I’m a dietitian — some processed foods are healthy for you

This may be hard to process.

Some processed foods aren’t that bad for you, according to a dietitian. 

Various studies have come out saying that ultra-processed foods, like processed red meat and sodas, can shorten your life, increase your risk of getting different types of cancer and cause 32 different health conditions. 

However, some processed foods, especially those that are minimally processed, are part of a healthy diet, registered dietitian Samantha Cassetty wrote in an article for Today.com. 

What are processed foods?

Cassette defined processed foods as anything “frozen, canned, cooked, dried or packaged.”

She said even something like frozen blueberries are processed, albeit minimally. 

Food also might be processed so that they are preserved longer and safer to store. 

The University of São Paulo in Brazil created the fowling system called NOVA which explains the four categories that foods fall into: 

Unprocessed or minimally processed foods

Unprocessed or minimally processed foods include fruits and vegetables, including frozen vegetables, plain yogurt, milk, and natural meat and seafood. Pasta, rice and flour can also fall into this category. 

Processed culinary ingredients 

Processed culinary ingredients include things like oils, butter, sugars and salt. 

Processed foods

These foods are made by combining foods in the other two categories such as canned beans or cheese. 

Ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed foods are the least healthy to consume and consist of processed meats, sugary soda, packaged snacks, and premade frozen food with lots of additives as well as refined grains. 

If you can’t tell whether something has been ultra-processed, you can find out by looking for the following ingredients as clues: High fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, soy protein isolate, whey protein, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, soy lecithin, carrageenan, caramel color, stevia, aspartame, sucralose, and other low-calorie sweeteners.

Which processed foods are part of a healthy diet?

Cassetty said that less processed foods are healthier and consist of things like protein pasta made with chickpeas, roasted nuts and nut butter, canned tuna or other canned fish and frozen or canned fruits and vegetables. 

Old-fashioned oats, green salads that come in a bag, whole grain breads and cereals as well as low sugar yogurt can also be part of a healthy diet.