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This article is written as if you have to be able to make fancy “foodie” or restaurant style meals to avoid ultra processed foods. Wouldn’t cracking a can of b

This article is written as if you have to be able to make fancy “foodie” or restaurant style meals to avoid ultra processed foods. Wouldn’t cracking a can of beans and a bag of rice qualify as well? Our ancestors had far less resources than us and still managed to make food without spaghetti-o cans or ramen packets. Referencing people living in hotel rooms or who don’t own a knife seems like a distraction. Obviously being homeless is bad, but there are plenty of people who can afford a $10 knife and have a stove in their residence who still eat ultra processed diets and become obese.

hprotagonist 7y ago
“bodega beans” are really cheap. http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2007/12/rachel_whartons.html http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2007/12/rachel_whartons.html the trick is that you have to accept eating repetitive meals that aren’t the most exciting thing.
deleted 7y ago
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duxup 7y ago
Yeah the article really doesn't define "from scratch". IMO some good chicken (there are varying levels of processing and quality out there so let's assume it's good), potatoes, and veggies can be done relatively quickly. It still takes work to some extent but I'm not at all sure exactly what that article means by "from scratch". This article kinda sucks as it isn't at all clear what they're talking about.
tchaffee 7y ago
> can of beans That's processed food. Perhaps healthier than other processed food, but not the same as cooking beans from scratch. https://www.superfoodly.com/are-canned-beans-healthy/ https://www.superfoodly.com/are-canned-beans-healthy/ And cooking beans from scratch involves about 5 minutes of labor, including soaking them overnight, throwing them in a pot, and setting an alarm for when they are done cooking.
- deleted 7y ago
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- snazz 7y ago
  Rinsing a can of beans decreases the sodium content significantly. Also, it can be a bit of a lifestyle adjustment to think ahead on meals, which is why canned and processed foods are popular in the first place.
  - mrob 7y ago
    In the UK it's easy to find unsalted canned beans. E.g., from the biggest supermarket chain: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=beans%20in%20water https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=beans%20i...
- phonypc 7y ago
  You can get low salt canned beans, or just rinse them. And it's not as if most people would avoid salting their cooking dry beans. If cooking with salt makes a food "processed" and thereby to be avoided, there's pretty much nothing left but raw veggies.
- javagram 7y ago
  Canned beans may be processed but they are not “ultra processed” which is what the study is about. They’re just cooked beans in a can.
minikites 7y ago
>Our ancestors had far less resources than us and still managed to make food without spaghetti-o cans or ramen packets. So poor people should live like medieval serfs?
- javagram 7y ago
  If medieval serfs had a healthier diet than why not? But my point is even poor people in the USA generally have access to a much higher standard of living than a serf. Unlike a medieval peasant there are many easy to access non-ultraprocessed foods that are also cheap. Pretty much every rental apartment or home has a stove and most have an oven. Focusing on increasing wealth, as the article does, doesn’t really make sense to me. The middle class suffers from the obesity crisis too, for the same dietary reasons.

hprotagonist 7y ago

“bodega beans” are really cheap. http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2007/12/rachel_whartons.html http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2007/12/rachel_whartons.html the trick is that you have to accept eating repetitive meals that aren’t the most exciting thing.

deleted 7y ago

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duxup 7y ago

Yeah the article really doesn't define "from scratch". IMO some good chicken (there are varying levels of processing and quality out there so let's assume it's good), potatoes, and veggies can be done relatively quickly. It still takes work to some extent but I'm not at all sure exactly what that article means by "from scratch". This article kinda sucks as it isn't at all clear what they're talking about.

tchaffee 7y ago

> can of beans That's processed food. Perhaps healthier than other processed food, but not the same as cooking beans from scratch. https://www.superfoodly.com/are-canned-beans-healthy/ https://www.superfoodly.com/are-canned-beans-healthy/ And cooking beans from scratch involves about 5 minutes of labor, including soaking them overnight, throwing them in a pot, and setting an alarm for when they are done cooking.

deleted 7y ago
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snazz 7y ago
Rinsing a can of beans decreases the sodium content significantly. Also, it can be a bit of a lifestyle adjustment to think ahead on meals, which is why canned and processed foods are popular in the first place.
- mrob 7y ago
  In the UK it's easy to find unsalted canned beans. E.g., from the biggest supermarket chain: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=beans%20in%20water https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=beans%20i...
phonypc 7y ago
You can get low salt canned beans, or just rinse them. And it's not as if most people would avoid salting their cooking dry beans. If cooking with salt makes a food "processed" and thereby to be avoided, there's pretty much nothing left but raw veggies.
javagram 7y ago
Canned beans may be processed but they are not “ultra processed” which is what the study is about. They’re just cooked beans in a can.

minikites 7y ago

>Our ancestors had far less resources than us and still managed to make food without spaghetti-o cans or ramen packets. So poor people should live like medieval serfs?

javagram 7y ago
If medieval serfs had a healthier diet than why not? But my point is even poor people in the USA generally have access to a much higher standard of living than a serf. Unlike a medieval peasant there are many easy to access non-ultraprocessed foods that are also cheap. Pretty much every rental apartment or home has a stove and most have an oven. Focusing on increasing wealth, as the article does, doesn’t really make sense to me. The middle class suffers from the obesity crisis too, for the same dietary reasons.