Fresh Food Loses Value With Food Processing
It is now well recognized that obesity and overweight has spread amongst all sections in the developed nations and amongst the richer sections in the developing nations. It has become a lifestyle problem. Lowered physical activities along with the type of food that are consumed are the main cause of the problem. Processed food has been displacing fresh food in the departmental stores and the super markets. Processed food is convenient for the people caught up with the busy urban life as they are easy to prepare.
The entry and predominance of beverages and junk food or fast food in our dietary practices are now reckoned to be the primary cause of obesity and overweight. The weight loss market too has been expanding alongside the increase in the number of the overweight. The market for various solutions such as the restructured diet, diet food, herbal appetite suppressant, medication and also surgeries is expanding. There are also a variety of publications and e-books on how to burn belly fat and how to burn away fat and build muscles. Professionals and fitness centers too offer advices.
The fresh food is processed by the food industry using modern processing technologies to prolong the shelf life and freshness and to protect from infection by bacteria. The techniques deployed by the industry include pasteurization, autoclaving, cooling, salting, drying and separation of various components. A wide range of processed food is made available through the stores to the consumer to choose from. These require very little preparation or no preparation before consumption.
During processing various separation techniques as pressing, centrifugation and milling are adopted to extract flour, juices, oils etc besides amino acids, minerals, vitamins and fatty acids. Invariably the nutritional content of the food changes with all these processing. Often food is heated losing some vitamins, phytochemicals and other substances. The processed food loses nutritional value. That is why processed food are fortified and enriched with some important nutrients. Whatever be the case, the processed food has inferior or lower nutritional value as compared to fresh wholesome foods. Fresh foods are richer in GI starches, sodium, potassium, fiber, vitamins, and unoxidized essential fatty acids. The processed food is found to often contain harmful substances as trans fatty acids and oxidized fats.