Why It Is Important To Understand Processed Foods
Food processing is more than the preservatives used on foods, it is anything that changes the natural state of the food.
You may be wondering what are preservatives anyways? Preservatives are substances that are used to extend the shelf-life of foods against decay. They help products stay on the shelves longer, without spoiling. Some common preservatives are adding any of the following to foods: salt, sugar, fat, freezing, drying, milling, canning, or mixing.
What you may not know is, the degree of processing impacts the number of nutrients that are delivered to our body and the way our digestive track processes it. For example, chewing almonds requires more effort from the digestive system than ingesting almond butter because in their whole form almonds are more nutrient-dense.
Food processing alters the proteins and therefore our body processes them differently.
Foods can come in many different forms, for example, eating lentils vs. lentil soup or fruit, dried fruit, vs. fruit juice will each impact the body contrastingly. All of this highlights the question: Do you get a sufficient amount of vegetables and fruits? Smoothies and soups are excellent ways to sneak to obtain a proper amount of fiber, vitamins, and minerals into your diet and in return help your digestive tract run smoothly.
Here is a smoothie recipe for you to try out. It has 18g of protein from whole foods, no added protein powders. Enjoy!
3 cups of Kale. Benefit: 8g of Protein
3 tbsp of Pumpkin Seeds. Benefits: Increase dopamine production and 5g of protein)
1 tbsp Hemp Seeds. Benefits: one of the most digestible proteins available, 3g protein full of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Find my hemp milk recipe here, the perfect milk to add to coffee in the morning oats, or overnight oats
Lime Benefit: help prevent kidney stones
Pineapple Benefit: Bromaline enzyme to help breakdown protein in the body
Papaya + seeds Benefit: Helps with digestive enzymes, blend the seeds!
A scoop of Peanut Butter
