We're all in a hurry these days. Unfortunately, for many of us this means rushing through the grocery store and grabbing foods that save us time and hassle. Many promise to be "lite" and "low-fat" but in reality are highly processed foods that not only lack nutrients but also contain ingredients that could be damaging when eaten regularly or in large quantities.

      Pre-packaged meals, frozen pizzas, snack foods, hot dogs, pizza rolls, packaged lunch meat, sugar-coated cereals and instant hot cereals are all dietary landmines. In these foods, the essential nutrients have been processed out to make room for unhealthy levels of sodium, refined sugar, saturated fats, heart-threatening trans fatty acids, and a long list of artificial ingredients—all in the name of convenience.

      "Processing" in itself is not a bad thing. The term "processed" simply means that food has been "altered" in some way in preparation for the grocery shelves. Methods include canning, freezing, drying, milling, grinding, pasteurization, homogenization, irradiation and more. Food processing makes many foods available to us that we couldn't otherwise eat in their raw form. It enables the year-round availability of foods with limited growing seasons.

      Processing also helps extend shelf life and can improve food quality and safety. Research even shows that canned and frozen fruits and vegetables can be as nutritious as fresh because producers usually process these foods at the peak of their freshness, when nutrient content is highest. Fresh foods, on the other hand, can loose their nutrients the longer they sit on the produce shelves.

      The key to better health is to eat fewer heavily processed foods and more minimally processed ones, such as fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, legumes, nuts and seeds and whole grains. White bread, white rice and regular pasta go through extra processing that removes much of the fiber and essential nutrients. Whole grain products, such as whole wheat breads, brown rice, whole grain pasta, beans and regular (non instant) oatmeal, are less processed and retain more of the natural nutrients of the grain.

      To make choosing whole foods easier, look for the word "whole" as one of the first ingredients when shopping for minimally processed whole grain foods, and make a point of shopping at grocery stores that emphasize fewer processed foods. When you do buy convenience foods, check the food label and choose high-fiber foods without hydrogenated oils or trans fats, and that do not list sugar or sodium near the top of the ingredient list.

The chart below shows more nutritional alternatives to some popular convenience foods: