Food for healthy living

The natural food most of us grew up knowing are vegetables, rice, fruits grains, nuts, and so on. Eating fresh food was what our parents grew up with and it was what we were taught, but now, the majority of our diets consist of processed food

These are food that has passed through another state different from their raw agricultural state. There are several ways food can be processed. It could be through baking, freezing, pasteurizing, dehydrating, and so on. When food is mixed with other preservative materials to taste better, change colour, or extend shelving life, they are all categorized as processed food

Natural food are food that are slightly processed without the addition of artificial additives. Cooking rice or beans directly harvested from farm is natural. Eating fruits plucked from the tree without preserving it beforehand is a natural. So natural food is always not preserved in any way by additives or preservatives

Raw fruits and veggies from the farm eaten raw can be classified as 100% natural. But once it's refrigerated for preservation, it has become processed. The food we eat is cooked and Maggi, salt, and other ingredients are added to give taste. This has also gone through processing, but the fact that some preservative chemicals are not added makes it to be classified as natural food

Natural food is the category of food we get from the farm and are cooked under good hygiene and consumed. There are some of these foods we grind, and mill into powder for consumption. Even though they've gone through some processing phases, they can still be classified as natural food. An example is Garri. The long process involved before garri is eventually made from cassava is enormous. From peeling to washing, grinding, fermenting, squeezing, and frying. These are processes but it's still acceptable because no preservatives are added along the process, so any food that went through a series of processing without the addition of any artificial whatsoever is classified under natural food

The real processed food are laden with unhealthy sweeteners, salts, sugar, and chemicals to make them stay longer and also appeal well to our taste

Natural food is the best for consumption because it has little sugar and all the minerals and vitamins in it is naturally moderate. Natural food improves healthy living because it does not contain toxic nutrients that can endanger the lives of consumers. When natural food is well prepared and taken when they are fresh, they produce the body with a life force that a healthy body needs

Processed food contains inorganic minerals and artificial vitamins that can have a negative effect on the health of consumers. Most processed food is cooked or fried in oil containing polyunsaturated fats which is detrimental to the cell membrane in the body. Sometimes, these processed food are microwaved before consumption and in the process, the enzymes needed for healthy living is destroyed leaving the food with fewer nutrients

It's said that the diet that is heavily processed are referred to as standard American diet (SAD), and if checked, obesity is a problem in America

Mordern commercial agricultural practice is another way food is processed in a large quantity. The use of chemical fertilizers for increased food production leach the soil from its natural minerals and the chemicals sprayed to combat insects and pests find their way into the plant fiber thereby diminishing the nutrients in the natural plant. These chemicals are toxic to the human body

Also, the meat production techniques designed to maximize the production of birds, cows,s and other animals have proven to be less nutritional. These animals are fed with too many additives like antibiotics and boosters and these additives gets to the tissue of the animals and are later consumed by human

You see. Most food we see as natural is processed. The rice and beans we buy in the market are produced under modern commercial agriculture practices. The fruits, and vegetables too. Unfortunately, these practices tend to work against the production of healthy natural food as we think. So, it's now very difficult to distinguish between pure natural food and processed food

Natural food is the best as far as I know because of its nutritional value. If we can have access to organic plants, it would help us live a good healthy life. Organic plants are plants that are grown without the application of chemicals and pesticides. Consuming food that is organic is the best and that is the natural food that has ever existed. Also, processed food also have their own advantages. In as much as we can moderate the intake, I think they are good to go