For many, knowledge about the food and drink that they are consuming is minimal, and busy lives mean that many are dependent on quick prepared foods rather than home cooked. Our society has changed from one caregiver being based at home to none in a quick generation or two. With this has come the obesity crisis, both for adults and children this is a huge crisis, costing us personally our health and societally putting a huge burden on the National Health Service. So let's look at Ultra Processed Foods and see what role they have to play. North Lakes Health Coaching can help you change and adapt to a new diet containing minimal amounts of UPFs aiming to improve your overall health.
Ultra Processed Foods
It is increasingly clear that the obesity epidemic and the decline in health is related to eating ultra processed foods (UPF). The exact correlation and how this happens is still unfolding. But what is clear is that we are eating more UPF now than ever before and that 50% of food in our supermarkets are UPF. In France this figure is 14.2% (for comparison). (source PH Nutrition 2017)
What is ultra-processed food?
It is not real food! Some refer to it as 'industrial formulation made by deconstructing whole foods into chemical constituents, altering them and recombining them with additives into products that are alternative to fresh and minimally processed foods and freshly made meals' (BMJ: 2022). What does that mean? Essentially mushed up foods, separate bits out and putting some bits that are not recognisable, back into foods. The purpose of doing this is to lengthen the time food stays fresh, make more money for the producers and encourage us to eat more of it.
Which foods are ultra processed
- Fatty, sweet, savoury or salty packaged snacks.
- Biscuits.
- Ice cream.
- Chocolates/sweets.
- Carbonated soft drinks.
- Energy drinks.
- Canned/packaged/dehydrated soup, noodles, sauces, seasonings.
- Sweetened/flavoured yogurt.
- Dairy drinks.
- Sweetened juices.
- Margarine/spreads.
- Preprepared and packaged meat/fish/ vegetables/pizza/burger/sausages (e.g. ready meals).
- Packaged bread and bakery goods.
- Breakfast cereals/bars.
- Infant formula.
- Meal replacement shakes.
- Distilled alcohol, e.g. whisky, gin, vodka, rum.
- Foods containing food enhances
What are the consequences of eating lots of UPFs?
While it’s not fully clear yet, there are associations with lots of cardiovascular disease like strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure and cancers: there are also huge associations with mental health problems like depression (there a 50% increase in likelihood of developing depression in the high UPF consumers, JAMA 2023) and diabetes.
UPFs are made specifically to try and get people to eat more, hence hugely contributing to the obesity crisis: the slogan from the popular crisps ‘once you pop, you can’t stop’ has never been more appropriate, unfortunately this leads to terrible health risks.
So, what foods are healthy?
Luckily, the list of healthier foods is long, although it may be seen as very adventurous to those used to UPFs and cooking ready meals and prepared foods. Getting used to slowly adding these into your diet will improve your overall health and reduce the risk of the illnesses listed above.
These foods are unprocessed or minimally processed:
- Whole grains, e.g. oats, rice, corn kernel, wheat berry.
- Fresh vegetables or fruit juices with no added sugar or other ingredients.
- Eggs.
- Lentils/chickpeas/ beans.
- Nuts/seeds (without salt or sugar).
- Fresh/dried herbs.
- Dried or fresh pasta/cous cous/polenta made from corn, wheat or oats.
- Meat, poultry, fish, sea-food.
- Fresh/pasteurized milk.
- Yoghurt without sugar.
- Tea/coffee.
- Whole vegetables/fruits (fresh or frozen)
Some lightly processed foods that are better for you than UPFs:
- Oils, e.g. seed, nut, fruit oils.
- All types of sugar obtained from cane/beet.
- Honey from honeycomb.
- Syrup from maple trees.
- Butter.
- Lard.
- Coconut fat.
- Salt.
- Foods combining any two of these, e.g. salted butter.
- Tomato extracts/pastes or concentrates (with salt and/or sugar).
- Fruits in syrup.
- Salted or sugared nuts/seeds.
- Canned fish.
- Salted/dried/ cured meat or fish.
- Fresh-made cheese.
- Fresh-made bread.
- Fermented alcoholic drinks, e.g. beer, wine, cider.
- Canned or bottle vegetables or legumes.
The key to this is to read the jars and packets, and if you don’t recognise any ingredients as ones that are likely to be in a well stocked kitchen cupboard, then they are likely to not be very good for you! A good example of this is peanut butter, if it contains peanuts and a little salt, it’s good: if it has lists of ingredients that you don’t recognise then put it back on the shelf and get the one with peanuts and salt (in small amounts). Often the jars with lots of ‘natural’ and ‘natures best’ are the worst offenders.