Processed Foods are Unhealthy to our Health - Research Paper Example

? Processed Foods are Unhealthy to our Health Processed Foods are Unhealthy to our Health Food processing is the treatment of natural foods to make them more desirable, increase their shelf-life, and add some nutrients. In addition, the processing makes food safer, digestible, and tastier. The product of food processing is the processed foods. Food processing ranges from traditional methods such as cooking to the modern methods that entails exposure to gamma radiation. The design of many processing techniques such as smoking, drying, salting, canning, and freezing ensures that food remains edible for long time. Other food processing methods give the food its taste and convenient. Although home cooking is a way of processing foods, the term processed food is used to refer to the food modification in the industrial setting (Johanson, 2008). Food processing is a vital part of life in the industrialized countries. Many families in the United States feed on the processed foods. Even the families that cook their own food at some point they purchase the processed food (Johanson, 2008). For instance, a family that wants to eat pepperoni pizza for dinner could buy a cooked pizza from a store or a restaurant. They can get a frozen pizza to prepare at the comfort of their house. The family can also decide to make pizza for themselves. They can obtain the premade pizza crusts and dough, premade sauce, pre-sliced pepperoni, and pre-grated cheese at a grocery store. Similarly, the family could also make the pizza from the scratch. To prepare the crust, the family can purchase pre-milled flour and commercially packaged yeast. To make the sauce the family can buy dried spices and canned tomato sauce. All in all, the family will have to use processed foods. Common types of processed foods have existed for a long time in United States. In the seventeenth century and eighteen centuries, many people purchased processed foods such as spices, alcoholic beverages, flour, tea, sugar, and coffee in the seventeenth century and eighteen centuries. Canning was widely used with advent of new technology after to industrial revolution in United States. Today food industries use more advanced methods of food processing such as irradiation, pasteurization, vacuum packaging, and use of chemicals (Johanson, 2008). United States is one the nation in that produces and exports processed foods and beverages. The two contribute significantly to the U.S agricultural exports. The agricultural export figures indicate that the processed foods and beverages recorded an increase from 30.6 percent in the year 1996 to 38.2 percent in 2000 (U.S International Trade Commission, 2002). Some examples of processed foods include meat products, dairy products, and grain based foods. Some of the artificial ingredients used in manufacturing of foods comprise of flavors, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and artificial sweeteners (Johanson, 2008). These processed foods possess a health risk to the consumers. The health concerns of processed food are not only in the United States but also in global spheres. Health Risk of Processed Foods Proper good diet is essential for maintenance health bodies. Conversely, poor diets lead to weakening of the defense systems of the body. The processed foods present an innumerable health risks to foods consumers. The negative effects of processed food can be immediate or they can take a long time. The processed foods are rich sources of toxins. The immediate effects of the processed foods include headaches, alteration in mental concentration and behavior. Processed foods can elicit an immune response. Severe cases of this response bring about some allergic reactions. The long term effects of processed food lead to heart complications. The extreme cases of heart diseases results to death. The processing of foods incorporates some harmful components in the processed foods. The processed foods contain a lot of fats (Insel, et al. (2004). When these fats enter into human body they cause many complications. Most processing methods of processed foods employ hydrogenation. This is a process of to the fat molecules. Hydrogenation destroys the nutritional value of vegetable fats found in the natural foods. The principle purpose of this process is to solidify oils to resemble the foods such as butter. This manufacturing process incorporates trans-fats into processed foods that are detrimental to the health of a human body. The Increase in uptake of foods that contains the trans-fats leads to their accumulation in the body. This lowers the good cholesterol and raises the amount the bad cholesterol in the body. The body requires good cholesterol to for the functioning of the cell membranes and hormones such as estrogen and testosterone (Toth, 2002). Good cholesterol is very crucial in extracting excess deposits of cholesterol in the blood vessels. After extraction, the good cholesterol delivers the excess back to the liver for elimination. This prevents the thickening of blood vessel. When an individual talks trans-fatty acids it affects production of the good cholesterol. The result of reduced production of good cholesterol leads to deposition of bad cholesterol in the blood vessels. This leads to blockage of the smooth flow of the blood in the vessels. The interruption in the circulation system results to insufficient supply of blood to vital organs such as heart and brain. This can result to death from heart attack or multiple organ failure (Toth, 2002). American people consume many foods that contain trans-fats are at the highest risk of developing heart diseases. Most of these foods include French fries, doughnuts, pastries, pie crusts, biscuits, and cookies. Others foods comprise of pizza dough, crackers, and stick margarines. These processed contribute to startling numbers of overweight and obese in United States and globe at large. It is not only a problem with the adults but it spans all the ages. The prevalence of overweight has increased from significantly. The statistics indicate that for every four Americans two or three are either overweight or diabetic. The data reveal that out of six children one is at high risk of diabetic attack. Overconsumption of processed foods such as tasty and energy-dense foods attributes to these high figures. The obesity and overweight people are at the highest risk of developing stroke, diabetes, hypertension, joint diseases, and some forms of cancer. The increase in production of processed food in the United States exacerbates the incidences of these diseases. This is because the processed foods are high in calories and trans-fats. In addition, the foods are low in fibers. Fibers are very essential in aiding digestion process. Overweight and obese people do not exercise due to their large body mass. Inactivity promotes secretion of hormones that lead to further increase in weight in the obese people. High activity of hormones