4 ms·

I love hearing about all the cool stuff coming out, but I still have a major concern that these might be the same as highly processed food that we have now and

by vr46 5y ago

I love hearing about all the cool stuff coming out, but I still have a major concern that these might be the same as highly processed food that we have now and are pretty bad for you. The idea of shifting to vegan only to pour processed food into myself is unappealing. Anyone here with more knowledge able to shed light on this?

falseprofit 5y ago
Just processing food doesn’t make it bad for you. When people say processed food is bad for you, I think they’re just generalizing about the big food corporations.
- alexvoda 5y ago
  Big food corporations are not the only ones that can make bad food. The same techniques can be applied by others for the same reason.
- bserge 5y ago
  There's no agreement on a definition, so many people refer to things like pre-cooked chicken as "processed", which is ridiculous.
resoluteteeth 5y ago
> Anyone here with more knowledge able to shed light on this? I don't think anyone can answer this question. It's not completely clear whether all highly processed foods are bad or what makes them bad. However, I suspect that most vegans (as opposed to vegetarians) are not primarily choosing this diet for health reasons, and many health experts still consider eggs to be bad because they are high in cholesterol, so this may not necessarily be a huge issue.
- yes_man 5y ago
  One clearly established specific reason for harmfulness of processed food is that it is more likely to contain microplastics and forever-chemicals, because the more you process food the more it is in contact with plastics and chemicals. See for example https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019317416 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041201...
alisonkisk 5y ago
Do you eat bread? Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Ground beef is processed too. "Processed food" is bad when it means "remove all the fiber and most of the protein and keep the carbs, saturated fats, sugar, and salt in proportions 10x higher than in while foods" -- the tasty unhealthy parts, and then don't even balance it on with a vegetable on the side. The problem with processed food is that it makes it easy to get a terrible balance of macros with too much of the wrong parts. It's not bad to build whole foods from components.
- vr46 5y ago
  I specifically stated highly processed foods as I’m aware that many foods are processed in order to extend their shelf life, rather than exist in the first place (e.g. we bake all our own bread, biscuits but it’s not realistic to make Mars Bars at home) so I’m really looking at foods that only exist due to refined processing techniques that alter the food in various ways. Highly processed foods - in my book - exist primarily for taste and texture, not for nourishment, and my concern is the same about anything that burns money and time trying to replicate meat or eggs. I admire the Adrià brothers when they created liquid olives but pushing culinary boundaries for a select few is not the same as putting food in a supermarket for mass consumption. As you say, it’s easy to get the wrong balance with processed foods - but I don’t see nutrition getting a higher priority than taste and texture!
  - spicymaki 5y ago
    Bread is a great example of a processed food. Depending on the bread you are extracting out fiber (enriching), adding in elements to modify texture (yeast or baking soda/powder), restoring nutrients (B vitamins), oils, enhancing shelf life with enzymes, vinegars (acetic acid), pectins, securing in freezer burn resistant plastics. The level of processing is up to you and your preferences, same thing for vegans.
spicymaki 5y ago
If you are picking a vegan diet for only health reasons you would avoid preprocessed mock meats and junk food and consume a whole food plant-based diet. If you are picking the diet primarily due to environmental concern or animal welfare, then these vegan products have a similar profile to omnivore diets except with additional fiber.

by vr46 5y ago

falseprofit 5y ago

Just processing food doesn’t make it bad for you. When people say processed food is bad for you, I think they’re just generalizing about the big food corporations.

alexvoda 5y ago
Big food corporations are not the only ones that can make bad food. The same techniques can be applied by others for the same reason.
bserge 5y ago
There's no agreement on a definition, so many people refer to things like pre-cooked chicken as "processed", which is ridiculous.

resoluteteeth 5y ago

> Anyone here with more knowledge able to shed light on this? I don't think anyone can answer this question. It's not completely clear whether all highly processed foods are bad or what makes them bad. However, I suspect that most vegans (as opposed to vegetarians) are not primarily choosing this diet for health reasons, and many health experts still consider eggs to be bad because they are high in cholesterol, so this may not necessarily be a huge issue.

yes_man 5y ago
One clearly established specific reason for harmfulness of processed food is that it is more likely to contain microplastics and forever-chemicals, because the more you process food the more it is in contact with plastics and chemicals. See for example https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019317416 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041201...

alisonkisk 5y ago

Do you eat bread? Bread is processed. Cheese is processed. Ground beef is processed too. "Processed food" is bad when it means "remove all the fiber and most of the protein and keep the carbs, saturated fats, sugar, and salt in proportions 10x higher than in while foods" -- the tasty unhealthy parts, and then don't even balance it on with a vegetable on the side. The problem with processed food is that it makes it easy to get a terrible balance of macros with too much of the wrong parts. It's not bad to build whole foods from components.

vr46 5y ago
I specifically stated highly processed foods as I’m aware that many foods are processed in order to extend their shelf life, rather than exist in the first place (e.g. we bake all our own bread, biscuits but it’s not realistic to make Mars Bars at home) so I’m really looking at foods that only exist due to refined processing techniques that alter the food in various ways. Highly processed foods - in my book - exist primarily for taste and texture, not for nourishment, and my concern is the same about anything that burns money and time trying to replicate meat or eggs. I admire the Adrià brothers when they created liquid olives but pushing culinary boundaries for a select few is not the same as putting food in a supermarket for mass consumption. As you say, it’s easy to get the wrong balance with processed foods - but I don’t see nutrition getting a higher priority than taste and texture!
- spicymaki 5y ago
  Bread is a great example of a processed food. Depending on the bread you are extracting out fiber (enriching), adding in elements to modify texture (yeast or baking soda/powder), restoring nutrients (B vitamins), oils, enhancing shelf life with enzymes, vinegars (acetic acid), pectins, securing in freezer burn resistant plastics. The level of processing is up to you and your preferences, same thing for vegans.

spicymaki 5y ago

If you are picking a vegan diet for only health reasons you would avoid preprocessed mock meats and junk food and consume a whole food plant-based diet. If you are picking the diet primarily due to environmental concern or animal welfare, then these vegan products have a similar profile to omnivore diets except with additional fiber.