Does processed food cause depression? I checked out this report today and was amused to find that the man being interviewed is named Brian Godfrey. Nope, he isn’t my husband!
At any rate, it got me thinking about the most depressing foods ever. First on my list: bouillon cubes. People rant about what has triggered the decline of society, and my vote is going to the invention of a salt-and-chemical-laden sticky bit of dried goop that is supposed to stand in place of luxurious REAL broth made from REAL chicken or beef bones. (OK, there are other kinds of broth, but I rarely make fish broth and haven’t ventured much beyond chicken and beef broth. I’m limited. I accept that).
Canned tuna would also have to make my list of depressing foods. I was all the way grown up before I realized that people ate tuna fresh. Sad.
Next on the list would have to be crappy chocolate. Why waste perfectly good calories on inferior chocolate? And I am not even close to a chocolate snob, but pleeeeze, some of the stuff that is out there is just worthless. Send me a box of this and I’ll be your best friend.
Most packaged cookies are pretty depressing. Again, the calorie argument. Why “indulge,” if you can call it that, in a cardboard textured base filled with imitation chocolate chips and sweetened with gobs of high fructose corn syrup? REAL chocolate chip cookies are not that hard to make, people. My 9-year-old makes chocolate cookie bars several times a week. From scratch. Not depressing at all. Guaranteed to lift anyone out of the doldrums.
Oh, wait! I think this one may have to move up on the list. Biscuits from a can. Are they worse or better (on the depression rating scale) than the biscuits you buy in the frozen food section and heat up? When I heard about those, I thought it was a joke, but it is all too real.
Around here, we make biscuits (and most everything else) from scratch. No surprise if you have been reading here or if you follow my homeschool blog or homeschool column. When I make biscuits (and I am sorely tempted to make them every day, but I refrain, on account of needing some diversity in my diet), I pat the dough out gently and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut the biscuits. My kids know that the biscuits are in a heart shape because I put love in them.
Maybe that is really at the base of why processed foods cause depression. Real food is made by real people who stand in the kitchen, measuring, mixing and putting the love in the bowl. You feel the love when you eat real food, when you sit down at a meal together and talk about the day or make plans for the future. When you open a box of processed whatever you feel cardboard.
Real food, real life, real love…..it doesn’t come in a box.
Any food item that comes in a box, bag, or carton is processed. Basically, it is high-calorie and low-quality food .You can easily get it not only from fast-food restaurants but also from supermarkets. On average, an individual spends at least 60 percent of his or her money on food to buy processed food.