What are the non-essential nutrients?

What are reasons for why processed food is low in nutrients?

• I have to write an essay arguing that our modern day food is low in nutrients. Can anyone give me some detailed reasons for why that is true? Such as how we have more processed food and as food goes through the process it loses a certain percentage of nutrients or how farmers are using growth hormones to make their live stocks grow faster and bigger. Thank you!

• Answer:

  During processing, especially of grains like wheat and rice, the outer coating that it naturally has gets stripped away. After that, the grains are usually ground without the outer shell (which had most of the fiber, protein, and vitamins) and is then used to make a variety of different foods. Most pre baked foods and pre packaged foods are made with any number of these processed grains. That's about the only example I can give