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At a recent healthcare conference, I sat next to a researcher during one of the sessions. When the talk was over, my well-informed colleague spoke at length about his field of food science. He was a chemist.
As we discussed his work, it struck me how sophisticated the food industry has become; how advanced the chemistry is now, and the myriad ways food is modified, manipulated, processed, and reprocessed beyond all recognition—on an industrial scale. And not for the first time, I thought: What are we doing to ourselves?
A large percentage of the packaged and prepared food that weighs down our grocery store shelves isn’t really food anymore. It’s more like chemically manipulated material that also happens to be highly palatable, so we eat more of it.
Bottom line: It’s not good for us, as clearly shown in a February 2024 British Medical Journal article on ultra-processed foods and their association with adverse health outcomes.
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are industrial concoctions containing additives such as salt, sugar, and oil (often in the form of hydrogenated fat), as well as artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and preservatives.
UPFs usually go through multiple processing methods that transform their chemical structure. This alters the food’s taste, texture, and appearance into something not found in nature.
Examples of UPFs include frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs and cold cuts, most fast food, packaged cookies and cakes, and salty snacks. Think Pop-Tarts. Ramen noodle soup. Or Hostess Twinkies.
About half of all calories that people consume in the U.S. now come from UPFs.
What the BMJ Study Tells Us
Scientists haven’t yet worked out all the mechanisms that explain the ill effects of UPFs, though changes to the gut microbiome and related bodily inflammation seem to play a role. What is clear is that UPFs can be bad for us if they are eaten frequently.
The BMJ study found that greater exposure to UPFs was associated most convincingly with higher cardiovascular disease-related mortality, type 2 diabetes, as well as anxiety disorders and other mental illnesses. Study researchers found further associations between UPF intake and higher risk of all-cause mortality, depression, overweight, obesity, and disrupted sleep.
The researchers conclude: “We recommend urgent mechanistic research and the development and evaluation of comprehensive population-based and public health strategies… aimed at targeting and reducing dietary exposure to ultra-processed foods for improved human health.”
In other words, we need to stop eating these foods at current levels. They’re making us physically and mentally ill, and they’re increasing our risk of an earlier death.
Steering Clear of UPFs
As a rule, you want to keep your intake of prepared, packaged, and fast foods to a minimum. If a food isn’t found in nature—a tater tot, for example, versus a baked potato—it’s likely ultra-processed. Whenever possible, choose the baked potato.
Other tips:
- Beware of packaged foods with long ingredient lists. That’s a sure sign that they’re UPFs.
- Try to stay away from foods that contain ingredients you wouldn’t stock in your kitchen, such as high fructose corn syrup, red dye 40, or hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil.
- Prepare meals at home when you can, and use real, whole foods.
- If you eat out or are buying at the grocery store, choose items that are baked, poached, grilled, or stir-fried, rather than deep-fried.
- Wherever you eat, emphasize the old healthy and tasty standbys: fruits and vegetables; grains and legumes; meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and eggs; milk and plain yogurt; nuts and seeds.
References
Lane, MM et al. (2024). Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. British Medical Journal.
