Lisa offers healthier alternatives to some mainstream fatty foods in her e-newsletter, website, and books.  Her most recent book, a best seller, is called Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories.  I own it and use it for ideas on how to lighten up my fave foods.

She addressed the Washington Post article, published April 24, 2009 and titled, “‘Hungry Girl’ Has Found the Way to a Snacking Nation’s Heart,” in her e-newsletter yesterday.  Does she mind being called “The Queen of Processed Foods”?

Nope.  This is her response:

“…let’s face it: America eats processed food. These foods tempt us all day, every day. It’s unrealistic to think that the average person, who’s faced with fast food and processed food on a regular basis, can flip a switch and start following a completely rigid diet of 100% ‘clean’ foods. It just is. While it may work for some people, it’s not reasonable for the masses. So Hungry Girl provides a happy medium — a bridge between the average junk-food diet and the idealistic way of eating perfectly ‘healthy’ at all times. It’s not about following an all-processed-food diet. It’s a REALISTIC approach to better-for-you eating that people can actually live with and feel good about. Many of the processed foods I write about and use in recipes give people a way to fulfill their cravings for fattening items like fried foods, pizza, sweets, etc., without taking in a crazy amount of calories and fat. In other words, it helps people maintain a healthy weight without feeling deprived. Personally, while I do rely on those foods to tackle serious cravings, I’m actually sort of boring when it comes to my everyday food staples. I definitely don’t eat processed food all the time. I eat a lot of protein — things like turkey, chicken, egg whites, fish (tons of sushi with as little rice as possible), and steak (once in a while). I love to eat salads with low-fat cheeses, a LOT of veggies, and a small amount of fat-free or low-fat dressing (or none at all — I’m not a huge fan of dressing on my salads).”

What do YOU think? 

And Lisa isn’t the only one assuming, and banking on, that American’s love processed foods but want healthier alternatives.  The well-known Best Life program and Eat This, Not That franchise do too.  The Best Life program (known for Bob Green who became well-known through Oprah) puts its emblem on products it deems healthy.  It appears on products ranging from Skinny Cow ice creams to Slim Fast.  The program even boasts that eating foods with their label will “Help You Stay Healthy and Lose Weight.” I am conflicted on the issue of processed foods because I think there’s really a lot going on here.

Processed Foods.  Almost everything we eat is by definition processed some how.  I agree with Hungry Girl that it is unrealistic to tell someone who is trying to live a healthier lifestyle after years of eating 2 Big Macs a day to shop only the perimeter of the grocery store for fruits and veggies.  Give me a break.  Some people grow up only knowing processed foods and to change their lifestyles by 180 degrees in a split-second may work for a day.  Then a fast food billboard will start calling their name and they’ll phone a friend for an emergency McFlurry.  We can’t deny fast food and processed junk is ubiquitous. But…this leads to another issue.  Sure, I think processed foods are okay here and there.  But not all the time.  And really, all processed foods are not created equal and you should be an educated consumer.  At the end of the day, Best Life etc. are money makers.  Skinny Cow products, for instance, are loaded with high fructose corn syrup (but note, if you check my freezer, you will find some of their ice creams in there mmm yummy).  Slim Fast has the Best Life emblem? Yea. Alright. I guess it helps people manage their hunger and helps some lose weight and that alone can drop blood pressure, decrease chances for diabetes, etc., so that makes it “healthy.” But Slim Fast also might teach people to rely on their products instead of learning how to choose their own foods. My point?  Everything is give and take.  Be smart. Read labels. Weigh what’s best for YOU. Personally, I do not eat a lot of processed foods and don’t eat any “fast food.”  But that’s after years of evolving habits that just naturally progressed to where I am now. 

There’s also another part of the processed foods debates that has to do 1. with FDA approvals and the little icky things allowed to be present in our food and 2. the little icky things found in our food disguised by fancy scientific names.  I don’t want to get into it too much because it might gross you out and because, honestly, I don’t know too much about the issue aside from the fact that food processors are given some lenience to things like rodent hairs and insect parts being present in their food.  I have heard the counter argument that these “icky” things are present in “natural” foods as well.  If you know more about this issue, please share.

Some related articles/blog postings you might enjoy: 

• Fit Sugar’s “Are You Label Able?”
• Yum Yucky’s blog entry “Filthy Hidden Secrets of Canned & Frozen Foods”
• Yahoo’s Six Junk Foods Go Good (Guest post by Hungry Girl) – Read the comments. I love seeing people debate these things.
• Men’s Health’s 11 Secrets the Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

Wow, all this talk of processed food really makes me think about my newly processed hair (hahah how do you like that segue?):

Is it too early in the morning for a self-indulgent “me shot”?    Have a wonderful day!