You may not pay much attention to what you buy at the grocery store aside from the price. However, if you want to learn how to eat better and teach your family how to make smarter choices when it comes to nutrition, you’ve got to educate yourself about factors such as processed foods. Eating too many processed foods can set back your health and eating habits so take the time to learn something new.

Contrary to popular belief, not all process foods are bad so it’s just a matter of consuming the right processed foods and staying away from - or at least moderating - your intake of the bad processed foods. When a food item has been altered from its natural state for convenience and safety issues, it is considered a processed food. Common examples are food items that have been dehydrated, frozen, canned, cleaned and refrigerated.

So which processed foods are good and which are bad? Milk is considered a processed food but a good one due to the fact that it is pasteurized in order to kill bacteria and homogenized to keep the fats from separating. Similar beverages, such as fruit juices are also safe processed foods to consume daily. Frozen veggies are also good processed foods. In this state, the vegetables are still able to retain its original minerals and vitamins.

On the flip side, there are some bad processed foods that you should take care to stay away from. Bad processed food items are those that are made with saturated fats, trans fats, and high levels of sugar and sodium. If you can’t seem to live without these foods, make sure you consume them once in a while. Such processed foods should never be a part of your daily diet, nor your family’s. The next time you go grocery shopping, skip the following items: frozen fish sticks, frozen TV dinners, cereals that contain a lot of sugar, processed meats, chips, cheese snacks, packaged cakes and cookies, boxed meal mixes, and canned foods with loads of sodium, among many others. Gee, it seems like that’s just about all the fun food isn’t it? Don’t worry, as long as you eat these foods in moderation and not rely on the junk from day to day, you won’t have to give them up cold turkey (however, it’ll be great for your body if you did!).

Instead of going for the bad processed foods, learn to be a smarter shopper. Look for food items that are made with whole grains, are low in sodium and calories, and are free of trans fats. If you’re going to include a “bad” processed food in your meals, offset it by including a healthy salad, fruits, or whole grain bread.

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