Ultra Processed Foods, Risks, and Dangers
There have been many studies about the increasing adult, adolescent and child obesity published over the years. And a good percentage of them appear to blame the junk, processed and especially the ultra-processed foods. And there are a variety of short-term and long-term risks and dangers associated with consuming too much of such foods.
You’ll find different food products with varying degrees of processing on the market. When you cook mackerel on the stove it is slightly transformed or processed. Canned tuna or other types of fish are cooked, salted, oiled and processed at a normal level. Then you have the fish or chicken products that are covered by breadcrumbs and pre-cooked.
They take on such a different form and appearance that you can’t even tell what they were original. They are almost like foods created artificially from zero, with smaller percentages of natural ingredients in them. They often include too much salt, sugar or fat but this is not often what makes them so bad for consumption. It is more about the number and amount of bad artificial chemical additives they have.
As a simple common sense, when you see a long or very long list of ingredients, it is often better to stay away from that food. They are low in healthy nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and dietary fibers and are high in calories. They also tend to be high or very high in glycemic index and will cause a spike in your blood sugar followed by a sudden drop and will make you feel tired and the sugars will turn into fat quickly in your body.
A common problem with some of the additives is they can prevent the feeling of full and make you eat more and cause a variety of health problems and diseases in the long run. The food processing by the food companies plays a significant role in the epidemic of the chronic diseases.
But there is nothing wrong with eating these foods occasionally as long as you generally have a balanced and healthy diet of different food groups and nutrients. And you need to consider the ingredients in a food as a whole, and ironically it is often not salt or sugar in isolation that we need to blame.
According to another recent research, some 80-90% percent of the foods displayed and sold on the breakfast shelves at the supermarkets were ultra processed foods, and only 5-10% were little or moderately processed. These ultra processed foods include the biscuits, cookies, breakfast cereals and bread which contain lots of stabilizers and preservatives as well as bad fats. A lot of the gluten-free products are found to compensate gluten with thickeners and additives.
If the food product has more than 5-6 ingredients and a nice and attractive packaging, it often indicates ultra processing. The longer any food is processed industrially, the more likely it will affect your health badly and much worse if you consume them regularly. The ultra processed foods are not limited to just soft drinks or biscuits as most of you may think, but actually, accounts for a good 80% of all foods in the supermarket.
Any natural foods obtained directly from animals or plants, like fruits, veggies, milk, eggs, and meat and are consumed after being taken from the source are unprocessed foods. And if they are washed, dried, ground, frozen or pasteurized without any chemicals added to them, they are still unprocessed. The main reasons for processing foods are extending their shelf life, making them tastier or easier to digest.
Moderately processed foods are those that are made by just adding salt, sugar, vinegar or oil to prolong their consumption. Such foods include the canned fruits or veggies, or in jars, canned tuna, sardines and other fish, cheeses, nuts, and seeds. And anything that you eat as snacks, desserts or ready quick meals are made with many additives replacing the natural ingredients.
The manufacturer tries to copy the taste and texture of natural ingredients to reduce the cost of manufacturing, make them last longer and taste better so they can sell more. These ultra processed foods include the cakes, cookies, biscuits, sodas, fries, dried products, instant noodles, instant soup, cereal bars, sweeteners, a variety of sauces, sausages, chicken and fish nuggets, ice creams and more.
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