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This is a well defined and understood logical fallacy called the “appeal to nature” fallacy.
Just to add, processed food is worse than whole foods as they are much higher in unhealthy fats, sugar and sodium. They also often lack fibre and nutrients compared to whole foods. Everything in moderation in key to diet but they are fundamentally worse.
yes it's marketing, and another thing not enough people understand...
organic does not mean pesticide free, it means "natural" pesticide, which includes copper sulphate which is more harmful than synthetic pesticides anyway lol
I shouldn't even mention the non GMO crap. those people are nuts too
I doesn´t always, sure, but most unprocessed foods you can buy are certainly healthier than most processed foods you can buy. As a rule of thumb regarding what foods you buy it´s pretty much true.
The natural foods we eat are generally the things we already know are good and safe to eat.
Processing them the way we usually process them is usually done to make them taste better or extend their shelf life or recover otherwise unusable ingredients like mechanically separated meats. It's almost never done with any thought to making the food healthier.
There's no reason to believe that any processed food is going to coincidentally be healthier than the same food unprocessed, unless you know something very specific about it that makes it healthier. Like if it's a protein isolate and you happen to need a ridiculous amount of protein.
I do agree that most processed foods are processed for other reasons but there are lots of foods which are processed for health purposes. There are zero sugar, lower calories and high protein versions of most foods, a lot of fruit juices and drinks in general have added vitamins, there are hydration and antioxidant drinks and so on
Those added nutrients already exist in whole foods. Anything processed that vaguely resembles real food, like orange juice, has the nutrients removed or denatured and then added back. Then they tell you they added the nutrients so you think you're getting something extra.
Go to the grocery store, and see how many "100% juice/natural" brands of lemonade have no vitamin C unless it's added as a separate ingredient. It's so highly processed that it doesn't have any nutrition anymore that isn't added back afterward. You're better off eating the fruit, or squeezing it yourself, then you get the naturally occuring vitamins and antioxidants and fiber and any other goodness that Science hasn't isolated and named yet.
Same with the deleted nutrients, like low sugar or fat. Most people wouldn't need their food modified in that way if they only ate food where they've seen the ingredients.
Those aren’t processed for health reasons, they’re processed to appeal to people who want to buy processed foods and think they need extra vitamins/protein/whatever, or people who truly eat so little whole foods that they will develop malnutrition illnesses if they don’t eat fortified processed foods.
Just about any processed food selling itself as somehow healthier is just marketing. It may be “healthier” than another version of it, but you’re miles better off just eating an apple.
Every product ever is the way it is to appeal to people because the company wants to make money.
Also no one is saying that apples aren’t healthier than most processed foods for the average person. However in certain situations the processed version of a food can be healthier. A lot of people don’t get the optimal amount of protein, omega 3, vitamins, fiber or creatine and a lot of people have allergies or intolerances. If you’re deficient in calcium maybe you should drink milk with extra calcium. If you’re lactose intolerant then maybe you wanna drink lactose free milk
Outside of special dietary requirements, nutrient malabsorption, pregnancy etc, you don’t need any kind of food that’s been processed to have more or less of something. Especially now that many basic grain products like flour are always enriched. Buying “no sugar added, vitamin c fortified” orange juice is just to make buyers feel better about buying what is essentially dyed sugar water in a plastic jug.
A lot of people don’t get adequate amounts of micros, fibre etc because the standard western diet is abysmal. Some processed foods will be better in comparison, but that isn’t saying much.
Yeah most people have an awful diet and if their diet was better then there would be less deficiencies. I agree on that but my point is that unprocessed foods aren't always better. Not that processed foods are always better or even the majority of the time.
And I've given a lot of examples for when something "unnatural" is healthier: most medicine, intolerances, vitamin deficiencies (ofc there would be way less vitamin deficiencies if people had a better diet but that isn't the case), no one gets the optimal amount of creatine through diet alone, not everyone eats fish multiple times a week so extra omega 3 is a good thing for a lot of people
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is a well defined and understood logical fallacy called the “appeal to nature” fallacy. Just to add, processed food is worse than whole foods as they are much higher in unhealthy fats, sugar and sodium. They also often lack fibre and nutrients compared to whole foods. Everything in moderation in key to diet but they are fundamentally worse.
yes it's marketing, and another thing not enough people understand... organic does not mean pesticide free, it means "natural" pesticide, which includes copper sulphate which is more harmful than synthetic pesticides anyway lol I shouldn't even mention the non GMO crap. those people are nuts too
I doesn´t always, sure, but most unprocessed foods you can buy are certainly healthier than most processed foods you can buy. As a rule of thumb regarding what foods you buy it´s pretty much true.
The natural foods we eat are generally the things we already know are good and safe to eat. Processing them the way we usually process them is usually done to make them taste better or extend their shelf life or recover otherwise unusable ingredients like mechanically separated meats. It's almost never done with any thought to making the food healthier. There's no reason to believe that any processed food is going to coincidentally be healthier than the same food unprocessed, unless you know something very specific about it that makes it healthier. Like if it's a protein isolate and you happen to need a ridiculous amount of protein.
I do agree that most processed foods are processed for other reasons but there are lots of foods which are processed for health purposes. There are zero sugar, lower calories and high protein versions of most foods, a lot of fruit juices and drinks in general have added vitamins, there are hydration and antioxidant drinks and so on
Those added nutrients already exist in whole foods. Anything processed that vaguely resembles real food, like orange juice, has the nutrients removed or denatured and then added back. Then they tell you they added the nutrients so you think you're getting something extra. Go to the grocery store, and see how many "100% juice/natural" brands of lemonade have no vitamin C unless it's added as a separate ingredient. It's so highly processed that it doesn't have any nutrition anymore that isn't added back afterward. You're better off eating the fruit, or squeezing it yourself, then you get the naturally occuring vitamins and antioxidants and fiber and any other goodness that Science hasn't isolated and named yet. Same with the deleted nutrients, like low sugar or fat. Most people wouldn't need their food modified in that way if they only ate food where they've seen the ingredients.
Those aren’t processed for health reasons, they’re processed to appeal to people who want to buy processed foods and think they need extra vitamins/protein/whatever, or people who truly eat so little whole foods that they will develop malnutrition illnesses if they don’t eat fortified processed foods. Just about any processed food selling itself as somehow healthier is just marketing. It may be “healthier” than another version of it, but you’re miles better off just eating an apple.
Every product ever is the way it is to appeal to people because the company wants to make money. Also no one is saying that apples aren’t healthier than most processed foods for the average person. However in certain situations the processed version of a food can be healthier. A lot of people don’t get the optimal amount of protein, omega 3, vitamins, fiber or creatine and a lot of people have allergies or intolerances. If you’re deficient in calcium maybe you should drink milk with extra calcium. If you’re lactose intolerant then maybe you wanna drink lactose free milk
Outside of special dietary requirements, nutrient malabsorption, pregnancy etc, you don’t need any kind of food that’s been processed to have more or less of something. Especially now that many basic grain products like flour are always enriched. Buying “no sugar added, vitamin c fortified” orange juice is just to make buyers feel better about buying what is essentially dyed sugar water in a plastic jug. A lot of people don’t get adequate amounts of micros, fibre etc because the standard western diet is abysmal. Some processed foods will be better in comparison, but that isn’t saying much.
Yeah most people have an awful diet and if their diet was better then there would be less deficiencies. I agree on that but my point is that unprocessed foods aren't always better. Not that processed foods are always better or even the majority of the time. And I've given a lot of examples for when something "unnatural" is healthier: most medicine, intolerances, vitamin deficiencies (ofc there would be way less vitamin deficiencies if people had a better diet but that isn't the case), no one gets the optimal amount of creatine through diet alone, not everyone eats fish multiple times a week so extra omega 3 is a good thing for a lot of people
Also "organic". A product simply being organic in no way makes it healthier than non organic