How to avoid processed foods

Avoid Boxes, Bags and Cans

Obviously, if something comes pre-packaged, it has been touched. Commonly, food manufacturers dehydrate, bleach, enrich salt, sweeten, and fatten food to compensate for the nutrition lost during the process it took to put the food into the box. Though boxed, canned and frozen foods are very convenient, they're not healthy for you in the long run.

For example, white bread barely contains any natural nutrition. The vitamins found in it, as well as the sugar and salt, are added back after they are stripped during processing.
A better solution is to purchase whole-wheat bakery bread that is made fresh at the store—it's more likely to be made from natural products.

Stay Away From Anything White

What does white bread, white rice and white all have in common? Bleached and enriched wheat flour or grain. These are some of the most highly processed foods on the planet. Though naturally white things like potatoes and eggs are fine, the food manufacturers really modify wheat flour and rice in these products.

To create the white appearance, the flour or grain (rice) is bleached. This process strips all of the fiber and nutrients from the grain, and thus the taste.  In order to make the food product "nutritious", the manufacturer adds fiber and vitamins, most of which your body will not absorb because they're not naturally occurring. A lot of sugar, salt and trans fats are also added to bring back the flavor.
Your best bet is to buy products that are whole-grain, and contain unbleached, unenriched grains like whole wheat, brown rice, oats or quinoa.

Shop on the Outside Edge of the Store

One of the easiest places to find unprocessed, healthy, whole foods is to purchase most of your groceries on the outside edge of the store. The edges are where you'll find produce, meat, eggs, dairy and seafood. These items are not processed, or if they are, they're minimally processed.
Of course, you will need to go into the center isles for some things, but staying on the outside of the store for most of your shopping will keep your cart full of nutrient-dense foods.

Don't Buy It If...

If the Label has More Than Five Ingredients

The more ingredients the food has in it, the more it has been processed. For example, look at Quaker Oats, their oatmeal in 1910 only had one ingredient—oats. By 2008, Quaker Oats had added sugars, unnatural fiber (guar gum), flavors, salt and trans fats to their Instant Oatmeal in an attempt to keep up with the flavorful times.

Though both are oatmeal, the 1910 version is far more nutritious than the 2008. It contains natural carbohydrates (not sugar), natural fiber (not synthetic), and needs no preservatives (instead of salt). The one ingredient is only oats, and you can still find the 1910 Oatmeal on shelves in stores today.

If Any of the First Three Ingredients End in "Ose"

 "Ose"  stands for sugar. Many sugars used in the food industry are highly processed, high in calories and are really bad for you. Sugar is added back into foods when the food is processed so much that the flavor is removed. One of the easiest ways to add flavor is to add sugar. A natural and unprocessed food like fruit or oatmeal (the slow-cooked kind) should hold their natural flavor and not need added sugars.

If the Food Label Is Not Clear

What language is the food label written in? Are they real foods or chemical descriptions? Are you eating a color? This is a big question to ask yourself when you read the food label. Healthy, whole-food is just that, food. If you have to ask yourself what is actually in the food you are eating, it's mainly man-made.

If You Have a Coupon

Cheap food is just that—cheap. If it doesn't cost much to make the food, it does not cost much to buy the food. Most likely there is not much nutritional quality to the food because it doesn't have quality ingredients, like whole grains or natural meats.

Article found here.