is high in protein and fiber.
• Protein Rich Cottage Cheese – Cottage cheese is one of the healthier processed foods. Moreover, it complements a broad range of meals and snacks. This curd product is an excellent source of calcium and minerals that support good bone health.
• Matcha Powder – Studies have linked green tea to a variety of health benefits, like helping to prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Matcha is high in a catechin called epigallocatechin gallate, which is believed to lower risks for certain cancers.
• Canned Tomatoes – Canned tomatoes can include extra sugar, sodium, or even fat added during food processing, but healthier versions can save a lot of time over cooking dried beans from scratch. Also, a great source of plant-based protein.

If you are concerned about living a healthier life and making better food choices, food labeling on processed foods can help you shop. Regulated food labels guarantee that you are eating what you thought and not a lot of hidden ingredients. Heart disease occurs when a person’s arteries are clogged by a build-up of fatty deposits on the artery walls. Although food labels are required on processed and pre-packaged foods, the information is wasted if you fail to read the nutrition facts label.

Food labels help people to determine how the food was grown and prepared. Whether it is for religious, cultural, or personal reasons, the ingredients list on today’s food labels provide pertinent data for making informed food decisions. Food labels carry useful information to help you make informed choices about what you eat and drink. Processed and pre-packaged foods are required to have a label containing this information. Nonetheless, you have to read them for it to help.