Processed.????

[Bethesda]

Hello, I just don't get the scientific reason behind why processing the allowed foods can cause weight gain. eg. making a microwave muffin with banana, chickpeas, egg etc.
I have never had a craving for any type of food, just food in general. I love eating. So, eating something mixed up and cooked doesn't make me crave anything. What would be the difference in frying some beans and an egg and some mushrooms etc. ? Why would popcorn flour be any different to popcorn?

[MsHeirloom]

I agree, Bethesda. It is, however, possible to make lots of the egg and bean combo foods into desserts and bread-like foods. Those just stimulate our brain into thinking we are eating sugar and grains and make us hungry for more of the same. It's a trap I have fallen into at times. It stirs up cravings. Use those recipes in moderation and for special occasions.

[omalani]

I have found that I tend to eat more of the more complex and calorie dense foods. I can eat 1/2 cup of popcorn popped and feel full and satisfied however 1/2 cup corn ground into corn meal or even a huge bowl of popcorn ground into flour, makes a much smaller amount. When that small amount has other ingredients added and becomes a dessert or bread, I may eat larger quantities and not stop till it is gone. I even eat more fruit in a smoothie than when I eat fresh fruit. It takes longer to eat a banana, an apple, some grapes, and pineapple than it does to drink the same fruit in a glass. It also emotionally satisfies your desires. It's like if I sit at the table and eat and enjoy my food with all my senses, it is more satisfying than being distracted and eating while watching TV. In addition to that, seeing ads for food or watching people eat in movies or in a restaurant, increases my desires and curiosity for other thing. Who has not gone to a restaurant and ordered something and when the food arrives the other person's food looks better and you are less satisfied with your own or you watch people eating sugary desserts and feel oppressed or deprived. If I had been in the garden of Eden with Eve and had a variety of wonderful fresh growing foods, would I have been tempted as well? It is easier to see the mistakes of others than to see the same mistakes in your own life. I might have different excesses in my life, but excesses are excesses and enough is a feast. Life is good and we don't struggle alone. Thank you all my LDL friends for encouraging me and inspiring me to be what God created me to be. Thank God that I am never alone and with every temptation there is a way of escape and I will never be tempted beyond my ability to resist unless I turn away from God and am drawn into sin. With God, all things are possible. Without God there is no hope. Live abundantly and share your life and love with all of creation.

[Bethesda]

Thank you for all that. The spiritual is important I agree.
I think what you are saying is that it really is do to with calories then. You are saying that eating plain popcorn has less calories than if I mix popcorn flour egg and banana etc. So it isn't actually the processing that is the problem but the quantity which in essence is actually the calories.