A few weeks ago, we discussed why you are not limited to the perimeter of the grocery store for healthy food. That’s right. You don’t have to eat only unprocessed vegetables, fruit, protein and grains to maintain a healthy diet.
Now, it’s time to dig deeper and share which processed foods you should eat and which you should avoid. Let’s dive right in.
Vegetables
Fresh, frozen and canned vegetables contain mostly the same nutrients with a few exceptions:
Anything removed?
- Peeled vegetables have less fiber.
- Heat (cooking, blanching, canning) can decrease or increase how well your body uses the nutrients.
- Once stored, fresh food loses nutrients over time, very little is lost once frozen and nothing is lost after canning.
Anything added?
- Salt is usually added for flavor and not for preserving. You may look for low- or no-sodium canned veggies or rinse the salted veggies to remove some of the sodium.
- Fat may be added as part of a sauce.
- Sugar may be added to change the flavor, such as in a pasta sauce.
What about foods made from vegetables?
One example of a food made from vegetables is Veggie Straws. They are marketed to be a portable, snack-friendly way to get in more veggies. They look like carrot sticks and have attractive packing. When you compare them to the actual vegetable, there aren’t a lot of similarities.
However, comparing Veggie Straws and Doritos shows almost identical nutrient facts. That doesn’t mean to avoid them, but it may be helpful to think of them as a chip instead of a vegetable when making your decision.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Fresh, frozen and canned vegetables have many of the original nutrients of freshly harvested ones; include them in abundance in your day. Check the labels to evaluate foods made with vegetables.
Fruit
Fresh, frozen and canned fruit are more alike than different; below are some things to keep in mind.
Anything removed?
- Peeled fruit contains less fiber (sometimes for frozen fruit, usually for canned).
- Juicing removes fiber (any juice, even 100% juice).
- Heat (cooking, blanching, canning) can decrease or increase how well your body uses the nutrients.
- Once stored, fresh fruit loses nutrients over time, very little is lost once frozen and nothing is lost after canning.
Anything added?
Sugar is the most common ingredient added to fruit and fruit products, usually for taste or texture. Here are some tips:
- Frozen fruit: look for options without sugar on the ingredient list.
- Canned fruit: look for those packed in water or juice instead of syrup.
- Dips: fresh fruit may be sold with a dip made with sugar, such as caramel sauce or a sweetened yogurt, so check the ingredients and nutrition facts panel.
While sugar isn’t added to 100% fruit juice, juice is a source of concentrated sugar. One cup may contain more servings of fruit than you would typically eat.
The comparison below is a great example of how frozen fruit and juiced fruit differ in their nutrient facts. You can see that the frozen mango, even though it has been peeled, still has fiber while the mango juice does not. Because the juice is a more concentrated source of sugar, the bottle contains about three times as many calories and grams of sugar as one cup of frozen mango chunks.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Fresh, frozen and canned fruits have many of the original nutrients of freshly harvested ones; include them in abundance in your day. Check the labels to evaluate foods made with fruit.
Protein
Shelf-stable protein choices include canned and dried beans, canned fish, nuts and seeds.
Anything removed?
- Fat may be removed from different cuts of meat.
- Fat may be removed from milk and other dairy products. Whole milk (which is only about 5% fat) can have its fat “skimmed” off to become a lower percentage milk, such as 2%, 1% and 0% milk.
Anything added?
- Salt is used to flavor nuts and seeds, used in most forms of processing meat (smoking, curing, salting, making cold cuts)
- Sugar is usually found in dairy products, such as yogurt or protein shakes. It may be added in a small amount to peanut butter or other nut and seed butters.
- Fat is usually in the form of oil or cream. These may be added to change the consistency of nut butters or to yogurts and cheese sauces to make them creamier.
- Calcium is often added to tofu and plant-based milks, such as soymilk.
- Vitamin D is often added to milk.
- Sometimes nutrients are added to the diet of animals to increase the content of these nutrients in the foods these animals produce.
Meats that have been processed by curing, salting or smoking have the potential to increase the risk for certain cancers. Because this link occurs when these foods are eaten often, i.e., one hot dog every day, it’s possible to eat them occasionally without measurably increasing risk.
It seems that a potential solution to reduce risk from curing with nitrites and nitrates would be to swap those ingredients for something more natural and less chemical sounding, such as celery salt, but that is not the case. Bacon marketed as “uncured” (made with celery salt) is still cured.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Choosing plant protein, beans, nuts and seeds, and including higher fat fish two to three times a week can be beneficial. Choose lean options most often, enjoy those higher in fat and salt less often and try to pair either option with a plant, such as a veggie or whole grain.
Grains
When grains are harvested, the hull is removed. For some grains, this leaves the bran intact, but for others, such as barley, the process is not as straightforward. Other important components of a grain are the endosperm and germ.
- The bran has fiber, B vitamins and antioxidants.
- The endosperm is made of starchy carbohydrates, protein and some vitamins and minerals.
- The germ has B vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and some protein.
