Are processed foods bad for you? 4 things to know about how they affect your health

The term "processed" is vague and ambiguous when it comes to food, often meaning foods that are packaged in some way, such as boxes, bags, or cans — aka not in their natural state. Most likely, they have been changed, with things added or stripped out for a variety of reasons.

The Industrial Revolution displaced many people from rural farm areas where they raised or grew their own "fresh" foods and moved them to cities where food had to be imported. This created all sorts of challenges associated with transporting foods, especially the need to preserve them, but we figured it out.

Unfortunately, a shift occurred, and the emphasis moved from transporting foods to "transforming" foods. When producers realized that transforming foods in a variety of ways made them more appealing to the eye and tastebuds, sales increased, and we were off and running toward the destruction of health in this country that is costing us dearly.

Here's what to know about the dangers of processed food.

Is white flour bad for you?

White flour is the "poster child" for food processing, capturing most of what went wrong when we decided to transform foods from their natural state. Whole grains kernels, in their natural state, have three layers, each with health-promoting nutrients, including fiber, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. White flour, in contrast, is stripped down and consists primarily of starch (long strings of glucose molecules). Then, to pacify the public and convince us that all is well, producers add back in a few vitamins and minerals and the product is deemed "enriched."

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The Glycemic Index (GI) indicates the impact of a food to increase blood sugar (glucose). In turn, the greater the rise in blood sugar, the greater the insulin response, and therefore the lower the GI score the better. Because white flour is starchy and there is no fiber, it digests quickly with a GI score of 71 which, amazingly, is higher than granulated (table) sugar with a score of 63.

What does white flour do to your body?

No doubt about it, white flour is among the worst of "bad carbs." With the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes in this country and approximately 35% of American adults waiting in the wings with "pre-diabetes" (also known as Metabolic Syndrome), the last thing we need is overindulging on white flour products. What's more, foods made from white flour with a high GI score increase LDL cholesterol (that's the bad kind!) and blood pressure, key risk factors for heart disease, another of our health epidemics.

And, of course, white flour products contribute to weight gain and ultimately to obesity, yet another epidemic.

Ironically, it's common that folks who need to lose weight to continue to consume white flour foods. One reason is many nutritional experts believe we are addicted to white flour. Think about it. When you come in at the end of the day and are hungry, what do you crave? Most of us will reach for a white flour product, cookies, donuts, bagels, bread, pizza, the list goes on. And what happens after we gulp down a cookie or two? Because the ingredients are refined and so highly concentrated, the volume is reduced while the calories are elevated. In turn, you feel less satisfied after consuming, which brings you back for more.

Is processed meat bad for you?

White flour products and processed meats are a lethal combo responsible for much of the chronic illness that plagues our society. There is not one precise definition that captures all processed meats. Instead, if the meat is smoked, salted, or cured, and preservatives are added, it's processed. Hot dogs, pepperoni, salami, sausage, bologna — the list goes on — are foods high in salt, saturated fat, and chemical preservatives, and greatly increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

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Hot dogs share the honor with white flour products of "poster child" for health destruction caused by food processing. Hot dogs, the All-American food, are a staple of our diet. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans consume a whopping 20 billion hot dogs a year, that's 70 hot dogs per U.S. resident, and 95% of American homes eat hot dogs.

As a child, I greatly looked forward to weekend family outings that included “foot-long” hot dogs, and I continued eating hot dogs until I became a vegetarian at age 35.

So, why do hot dogs taste so good? The high-fat content. Dietary fat tickles the taste buds in a unique way, begging us to come back for more, and that’s why we love high-fat foods like hot dogs, dairy products and cheese, baked goods, prime rib, steak, etc.

How unhealthy is a hot dog?

A typical beef hot dog contains approximately 150 calories (kcals), 13 grams of total fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 450 grams of sodium. So, how fat is a hot dog? To calculate the fat content you must translate the grams of fat into calories (9 calories per gram of fat). Thus, 13 grams of fat x 9 calories = 117 calories of fat, which means a typical hot dog is 78% fat (117 divided by 150 = 78%).

If you add a white flour bun and a generous dose of ketchup with 33 teaspoons of sugar in a 20-ounce bottle (more sugar than in many treats like cookies and ice cream), plus the impact of processing (high salt, preservatives, artificial flavors, unhealthy fillers, etc.) the result is the nearly perfect health-destroying food.

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Defenders of hot dogs like to point out there are 6 grams of protein in a 1.5-ounce hot dog — that is if the protein survives the high heat associated with processing. If the protein content is your most important aspect when making food choices, forget hot dogs and consider lentils, beans, egg whites, fish, and soy, much lower in calories and fat, and higher in protein, plus you don't consume all the additional processing garbage associated with a hot dog.

Something to think about, especially when raising children and shaping their food choices.

Reach Bryant Stamford, a professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at stamford@hanover.edu.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Are processed foods bad? Here are 4 ways they affect your health