such estrogens without mechanism to regulate their activities cause development of breast cancers (Toth, 2002). Processed foods contribute to development of diabetes type 2. The prolonged exposure of these foods with lack of sufficient exercise aggravates the complication. The cells of the body fail to store the excess glucose. The body loses the response to insulin. This means that the body cells cannot reduce blood sugar levels. This means that excess glucose has to be filtered from the blood (Sizer and Whitney, 2010). Diabetic patients use a lot of funds to manage the disease. American people can avoid the disease through adherence to proper diet of unprocessed foods. Many processed food increase the risk of development of different types of cancers. The American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research in their report asserts this point. The report which was released in the year 2007 revealed that processed meat products cause colorectal cancer. Some the meat products include bacon and hot dogs. This means that the American should avoid the processed foods. Overconsumption of the processed meat products such as hot dog, bacon, salami, and pastrami exposes an individual to the risk of developing cancer. This risk increases with the amount of processed meat that an individual consumes. The report argued that the risk is high by about 21 percent when people consume 50 grams of processed meat. A hot dog weighs this weight. There are studies that links processed meat to cancers cases of stomach, lungs, prostate, and esophagus (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2011). The report advances several reasons why the public should not take the processed meat. To begin with, processed meats contain saturated fats, excess cholesterol, and a lot of salt. The use of nitrites that acts as a preservative, coloring, and flavoring agent is very dangerous to health. The nitrites undergo a reaction which produces carcinogens. Second, the processing of meats employs methods that involve use of high temperatures. These high temperatures convert the processed meat products into chemicals that expose people to risk of developing cancer. Third, the iron that is responsible for the red color in the red meat and processed meat induces formation of carcinogens (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2011). These carcinogens attack the body cells and thereby prevent their normal functioning. Failure of body cells to function properly leads to interruption of normal body mechanisms. The feeding of children on the processed meat products puts them at extremely precarious position. This is because they are at high risk of developing diet-related incommunicable diseases. These diseases comprise of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart diseases. The middle aged population of United States is also under the threat of these diseases (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2011). World Cancer Research Fund links the lack of fiber in processed foods to the development of colorectal cancer. Unprocessed foods contain sufficient amount of fiber component. The research points out that the presence of fiber in different kinds of food protects an individual against bowel cancer. The research reveals that the people who take high amounts of processed food risk developing cancer. The people on low dietary have high chances of having colon and rectal cancer. It is evident that fibers protect an individual from dangerous diseases that may affect a health living. Fiber prevents constipation by helping the waste products to travel the bowel smoothly. Processed foods with high fat content are linked to the risk of bowel cancer. Processed foods that contain high amounts of saturated fatty acids lead to obesity that increases the risk of development of cancer (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2011). The refining process that is one of the steps in the processing of foods removes the nutritious outer covering of whole grains. The process leaves the white refined starch that is easy to digest. Digestion of these starches is simple and lead to faster absorption of processed food in the blood stream. This causes the blood stream to reach high levels increasing the risk of obesity. In addition, refining process depletes many mineral salts that are vey essential for good health. For example, the white sugar contains only one percent of magnesium and seven percent of chromium. These minerals are crucial for proper functioning of the processes of the body (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2011). Processed foods contain food additives. These chemicals are hazardous to any individual health. The additives cause hyperactivity in children. British Research firm in conjunction with American Institute for Cancer Research on the effects of food additives to the young ones reveals that the additives pay a big role in development of hyperactive disorders. The report suggests that the population should avoid all kinds of foods that employ color additives in the processing methods. Some of these food coloring agents comprise of tartrazine, Quinoline yellow, Sodium benzoate aggravate asthma, skin rashes, migraine headaches, and retards growth (American Institute for Cancer Research, 2011). It is evident from the essay that processed foods have detrimental effects to the health an individual. Processed foods contribute remarkably to the escalating numbers of non-communicable diseases in United States. It is possible to prevent diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer. This involves taking the prudent steps to avoid the processed food and embrace the consumption of natural foods. Although it may seem a difficulty task to change dietary habits, embracing consumption of unprocessed will keep an individual free from health complications. The people of United States should not take foods that contain a lot of trans-fats, the processed meat products, and all foods that contain additives. This is the first step in maintaining strong health in the light of dangers that processed foods pose to health. References American Institute for Cancer Research. (2011). ‘Most Authoritative Report on Colorectal Cancer and Diet Ever Conducted: Links with Meat, Fiber Confirmed’. Retrieved on 11 April, 2012, from http://preventcancer.aicr.org/site/News2?abbr=pr_&page=NewsArticle&id=20691&news_iv_ctrl=1102 Insel, P. et al. (2004). Nutrition. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Johanson, P. (2008). Processed Food. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. Sizer, F., and Whitney, E. (2010). Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies. New York: Cengage Learning. Toth, P. (2002). The “Good Cholesterol”, American Heart Association. Retrieved 11 Apr 2012, from http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/111/5/e89.full U.S International Trade Commission, (2002). Processed Foods and Beverages. Darby: DIANE Publishing. Read More