Whole food is a type of food that is taken directly from either animals or plants, that is, food taken directly from the original source. Since whole food is taken directly from its original source, it contains original nutrients. Examples of whole food include: vegetables, whole meat components, whole grains, whole milk and fresh fruits. On the other hand, processed food is a type of food that lacks some of its original nutrients. Unlike whole food which is natural, processed food is man-made. When whole food is processed some of its natural nutrients are stripped in order to be used to process other food products. Many processed foods contain some preservatives and artificial ingredients together with excessive amount of sugar and sodium. Examples of processed food include: hot dogs, white flour and packed snacks.
Processed food should not be more expensive than whole food, since processed food lacks some natural nutrients that are required by our body. While processing food, some important nutrients are removed from the food making it less effective in our body. The main reason why processed food should not be more expensive than whole food is due to the factor that processed food has many benefits to the body as compared to whole food. Eating whole food is healthy because it contains all the minerals and vitamin that our body requires. Therefore, whole food is beneficial to our body as compared to processed food as it provide our body with minerals and vitamins that it requires (Steven 2007).
The body uses more nutrients that it absorbs when digesting processed food thus causing people to suffer from nutrient deficiency related diseases. Even though processed foods supply the body with vitamins it still does not provide the quantity or quality of nutrients which whole food provides. In addition, processed foods contain artificial preservatives, flavors, color, hydrogenated sugar and oils that are not good to our health. Majority of these artificial addictives are the cause of overtime degenerative disorder and allergic reactions. At the same time processed foods have high concentration level of sodium and sugar that exceeds the recommend level.
Processed foods are chemically modified foods that are technologically altered with addictives. Scientists have proved that food additives that are contained in processed food are the major cause of migraines. Migraine is caused by enlargement of blood vessels. Nitrites, (MSG) monosodium glutamate, salt, autolyzed yeast, meat tenderizer, soy sauce and aspartame are the common food preservatives that are used to process food (Jeremiah2009). These foods addictive should be avoided by people suffering from migraines.
Preservatives such as nitrates dilate the blood vessels contributing to migraines and headaches. Pizza, dried or smoked fish, chicken liver and peanut butter are some of the foods that trigger migraine. People suffering from migraine are advised to consume whole food instead of processed food in the quest of ensuring that their well being is safeguarded. Eating whole food eliminates or reduces the pain of migraine headache.
“Considering that 20-25% of the U.S. population (and 30% of children between the ages of 4 and 19) eats fast and processed food on any given day” (Sarah 2011) this is a clear indication that people are at risk of suffering from migraine. Due to high demand of fast food, many industries have been established to process whole food. As a result processed foods are readily available in the market. The reality is, while fast foods and processed foods may be readily available and easily consumed, they are of poor quality. The involvement of many industries in the production of processed food has lowered the quality of processed food as compared to whole food.
Food processing has led to production of many variety of food that would not have existed. The food production industry have enhance that many food products are displayed at the shelves of stores and supermarket. In some countries, food processing has eradicates hunger in the society. The high supply of processed food in the market as compared to whole food has largely been influenced by the high demand of processed food. Once the demand of a commodity is high, producers tend to invest a lot of capital on producing it. Thus, the high demand of processed food in the market and the low marginal cost of productivity of processed food are the major reason why processed food is readily available in the society (Marion2011).
In recent times, people have changed their eating habits and processed foods are among the main contributors of this change. “Low-quality and overly-processed foods discourage healthy eating and lead to a toxic environment” (Susan 2010). Processed foods have led to people adopting bad eating habits that are unhealthy. Processed foods in most cases are not eaten when family members are together. Children may develop bad eating habits when they eat these foods in absence of their parents. As they spend most time in schools, their parents normally give them packaged foods that they eat when their parents are not present. Therefore, a parent will not be near to correct the bad eating habits of the child hence this becomes a continuous behavior.
Another way how processed food leads to bad eating habits is lack of the eater’s knowledge concerning what is healthy to consume. Most of these foods are not healthier to eat. This is because they contain side effects and can lead to diseases like obesity, cancer among others. Obesity is associated with bad eating habits. The dysfunctional families usually eat processed foods and this situation leads to bad eating habits. For instance, if parents divorce and some children are left with the father, it is likely that they will in most times be given processed foods as most fathers are not good cooks. This will definitely lead to bad eating habits as bad eating behaviors of these children will not be corrected when they are at tender age (Lisa2004).
Processed foods are eaten when people are busy or they are travelling. This will make a person to have these unhealthy eating habits because he or she will be eating in a hurry. These foods can result to overeating that is a bad eating habit as someone who is eating will not realize that he or she has eaten more than what is required.
In conclusion, the benefits of whole food are by far superior to the benefit of processed food. This is enough prove that processed food should not be expensive than whole food. Quality is what matters when it comes to food; the food that has high quality is supposed to cost more. Whole food is of high quality because it contains more nutrients than processed food and thus it should be more expensive.
Susan Laverie, (Friday, July 02, 2010), Chemicals and Food Additives Cause Migraine Headaches and Depression
Sarah Gold, (October 4, 2011), Can Processed Food Be Good For You- A Debate on Whole vs. Processed Foods
Jeremiah Forster, (2009), Why are healthy whole foods more expensive than processed foods?
Lisa Ford, (2004), Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods, New York, United States
Marion Nestle, (Aug 5 2011), Does it really cost more to buy healthy food? Harvard university library
