Article - Processed Foods and Protein Content

I found this short article very interesting.  In a nutshell, they say that our bodies are hard wired to devour certain amounts of protein, carbs, and other nutrients, and when we don't get enough of one macronutrient, we tend to eat more.  And processed foods these days are made to taste like protein but are actually high in carbs and fats.  To quote:

The obesity problem is best understood not as the result of the overconsumption of a single macronutrient, but from a skewing of the proportion of each macronutrient in our diet — notably the dwindling quantity of protein in processed food products. The paucity of protein relative to fats and carbohydrates in processed foods drives the overconsumption of total energy as our bodies seek to maintain a target level of protein intake.

An optimal diet includes a mixture of foods that provide dozens of different nutrients in appropriate amounts and in the right proportions. Consuming such a balanced diet is essential for the growth and maintenance of all organisms, and for reproductive fitness.

So it's no surprise that animals, including humans, have evolved exquisite appetite systems to control the consumption of proteins, carbohydrate and lipids, as well as micronutrients such as sodium and calcium¹. These systems work independently to push the organism towards eating a well-proportioned diet: a lack of one nutrient will signal “eat more”, while an excess of another will signal “eat less”.

Full article can be found here.

Yeap.  Food companies aren't stupid, they know how to keep people addicted.

In the end, kicking all processed foods and additives is best.  Sticking with straight meat, raw veggies and fruits will solve most of the physical stuff.

Too bad it took me so many (wasted) years to final come to terms with that.

I agree.  But it's hard to explain to people that don't know how to cook or don't have time to cook that eating nothing but Lean Cuisines or Healthy Choice meals or Weigh****cher meals isn't the best idea!  They have "lean and healthy and weight" in their names - how can they be bad for us?

I love this article!  Thank you for sharing.  It's amazing how many people (including, me, at one point) are duped into thinking that if the right words are on the box then the box is healthy.  I can't tell you how much money I've wasted on Annie's Mac and Cheese...because it's organic it must be healthy fuel.  DUH!  

Marketing is a powerful thing!

Indeed.  Information is power with which we can fight back!

Interesting article. While I think we can all eat what we want I eat whole foods in their natural state as much as possible.I also buy as much as I can from local producers, too.

All of the meats, eggs for my family (I have a severe intolerance so I can't eat them), mushrooms (I'm picking up some oyster & more lions mane mushrooms on Thursday), honey, and more I get from local producers from my local co-op. I also grow a huge vegetable garden and freeze or can enough that it usually gets us through the next growing season. Processed foods are full of the unknown. I have not bought canned tomatoes, even, for years. Even stuff like mustard and horseradish is made by me, or my parents. I have homemade peanut butter in my fridge right now, too. I make almond butter often, too. It is only the peanuts or almonds and nothing else. No sugar, no salt. 

I've been told we're a bit "extreme" but I enjoy doing it and honestly, I do eat some things that would be considered processed, but there are a lot of things out there that I wouldn't touch if someone paid me.