Dr Vanessa Harry
An alarming study reported this week found that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are linked to 32 diseases that affect every major organ in the body.
You may already be familiar with the phrase, “eat less processed foods”. But what is processed food? For that matter, what is minimally processed food or ultra-processed food? And how does processed food affect our health?
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods are whole foods in which the vitamins and nutrients are still intact. The food is in its natural (or nearly natural) state. These foods may be minimally altered by removal of inedible parts, drying, crushing, roasting, boiling, freezing, or pasteurisation, to make them suitable to store and safe to consume. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods would include carrots, apples, raw chicken and raw unsalted nuts.
Processing changes a food from its natural state. Processed foods are essentially made by adding salt, oil, sugar, or other substances. Examples include canned fish or canned vegetables, fruits in syrup, and freshly made breads. Most processed foods have two or three ingredients.
However, some foods are highly processed or ultra-processed. They most likely have many added ingredients such as sugar, salt, fat, and artificial colours or preservatives. Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from foods, such as fats, starches, added sugars, and hydrogenated fats. They may also contain additives like artificial colours and flavours or stabilisers. Examples of these foods are frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs, fast food, packaged cookies, cakes, and salty snacks.
The recent review of research involving almost ten million people was conducted by scientists in Australia and has found a direct association between eating too many UPFs and more than 30 health conditions, including heart disease, anxiety and early death.
The researchers concluded that a higher UPF intake was associated with a 50 per cent greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease, a 12 per cent greater risk of type two diabetes, and a 48–53 per cent greater risk of developing anxiety.
The scientists further reported that there was “highly suggestive” evidence that eating more UPFs could increase the risk of obesity, type two diabetes, sleep problems and dying from heart disease by 40–66 per cent as well as a 22 per cent greater risk of developing depression and a 21 per cent greater risk of death from any cause.
These results are about as negative as it gets, especially when you consider that prior studies have shown that for many of us, UPFs are the main source (nearly 58 per cent) of calories we eat and contribute almost 90 per cent of the energy we get from added sugars.
So, when it comes to bread, cereals, snacks and other things you may consider “healthy”, if they contain more than five ingredients, many of which you cannot pronounce and have been industrially manufactured, they may actually be harming your health.
It is no secret that these foods that have been through several rounds of industrial processing which is done to make them more palatable with flavours and additives as well as to increase their shelf-life, are now almost impossible to avoid.
Experts now say that these UPFs should come with warnings, likening them to tobacco. There have been calls for public policies to curb intake and calls on public health officials to urgently develop guidelines and ‘best practices’ for ultra-processed foods. They suggest foods are clearly labelled when ‘ultra-processed’ and dietary guidelines recommend how people can cut down.
Ultimately, it is important we are aware of the growing evidence that the UPFs we eat have been associated with adverse health effects and the choices we make about our daily diets are crucial.