How to avoid eating processed food

When was the last time you tried a peach? Did we really put attention to its soft skin and juicy flesh? And did we enjoy the taste and experience of eating the fruit? Every day we incorporate into our diet more and more fake foods that have been processed multiple times, and that have little to do with the original food. It's time to return to a more natural and healthy food, fortunately there are some steps we can take.

Look for true satisfaction

When you enjoy a fruit, examine its color, smell, and the experience of biting it. Take a moment to enjoy the genuine flavors. For comparison, eat a fruit-flavored candy. Note that these are, especially a sweet taste without much complexity, that's because the fat, sugar and salt are added to processed foods to mask the metallic taste of artificial preservatives, sweeteners and other chemical additives. Processed foods are also made to dissolve quickly in the mouth, to eat them faster and in greater numbers, often leaving us full, but not satisfied. Now you know why that bag of chips disappears before you've really had a chance to "try it”.

Read labels carefully

If we can read labels we will identify which products are processed and which don’t. Ingredients, such as olive oil, salt, garlic and parmesan cheese, meet the criteria of natural foods for a real meal; however those with preservatives such as BHT, thickeners like chemical gum, or artificial flavors, don’t. The same talking about breads, cereals, and pastas.

Enjoy what's on your plate

Enjoy that piece of dark chocolate while sitting on a park bench, rather than while you sit at your desk catching up with social networks. Sit in your dining room for lunch and not in front of the TV. Eating without distractions will help you enjoy the flavors, textures, aromas and colors of the food on your plate.

Remove excess salt, fat and sugar

Try cooking with small amounts of these ingredients, or use natural substitutes. Strong spices such as garlic, pepper, oregano may eventually reduce the need for salt. To reduce fat, prefer grilled or baked food, avoid fried foods and prefer vegetable oils such as virgin olive oil. For sugar, reduce the amount gradually.

Let your taste buds adjust

While it may be difficult at first to release the candy bar or chips, gradually you will lose your taste for excessively sweet and savory foods, and your taste buds will adapt to a variety of new flavors.

Choose high quality food

It’s not necessary to produce our own food, although it is preferable. You should look for products that contain the least amount of processed ingredients to ensure the best flavor and quality in your preparations. You can, for example, compare the experience of eating and enjoying the whole grain, if for example you choose white rice instead of brown (integral). Search breads and pasta with wheat flour or whole wheat flour as the first ingredient to enhance flavor and nutritional content. And, of course, choose fresh, whenever possible, rather than canned food. Frozen fruits and vegetables are preferred only when fresh ones are unavailable.

Do not skip meals times

We should enjoy our food instead of being so hungry that we become desperate for eating. Keep anxiety and excessive hunger away can be achieved by eating three meals a day, a fairly regular basis and have a mid-afternoon snack and probably mid-morning as well.

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