Processed Foods Are Unhaelthy to Our Health Research Paper

Processed Foods Are Unhaelthy to Our Health - Research Paper Example Other food processing methods give the food its taste and convenient. Although home cooking is a way of processing foods, the term processed food is used to refer to the food modification in the industrial setting (Johanson, 2008). Food processing is a vital part of life in the industrialized countries. Many families in the United States feed on the processed foods. Even the families that cook their own food at some point they purchase the processed food (Johanson, 2008). For instance, a family that wants to eat pepperoni pizza for dinner could buy a cooked pizza from a store or a restaurant. They can get a frozen pizza to prepare at the comfort of their house. The family can also decide to make pizza for themselves. They can obtain the premade pizza crusts and dough, premade sauce, pre-sliced pepperoni, and pre-grated cheese at a grocery store. Similarly, the family could also make the pizza from the scratch. To prepare the crust, the family can purchase pre-milled flour and commerc ially packaged yeast. To make the sauce the family can buy dried spices and canned tomato sauce. All in all, the family will have to use processed foods. Common types of processed foods have existed for a long time in United States. In the seventeenth century and eighteen centuries, many people purchased processed foods such as spices, alcoholic beverages, flour, tea, sugar, and coffee in the seventeenth century and eighteen centuries. Canning was widely used with advent of new technology after to industrial revolution in United States. Today food industries use more advanced methods of food processing such as irradiation, pasteurization, vacuum packaging, and use of chemicals (Johanson, 2008). United States is one the nation in that produces and exports processed foods and beverages. The two contribute significantly to the U.S agricultural exports. The agricultural export figures indicate that the processed foods and beverages recorded an increase from 30.6 percent in the year 1996 to 38.2 percent in 2000 (U.S International Trade Commission, 2002). Some examples of processed foods include meat products, dairy products, and grain based foods. Some of the artificial ingredients used in manufacturing of foods comprise of flavors, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and artificial sweeteners (Johanson, 2008). These processed foods possess a health risk to the consumers. The health concerns of processed food are not only in the United States but also in global spheres. Health Risk of Processed Foods Proper good diet is essential for maintenance health bodies. Conversely, poor diets lead to weakening of the defense systems of the body. The processed foods present an innumerable health risks to foods consumers. The negative effects of processed food can be immediate or they can take a long time. The processed foods are rich sources of toxins. The immediate effects of the processed foods include headaches, alteration in mental concentration and behavior. Processed food s can elicit an immune response. Severe cases of this response bring about some allergic reactions. The long term effects of processed food lead to heart complications. The extreme cases of heart diseases results to death. The processing of foods incorporates some harmful components in the processed foods. The processed foods contain a lot of fats (Insel, et al. (2004). When these fats enter into human body they cause many complications. Most