Anything removed?
- Whole grains leave all three parts of the grain intact.
- Refined grains are missing the germ and bran with the endosperm remaining. Some amount of fiber, protein, B vitamins and iron have been removed.
- Degerminated grains are missing the germ and have the bran and endosperm remaining.
- Rolled and cut oats have a different texture from whole oats and also cook faster. The nutrition stays the same.
Anything added?
- B vitamins and iron is often added to enriched grains (may be whole or refined).
- Fiber may be added to all types of grain products.
- Sugar is added to many ready-to-eat (cereals, desserts), usually refined grains.
- Salt is added to ready-to-eat grains (crackers, pretzels, cereals), usually refined grains
Oats are a good example of a whole grain that can be processed in different ways while still remaining a a whole grain. You may see them steel cut, as old-fashioned oats, quick oats or instant oats. The nutrient facts are almost identical for each type of oat. The instant packet does have a bit of salt and sugar added, but many flavors have amounts that would still reasonably allow you to stay below the daily recommendations for both. The main consideration for these types of oats would be which ones taste the best to you and which keep you satisfied until the next meal.
It is a different story when checking out the label of oatmeal cookies, for example. They may contain whole oats, but a quick glance at the ingredient list shows that there is more sugar, enriched flour and oil than there are oats.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Check the ingredients list to determine if a grain is a whole grain. You may also use the nutrition facts panel to see if the protein and fiber amounts have at least a few grams each. Check the added sugar line to determine how much of that product would be helpful for you to consume.
Fat, Sugar, Salt
We’ve talked about the most common ways you’ll find added salt, sugar and fat in foods, but what about the types? Arguably, switching saturated fat to unsaturated fat can make a big difference, but what about salt and sugar?
It’s not quite the same for these foods.
Sugar
The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugar to 6% of calories each day. If you consume 2000 calories most days, that’s about 36 grams of added sugar (equivalent to nine teaspoons). The Centers for Disease Control allows a higher budget, less than 10% of calories each day (12 teaspoons). The World Health Organization also recommends less than 10% of calories and notes that less than 5% may be beneficial.
While sugar isn’t addictive and won’t make kids hyperactive, too much added sugar can increase the risk for cavities and make it more challenging to manage weight, which can be a risk factor for developing other conditions.
The good news is that added sugar is now on the nutrition facts panel, so it is much easier to figure out how much a product has. It’s also good news that most of the added sugar you consume is from things that you expect to have sugar, so it doesn’t feel so sneaky: sugar-sweetened drinks, sweet snacks and desserts, such as cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, ice cream, doughnuts, sweet rolls and pastries.
The other piece of good news is that sugar is sugar, so you don’t have to fork out extra money to sweeten foods with maple syrup instead of white sugar.
Salt
The American Heart Association recommends that adults limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day — that’s equal to about one teaspoon of table salt. It specifies a lower limit for certain populations, but also points out that reducing high sodium intake — even without meeting the guidelines — can improve blood pressure and general heart health.
Much like sugar, salt is salt and there’s no nutritional benefit to be had in paying more money for a specific type of it, as Dr. Joe Schwarz points out in his 2020 The Office for Science and Society article:
“A quarter teaspoon of table salt has about 590 mg of sodium, coarse sea salt 580 mg and kosher salt around 480 mg. In the context of the overall diet, which should have no more than 2300 mg of sodium, the difference in sodium content of the different salts is irrelevant.”
Should I buy this?
When deciding if you should choose a food, try to ignore all the confusing nutritional information you’ve heard and consider asking yourself a few questions.
- Taste
- Do I think this will taste good?
- Will I need to do anything to improve the taste?
- Quantity
- How often will I eat this? Daily, weekly, rarely?
- What are general healthy eating recommendations?
- Cost
- What’s the price of the food?
- How much time will it take to prepare it?
- Quality
- Does this have the nutrients I want to include? (ex: do the veggie chips have any fiber?)
- Is it worth it? Is the cost and taste worth the nutrition?
THE BOTTOM LINE
Enjoy eating food without worrying about confusing food rules. Focus on building balanced meals instead of labeling food as healthy or junk, and choose foods that give you lasting energy until the next meal.
About Meredith Ebersohl, RD
Meredith is a registered dietitian who teaches nutrition classes, offers one-on-one nutrition counseling and develops educational material. She is passionate about explaining nutrition research and helping people incorporate sustainable changes in their lives. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two young children and their middle-aged pets.
Outpatient Nutrition Services
Do you need help determining how to eat healthy or finding healthy choices for your family? Consider scheduling with our WakeMed Outpatient Nutrition Services.
Our licensed, registered dietitians in Nutrition Services are committed to providing evidence-based, scientific nutrition advice. They can help with weight management, healthful living and nutritional care related to bariatric surgery.
Disclaimer: The advice of individual medical providers serves as guidance from the specific provider and is not intended to establish standards of clinical practice or rules of law for WakeMed Health and Hospitals.
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