True, that one is much less processed. I think I forgot about it because I'm not a huge fan of it...even though I love PB! Weird. I was buying a blend of various plant proteins for a more balanced amino acid profile, but that's true that there are some ones that are a lot less. Haha yeah.
I actually didn't know that about tofu, fun new reading rabbit hole. Oh IDK, I guess it is what circles you're in. A lot of strict carnivores will not eat dairy. If you're just realistic and think about processed food on a spectrum, dairy is obviously much more processed than muscle meat or fruit. Given when humans started consuming non-human milk products & how many have issues with dairy, I think it's fair to say a lot of people are aware it's probably not a natural food that tons of people thrive with. It's just addicting so some people go bananas and can't stop...lol. "But pizza!"
Yeah, depends what we're talking. Sashimi, poke, beef tartare, beef carpaccio...there are some of these, but it's definitely not a huge %. A lot of people like minimally cooked meats (rare steaks). That's more of a conditioned preference than a requirement, though. I guess I am a bit reluctant to consider cooking to be major processing, but on the spectrum it certainly isn't true raw. Definitely agree that "real" processed meats are a big other step down that spectrum, but personally I'd say searing a steak for flavor preference isn't equivalent to having to soak, drain & cook beans to avoid ill effects...not that I consider that particularly processed or problematic either, hah. Just found your comment surprising.
Have you made tofu with other legumes? What's your favorite?
Whole-Food, Plant-based Diet is ERE
-
IlliniDave
- Posts: 3876
- Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:46 pm
Re: Whole-Food, Plant-based Diet is ERE
'Processed' is definitely a continuum. Some countries are adopting labeling that assigns food items on a processing scale. Even chopping up a vegetable is technically processing (and for things like broccoli, there are even alleged nutritional benefits to chopping it then cooking it compared to just eating it whole and raw).
And of course simple cooking is processing, and often necessary. Of course it kills of parasites and infectious bacteria. Many dried beans/legumes are essentially poisonous if you don't cook them thoroughly. Thorough stove top cooking removes 95% of the potentially harmful lectins, thorough pressure cooking ~100%. I noticed at one point after I started cleaning up my nutrition with an eye towards gut repair that tofu did not sit well with me, edame nearly made me ill, but tempeh was fine and I still enjoy it semi-frequently. The difference is that tempeh is fermented and microorganisms consume most of the compounds (I assume lectins) that can wreak havoc on human guts. Of course a lot of animal products are fermented as well (cheese, yogurt, certain dry cured meats, etc.). I tend to look at fermented items as rather minimally processed since it's the work of microorganisms rather than a chemical factory. Where it gets dicey is when food is broken down/separated into it's constituent parts and subjected to further processing (and mixed with sugar) to taste better.
So processing isn't necessarily all bad and is often necessary. And I admit I'm a little overly cautious when it comes to lectins although I'm probably not among the most sensitive cohort of the population when it comes to them. Through all my layman's research I've become very wary of leaky gut. It was once thought that what's gradually becoming thought of as the family of metabolic diseases (obesity, type II diabetes, cancer, dementia, arterial/cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases) all caused leaky gut/gut dysbiosis. It's looking more likely that if anything, we've been assessing the causal relationship backwards, and leaky gut may be a causal contributor or exacerbate the family of metabolic diseases. So I'm pretty selective in my WF choices. I like to joke that when I list all the plant foods I avoid, it would have made a fairly comprehensive list of what I've had cited for my favorite plant-based foods 18 months ago.
I'm not sure where that maps into the 'system' concepts, eschewing the cheapest nutrition available in favor of making a best effort to maximize health, that is. In my way of weighting things, optimal health is basically at the top of the heap. I'm paying a premium for food in hopes of minimizing what otherwise would likely be my largest future expense--managing chronic metabolic disease. But peeling the onion a little there there are really selfish reasons underlying that. I like feeling rejuvenated and the longer I can make it last, the longer I can pursue the things I enjoy.
And of course simple cooking is processing, and often necessary. Of course it kills of parasites and infectious bacteria. Many dried beans/legumes are essentially poisonous if you don't cook them thoroughly. Thorough stove top cooking removes 95% of the potentially harmful lectins, thorough pressure cooking ~100%. I noticed at one point after I started cleaning up my nutrition with an eye towards gut repair that tofu did not sit well with me, edame nearly made me ill, but tempeh was fine and I still enjoy it semi-frequently. The difference is that tempeh is fermented and microorganisms consume most of the compounds (I assume lectins) that can wreak havoc on human guts. Of course a lot of animal products are fermented as well (cheese, yogurt, certain dry cured meats, etc.). I tend to look at fermented items as rather minimally processed since it's the work of microorganisms rather than a chemical factory. Where it gets dicey is when food is broken down/separated into it's constituent parts and subjected to further processing (and mixed with sugar) to taste better.
So processing isn't necessarily all bad and is often necessary. And I admit I'm a little overly cautious when it comes to lectins although I'm probably not among the most sensitive cohort of the population when it comes to them. Through all my layman's research I've become very wary of leaky gut. It was once thought that what's gradually becoming thought of as the family of metabolic diseases (obesity, type II diabetes, cancer, dementia, arterial/cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases) all caused leaky gut/gut dysbiosis. It's looking more likely that if anything, we've been assessing the causal relationship backwards, and leaky gut may be a causal contributor or exacerbate the family of metabolic diseases. So I'm pretty selective in my WF choices. I like to joke that when I list all the plant foods I avoid, it would have made a fairly comprehensive list of what I've had cited for my favorite plant-based foods 18 months ago.
I'm not sure where that maps into the 'system' concepts, eschewing the cheapest nutrition available in favor of making a best effort to maximize health, that is. In my way of weighting things, optimal health is basically at the top of the heap. I'm paying a premium for food in hopes of minimizing what otherwise would likely be my largest future expense--managing chronic metabolic disease. But peeling the onion a little there there are really selfish reasons underlying that. I like feeling rejuvenated and the longer I can make it last, the longer I can pursue the things I enjoy.