They suffer little or no technological change. The minimum handling is provided to make them edible.
The products concerned are mainly cereal products (rice, pasta, flour …) but also sugar.
In its raw state, each grain of cereals is a jacket protects rich in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), and fiber.
Maintaining full or part of this envelope in the food to eat, is a source of ambiguity:
- Intake of vitamins, minerals and fibers give these foods nutritionally very interesting, but its protective role, the envelope and it also focuses residue chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides) … ..
- Phytates in such foods rich in sound, have a positive effect: they have a preventive effect against colon cancer, and an evil action, they would promote the loss of Iron and Calcium …
- In people with “sensitive stomachs”, the fibers are the cause of flatulence, bloating and stomach pain.
Refined foods and prepared
These are foods that undergo many changes. The goals are multiple:
- Facilitate the culinary uses (reduced cooking time …)
- Get rid of their food “impurities” (Chemical Residues …),
- Make food more palatable …
These different operations deplete, significantly, the food micronutrients and fiber. Outside, nutritionists have sounded the alarm: they denounce, in our industrialized countries, the increase of a population with nutritional deficiencies.
On the other hand, these foods are quickly absorbed by the body and do not provide sufficient satiety: the sensation of hunger and its consequences (snacking, lack of concentration …) apparraissent quickly after a meal.
The lack of fiber in the diet is often the cause of constipation. And worse, it encourages the development of gastrointestinal tract cancers: intestinal transit is slowed, therefore, possible carcinogens present, have a prolonged contact, and act on the side wall of the digestive tract.