Food is one of the basic needs of life, its importance can't be quantified since we depend on it for nutrients the human body needs to carry on with life functionality and if you doubt it, you can try starving yourself for a few days.
It comes in both solid and liquid substances, and the human consumption of food has evolved from what we read in the creation story. It usually use to be growing food and consuming them after harvest, it is still the same because we still plant and harvest our food but humans with aid of technology have been able to take food production to the next level.
Food has evolved from what it was to what it is today, there was a time when we just have to cook our food before consumption but it has gotten to the point where you can just walk into a shop to get processed food.
Processed food falls into two categories because all food are processed, it is impossible to eat your food raw so it has to be processed before consumption but processing isn't just about cooking or frying anymore, it has reached a point where food are kept in different types of containers and preserved in chemicals for days, weeks and even months before consumption.
I have seen people who claim to be saints when it comes to consuming processed food and it makes me laugh because I doubt if there is anyone who isn't taking processed food in the world today. After all, it doesn't end with meat and fish only, all the packaged drinks we are consuming today are processed foods except the ones you make in your homes.
The human race has brought so much harm to themselves with the invention of processed foods, we are at fault and the need for processed food can be justified to an extent.
The world population has grown drastically in recent years and depending on natural foods seems not to be enough so processed food comes as a compliment, the consumption of processed foods can get further worse if the world population continues to grow out of limits.
Processed food are also regarded as a means of preventing perishable food from spoiling because of their short life span but these things don't justify the production and consumption of processed food.
My answer will be natural food if I was asked to choose between it and processed food a hundred times, I have always loved to prepare my food since I got to know how to cook, and here are my reasons for that:
Presence of preservatives and chemicals in processed food:
Every processed food comes with preservatives and chemicals to prevent it from spoiling, many of these foods can't last more than a month or two normally but these preservatives them in shape for months and some won't even expire for more than a year.
Most of these chemicals are harmful to the body and they result in many of the illnesses we are seeing in the world today. Many of these preservatives aren't hygienic or good for consumption but they are applied in these foods just to make them stay longer than they should, we ingest these preservatives and chemicals by consuming processed food which gradually develops health issues for humans.
Loss of nutritional value:
Processed foods are low in nutrients or while some probably have zero nutrients in them but many people are fooled by the things they read on the processed food packs, 60% of protein, 20% of carbohydrates, and 10% vitamins are all lies and it would interest you to know that these values were the nutritional values before they are processed.
Originally these foods are nutritious but adding preservatives, chemicals and sealing them in bags, plastics, or can gradually takes away the nutrients until they become completely useless for the body system except for the fact that they satisfy our cravings and fill the stomach.
Loss of taste:
People who value taste will understand this very well, processed food won't give you the taste you will get from natural food.
Processed food mostly comes with sweeteners, excessive sugar which isn't good for the body. Processed food companies tell in their advert that their product has 100% natural taste, does your orange juice taste like real orange?
I will let you answer that yourself, the taste of a processed will definitely not match that of natural food.
It is impossible to determine the level of hygiene that was put in place while producing that processed food but you can be sure of what you have prepared by yourself, I take hygiene seriously when it comes to food because the things we take in will definitely determine what our health will look like.
Nothing would put natural food and processed food on the same level, the difference is clear. Eating natural food is beneficial to our health but, unfortunately, we don't recognize it.
Before the time of processed food, how parents lived completely on natural food and it worked well for them. They go on to live to 100, a number you will hardly come across today. Processed foods reduce the quality of life and I believe that it is very important we caution the rate at which we consume them.
No matter what you think about processed food justifies its effect on our bodies, it is only when we have good health we can live to enjoy everything we have worked for in life.