Q) Last week, you wrote about how our obesogenic culture is making it more and more difficult for people to maintain a healthy body weight. In particular, you talked about the consumption of processed and ultra -processed foods. I have often heard these terms used but I’m not really sure I completely understand just what they are and how they differ. Can you enlighten me?
A) The vocabulary surrounding our diet can be very confusing because we seem to make up new terms all the time. One example of this is the term obesogenic culture which refers to all of the factors in society that make it easier for people to become obese ( i.e. sedentary jobs, urban sprawl which makes us dependent on the automobile, and yes, the widespread availability of processed foods) To add to this confusion, industry all too frequently uses supposedly healthy sounding terms such as “all natural” or “low in fat” on food products making them sound healthy but they are anything but good for you.
Most people by now know that processed and ultra-processed foods are awful for us but they don’t necessarily know what those terms refer to or why these foods cause so many negative effects. Processed foods refers to any raw agricultural commodities that have been changed from their natural state. This means that anything that has been washed, cut, milled, cut, chopped, heated, pasteurized…. is considered to be a processed food. By this definition, some processed foods can be considered healthy such as broccoli florets that have been cut off or an apple that has been washed. However, even healthy foods can be made more caloric just by grinding them up and then reconstituting. But where we start to see major health issues when it comes to processed food is when additional ingredients are added to the original “natural” food. These additional ingredients tend to be sugar, salt, fat and chemicals such as dyes and preservatives and they frequently have a large and negative impact on the nutritional value of the food.
Foods therefore can be categorized as to the level of processing they have endured. The highest, and the nutritionally worst, are those foods that are termed ultra-processed. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are defined as snacks, drinks, ready made meals and many other foods that contain little, if any, real food at all due to all the additives that have been used to flavour, colour, preserve and change the texture all in an effort to intensify the sensory qualities of the food. This makes them incredibly appealing to most of us because they have been literally designed to taste great. They have also been designed to be made as cheaply as possible (chemicals are in general far less expensive than foods that grow in our farms/ gardens) and to cook as conveniently as possible (just minutes in a micro-wave frequently) making them the “go-to” meal choice for harried families living on tight budgets.
This is a shame because highly processed foods have been undeniably linked to an increased risk of multiple chronic health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and cancer. The more you eat of these types of foods, the greater the health risks. For example, a five-year study of over 100,000 people found that for every 10% increase in the consumption of ultra-processed food there was seen an associated 12% higher risk of being diagnosed with some form of cancer. Another study based in Italy reported that those participants who consumed the highest amount of UPFs had a 26% increased risk of dying from any cause and a whopping 58% greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
The question then arises as to just how these foods do so much damage to our bodies. There are of course the obvious reasons; the added amounts of sugar, salt and fat. But there’s more to the story than just these. The heating and processing appears to lead to the formation of chemicals that promote inflammation by altering the normal bacterial composition of our gut. Ultra-processing also changes the structure of
the base food so that it causes unnatural spikes in our blood sugar and insulin levels while removing all of the beneficial nutrients and phyto-chemicals.
The list of UPFs includes many you would expect;
· frozen pizzas
· chicken nuggets
· mass-produced packaged breads
· cold cuts and some that you might not expect;
· granola and protein bars
· cereal
· muffin and cake mixes
· soft drinks
· pasta sauces
· instant noodles
· margarine to name just a few
The key to cutting down on these is to substitute home made versions of UPFs. Consider roasting your own chicken for lunch meat or make your own granola out of inexpensive and easy to find ingredients. You may replace highly-processed foods with ones that are less so (i.e. replace pretzels with popcorn).
There’s no denying that reducing your intake of UPFs will require some additional time and planning when it comes to preparing your meals. There’s also no denying it will benefit your health in a multitude of ways.
For more information about this or any other health related questions, contact your pharmacists at Gordon Pharmasave, Your Health and Wellness Destination.
