> Does that make McDonald's a healthy option? Absolutely not. But why is McDonald's unhealthy? It's because the food they serve is unhealthy. It's not that the food that is served at McDonald's is unhealthy because McDonald's is unhealthy.
It sounds to me like this is the crux of your argument.
I think I'd agree and hopefully add some clarifying points.
1. Processing
Processing doesn't necessarily make things less healthy. It depends on the type of processing and what is being processed.
If you blend a steak, it isn't less good for you (although it is more susceptible to food poisoning). Adding heat to things like meat can actually make them more bio-available since they're easier to digest. Adding heat to vegetables can break down certain vitamins and make the result less healthy.
Additionally, heating food in certain ways can make it less healthy because of the cooking process. Anything that chars the food or introduces partially combusted hydrocarbons (burned cooking oil, grilling/smoking, etc.) adds carcinogens to the food.
2. Macro-nutrient profile
Food satiety is relatively well understood: protein, water and fiber are all appetite suppressants. People need a certain amount of fat and probably desire at least a small amount of carbs (although the last part can be overcome in some people).
For a sedentary person, a diet high in carbs and fat is probably not good, as it will result in weight gain.
For someone with higher energy needs - say someone building a trail through the woods with a mattock - they may need to eat 6000 Calories per day just to maintain their body weight.
For a sedentary person, a diet high in protein will be distasteful and probably wasteful.
For professional athletes competing in strength sports, they may eat over 2g / kg of body mass of protein as part of a diet tailored to their goals.
Broadly speaking, in order to promote the health of a person, the macro-nutrient profile of their food should match their body and their activity levels.
3. Micro-nutrients
Eating vegetables are good for you. The more raw the vegetables are, the better they are for you (probably). There is often a trade-off that needs to be struck between palatability and optimum health benefit.
There is also a wide array of micro-nutrients that can come from eating meat of various sorts.
There are many conflicting opinions here, without a broad consensus, so I'll leave it at that.
4. Weird stuff
Often times people will bring up ingredients in processed food that they don't know what it is, or even how to pronounce it.
I don't think people are bad to want to avoid stuff like that.
But for the most part, I have real doubts that this is the cause an health problems in even a small fraction of consumers.