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Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know

 


As soon as you open a bag of cheese puffs or chips with a nacho taste, you probably know you are about to eat something unhealthy.


The obvious dead giveaway? It is the delicious, hot, cheesy dust that covers every morsel and spreads throughout your fingertips in a vibrant orange hue. The same goes for chicken nuggets and frozen pizza.


However, how about a bar of granola? A pouch of applesauce? Cheese strings? yogurt with flavor? These snacks, which millions of adults and children consume on a daily basis, must not be all that horrible, right?


Many dishes, it turns out, can be classified as ultraprocessed depending on which ingredients are used specifically. Recent research on this kind of diet has yielded mixed findings.


Ultraprocessed foods represent a relatively new way of categorizing foods. Proposed in 2009 by researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the system, called NOVA, is based not on what kind of food it is — meat, grains, vegetables, etc. — but rather on how processed it is.


NOVA separates foods into four groups, starting with natural and minimally processed foods in the first category to ultraprocessed foods, which use industrial formulations and manufacturing techniques, in the fourth.


On the Chasing Life podcast, food policy expert Dr. Marion Nestle stated, "My operating definition for ultraprocessed (foods) is you can not create it in your own kitchen because you do not have the technology and you do not have the ingredients." At New York University, Nestle holds the Emeritus Paulette Goddard Professorship in nutrition, food studies, and public health.


Foods that have undergone extreme processing sometimes include additives like thickeners, dyes, and taste enhancers, which are basically substances you would not normally use in your cooking. It makes them easy to prepare—just heat and serve—shelf-stable, and, in many circumstances, difficult to resist. (The food industry challenges the NOVA system, arguing that the term "ultraprocessed" has no established scientific definition.)


Nestle stated that food businesses in the 1980s "did a lot of effort on trying to figure out what flavor and texture and color combinations would be most attractive to people and started developing meals that would make them lots of money" as a result of a convergence of historical, regulatory, and economic reasons.


She said tens of thousands of new products have hit store shelves since then. “Most of them fail, but the ones that win, win big,” Nestle said.


Before you reach for that can of soda, bag of chips or frozen dinner, why not learn more about what you’re eating? Here are five things to know about ultraprocessed foods:


Ultraprocessed foods are linked to bad health outcomes



Consuming large amounts of highly processed food is unhealthy.

"As of right now, over 1,500 observational studies have been conducted, and they all consistently show that eating ultraprocessed foods is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some malignancies, poor outcomes from COVID-19, and overall mortality," according to Nestle. "Any negative health issue you can think of that has to do with diet has a direct connection to ultraprocessed foods."


The most current study examined over 30 years of data and concluded that eating foods high in processing was linked to a 4% increased chance of dying from any cause, including a 9% increased risk of dying from neurodegenerative diseases. The report was published on Wednesday in The BMJ journal. Ultraprocessed foods have been connected in other research to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and mental health conditions like sadness and anxiety.


Nestle emphasized that these studies are observational in nature and are not intended to establish a causal relationship between ultraprocessed meals and these negative health effects.

"When you have a controlled clinical trial, you can accomplish that," she stated. And what do you know? There is one here.


Ultraprocessed food items make you gain weight.

In a single randomized, controlled clinical trial, it was found that ultraprocessed foods were linked to weight gain.

These types of studies require significant resources and effort, which explains their limited frequency. Dr. Kevin Hall, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, conducted this particular study by having 20 volunteers reside at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland for four weeks.

During the first two weeks, the volunteers followed a diet consisting of mostly nutritious ultraprocessed foods such as yogurt and whole wheat bread, as opposed to unhealthy options like chips and soda. In the following two weeks, they transitioned to a diet completely free of ultraprocessed foods. Both diets were closely matched in terms of calories, sugar, fat, fiber, and macronutrients. The participants were unaware of the specific focus of the study.

Hall explained to Tirrell that participants were instructed to eat based on their appetite without actively attempting to change their weight.

The study showed that participants consumed approximately 500 more calories per day on the ultraprocessed diet compared to when following the minimally processed diet. This calorie discrepancy was reflected in their weight changes, with an average gain of 2 pounds during the ultraprocessed diet phase and a loss of 2 pounds during the minimally processed diet phase. Furthermore, blood tests conducted during the study indicated a reduction in markers of inflammation when participants followed the minimally processed diet.

Nestle, not affiliated with the study, emphasized the significance of the findings by stating, “If you’re not well-versed in nutrition research, you might overlook just how monumental a discovery this is. Five hundred calories make a significant difference.”

Hall expressed uncertainty regarding the reasons behind the increased calorie intake on an ultraprocessed diet. He highlighted the current research focus, stating, “We are particularly intrigued by exploring the underlying mechanisms responsible for this behavior.”


Ultraprocessed foods are hard to avoid

Even when you believe you are eating something somewhat healthful, like baked potato chips or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, most of us are consuming ultraprocessed foods without even realizing it.

Researchers discovered that over half of adult American diets consist of ultraprocessed foods, based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. That figure is significantly greater for children in the US, at 67%.


Ultraprocessed foods are cheap and convenient

Yes, you read correctly: Eating "clean" actually costs more.


According to Hall, "it was really roughly 40% more expensive to construct the minimally processed meal than the ultraprocessed menu." That does not even take into consideration how long it takes to prepare the food, does it? Therefore, it is likely that all of those characteristics have a significant impact on the foods that we select to eat in real life.



Not all ultraprocessed foods are bad

Certain ultraprocessed foods, like yogurt and whole wheat bread, can supply vital nutrients. Furthermore, it was demonstrated in Hall's study that some did not raise calorie consumption. According to Hall, "the snacks had no bearing on the number of calories (the participants) consumed." Which proves that this impact is not always caused by ultraprocessed foods. To determine which ultraprocessed meals are hazardous and which are neutral or even good, Hall's team is doing a new study.

Soon, Americans might receive additional assistance evaluating the effects of ultraprocessed meals on their health. The US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture will shortly release updated Dietary Guidelines, which are released every five years. According to Nestle, the scientific advisory body in charge of this procedure has been requested to take into account the link between ultraprocessed foods and unfavorable health consequences. We hope that these five points will give you a better understanding of ultraprocessed meals. Find out how much ultraprocessed food Hall consumes and what he feeds his kids by listening to the entire podcast here.



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