Nutrition
Preparation
versus
Processing
NOTE: Nutrition cannot realistically be fragmented, or divided, into its individual nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc.). A whole food is exponentially superior to the sum of its measurable nutrients. However, to address the information put forth by the scientific community, we follow the pattern to speak in fragmented terms such as “protein,” “carbohydrate,” and “fat,” remembering that real food comes in a whole form, to demonstrate that, even the science of fragmented nutrition proves that a diet of whole plant foods is a primary solution to our many ailments.
Preparation vs Processing
Once the wholeness of the food is broken, the nutrition begins to break down.
What is the difference between food preparation and food processing?
The wholeness of our food does not mean we cannot cut or cook it – in fact, many whole plant foods require cooking. Cutting and cooking are natural food preparations. Unnatural processing, however, destroys the delicate nutrition and alters the very nature of the food. Processed gummy fruit snacks are obviously not the same as whole fruits, and extracted walnut oil is not the same as the whole walnut. With some common sense we can easily judge between natural preparation and unnatural processing.
Food Preparation
Natural
- Cutting (slicing, dicing, chopping, etc.): makes food more manageable and easier to cook and eat in smaller pieces
- Cooking (oven-baking or steam-cooking): increases palatability and digestibility of the food
Food Processing
Unnatural
- Grinding, Blending, Pureeing: unnaturally grinding food into a fine consistency before consumption breaks apart the whole-food form and breaks down nutrients
- Juicing: unnaturally extracts sugars and other water-soluble contents from the whole food structure, including fiber
- Extracting: whereas they were previously healthful in their whole food form, extracted oils, sugars, etc. are damaging to health
- Frying, Sautéing (cooking with oil): unnatural cooking in extracted oils causes the formation of many toxins in the cooking process
Food processing maximizes the pleasure of eating at the cost of the pleasures of health. It requires both knowledge and discipline to learn to abstain from indulgent processed foods. As we refrain from partaking of unnatural “food products” that overexcite our palates and numb our senses, we will increasingly perceive and enjoy the contrasting and complementing flavors of whole plant foods.
Your Mouth is Your Best Food Processor
Food is best processed in the mouth. In the mouth is where the nuts are ground into butter, juices are pressed out, and fruits are blended into a sweet sauce. There is no sweeter juice than what you will taste when you bite into and chew a ripe fruit – now that’s “fresh-squeezed.” Don’t waste that fresh sweetness on an inanimate food processor. Process the food and taste it yourself in your own food processor: your mouth.