10 Reasons to Avoid Processed Food

1. They're dead. Much of the goodness is cooked or processed out of our foods. We do not benefit from the enzymes and nutrients the foods normally contain. Dead foods equals dead cells.

2. Lose money. Although fruits and vegetables often appear to be expensive, they are often less expensive than processed foods. Fresh broccoli can cost $0.78/lb, while frozen broccoli can cost $1.19/lb.

3. Wrong market. When you spend money on processed foods, you encourage growth in this market. Spending your money on fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, encourages others to enter this market.

4. Fortified with synthetics. To make up for the loss of nutrients during processing, synthetic vitamins and minerals are added. Although helpful, these synthetics are not as healthy as their natural counterparts.

5. What nutrients? Processing takes a lot of the nutrients out of nutrient-rich foods. You get little that your body needs.

6. Mystery ingredients. Many processed foods are filled with strange parts and pieces. For example, hot dogs contain "edible offal": animal skin, snouts, ears, esophagi, etc.

7. Hide and seek. Processed foods often contain hidden sugar, salt, and fat. All three of these contribute to health problems.

8. Unhealthy additives. Unhealthy chemical additives are added to foods so that they will stay fresh longer, or to enhance color.

9. They ruin your taste. Processed foods contain refined sugar, extra salt, and other flavor enhancers. Not only are these often unhealthy, but they dull your taste buds to natural flavors. The result? A need to eat more processed foods to get the taste you want, and natural foods that don't taste as good as they should.

10. You're not listening to your mother. Mom said eat your veggies, not processed foods. And she was right.