what is the difference between a processed food and an unprocessed food? what degree of processing makes a food ultra-processed? what ingredients should I be looking for and why? what is so nutritious about potatoes, and why does frying change anything? what is special about seed oil?
"Processed" is a slightly confusing shorthand for "has undergone processes which either damaged its nutritional properties or added a ton of unhealthy shit for the sake of becoming more appealing and/or easier to preserve and consume".
A chopped apricot or a smoked salmon are in a literal sense processed food, but nobody is referring to that kind of processes. Rather, they're referring to the processes that turn an apricot into a Sachertorte, or a salmon into spreadable salmon-flavoured cheese. Dehydrating, extensive cooking, adding massive amounts of salt/sugar/fats - processes that destroy vitamins and other nutritionally important characteristics and mix the original food with large quantities of unhealthy ingredients.
It's a combination where both parts play a key role. Much like a jam needs both fruit and sugar, or a bar of chocolate needs both cocoa powder and cocoa butter; neither component is a small addition, and neither can be omitted.
Just be aware of whats in your food. I don't look for specific ingredients just learn what the makeup of your food is and decide if you should be eating that. Awareness is 80% of the battle.
Boiled/roasted potatoes are really satiating for their calories. But most people associate potatoes with a lot of fat, like french fries or mashed potatoes which make them very high calorie.
Deep frying anything I think should be a special occasion, you shouldn't be having deep fried food every day or even week, it adds a lot of useless calories. Stir frying is healthier
Seed oils (modern oils like canola, invented in 1974) are suspicious. There is a lot of conspiracy theories out there and not a lot of data, but I try to stay away from it. After all we've been using olive oil for thousands of years, no need to stop.
Generally speaking, I think of processed foods as anything padded with sugar, salt and/or fat. Food which comes from a factory, not a farm. Processed foods are digested quickly which has issues. They have a high caloric density with low nutrients due to the sugar,salt+fat.
Think candy, chips, soda, bread, cured meats and things in bags. Low in nutrition, high in calories.
