Even the most informed, health-concious individual has likely fallen victim to ultra-processed foods.
Have you ever told yourself you'll just have a handful of chips and several minutes later wonder how you just downed more than half of that jumbo bag of chips? Are you completely to blame? Is it a lack of willpower on your part?
Well, not entirely. Ultra-processed foods are designed to make you not want to stop! This article will raise the curtain on what really happens when these foods are manufactured and how you can identify them yourself.
Processed? Ultra-processed? Minimally Processed? -What's the difference?
The word "processed" gets thrown around a lot lately in the world of nutrition information with a negative connotation. Technically speaking, though, processed is not necessarily a bad thing. The truth is that most foods are processed to some extent.
We can split processed foods into two categories, then: non-ultra-processed foods and ultra processed foods.
Non-ultra-processed foods include unprocessed foods and minimally processed foods. Minimal processing includes things such as removing inedible parts from a food, drying, grindng, roasting, or even vacuum packaging or refrigerating a food. These methods don't make a food unhealthy. They may simply make a food easier to prepare at home or increase the shelf life. Those frozen vegetables in your freezer are technically a processed food because they were frozen. This, however, does not count as being ultra-processed.
Ultra-processed foods are products made from a series of industrial processes and with ingredients solely for industrial use. Companies will manufacture ultra-processed foods using processes that include:
- separating whole foods into smaller substances
- chemically modifying the smaller substances
- combine modified and unmodified food substances
- addition of cosmetic additives (flavors, thickeners, sweeteners, emulsifiers, colors, gelling agents, bulking agents and much more)
- appealing packaging. 1
These techniques are designed to produce highly palatable and highly attractive foods to stimulate the brain, the eyes, the mouth, and the stomach.
One industrial technique is called extrusion. A machine processes grains to transform them into puffed, crisp pieces using high heat and pressure, such as in ready-to-eat cereals or puff snacks. The extrusion process alters the natural state and nutritional profile of the food.
Another technique is the use of coloring agents. While some companies are starting to switch to more naturally-sourced food dyes (such as beets or turmeric), many still use chemical coloring agents, such as Yellow #5, to create unnaturally bright and vibrant hues, making unprocessed foods pale in comparison when it comes to color.
Keep in mind that the ultimate goal of ultra-processed foods is to design highly profitable, hyperpalatable, convenient foods that consumers will choose instead of minimally processed or unprocessed foods. In other words, these companies want to make appealing, ready-to-eat foods using ingredients that cost very little, last longer, and that have a flavor that will hit you strong. 1
Note that consumer health and nourishment is not really part of the equation here. It is all about cost and convenience.
Most of these foods are high in calories, high in sugar, unhealthy fats, high in sodium, and low in fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. Several studies show that they produce high blood sugar level spikes, are not filling, and create a gut bacteria population that is pro-inflammatory. 1 Other sudies link ultra-processed foods with poor diet quality, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, digestive disorders, and even cancers. 2
Ultra-processed Food Radar
Have you ever seen a box of cookies say "ultra-processed" on it? Of course, not. You'll rarely if ever see food packaging reveal all the different processes that went into manufacturing an ultra-processed food and why those processes were utilized.
However, a simple way to spot an ultra-processed food product is to scan the list of ingredients. If there is even just one ingredient there that you don't have in your kitchen or pantry (i.e. partially hydrogenated oils, hydrolysed potein, high-fructose corn syrup), chances are it is ultra-processed.
Common ultra-processed foods include:
Frozen or packaged ready-to-eat meals (packaged soups)
Granola bars
Sugar-sweetened beverages (soda, sweet tea, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened fruit juice)
Processed meats (bacon, cold cuts, salami)
Salty snacks: chips, pretzels, crackers, microwave popcorn
Sweets and sweet snacks: cookies, cakes, candy, ice cream, some cereals
Refined grains (white bread, white pasta, instant noodles)
Bottom line? While it may be unrealistic for many to completely avoid ultra-processed foods, try to include as many uprocessed and minimally processed foods over ultraprocessed foods as possible!
It may help to start with cutting back on visits to fast food restaurants for a month and replacing those visits with homemade meals. Then, start scaling back on one or two of the listed common ultraprocessed foods for the next 3 weeks.
Include fresh foods with your meals as much as possible. Make it a rule of thumb to include a fresh fruit or vegetable at each meal and snack throughout your day.
References
1. Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J. C., Louzada, M. L., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public health nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003762
2. CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL REPORT| VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1, P67-77.E3, JULY 02, 2019
3. Ind. J. Sci. Res. and Tech. 2014 2(1):1-3/Bordoloi & Ganguly