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Ultra-processing strips away health-promoting nutrients, replaces them with salt, sugar and fat, and destroys the food’s internal structure.Credit: Getty Images
In the new study, the plant foods that were defined as ultra-processed included:
- Wheat and corn: Pastries, buns, biscuits, cakes, packaged breads, cereals, chips and salty snacks.
- Potatoes: French fries, potato chips.
- Beet, cane and other sugars: Candy, soft drinks.
- Fruits and vegetables: Sauces, dressings, juices, beverages, frozen pizza.
- Soy, wheat, beans, peas: Meat substitutes, including imitation burgers and sausages.
Ultra-processing strips away health-promoting nutrients, replaces them with salt, sugar and fat, and destroys the food’s internal structure or “food matrix,” which causes our bodies to absorb the food more rapidly. This results in less satiety and, in some cases, higher blood-sugar levels.
During industrial processing, foods are often subjected to extreme pressures and temperatures, which can transform additives into harmful new compounds. Two well-known compounds that are generated during food processing, acrolein and acrylamide, have been found to promote cardiovascular disease.
Plant foods that are not ultra-processed contain fibre, polyphenols, phytosterols and a wide array of compounds that reduce inflammation and promote overall health.
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Rauber recommends eating a diet of mostly minimally processed foods and avoiding things that come in packages with long lists of colourants, sweeteners, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers and other additives that you would not use at home in your own kitchen.
“When buying ready-made food or preparations, the best tip is to read the ingredient list,” says Rauber. “If it contains only ingredients that you recognise and commonly have in your kitchen, it is most likely made from real food and is not an ultra-processed food.”
There is also evidence from previous research that supports the findings about plant-based ultra-processed foods. In one large study published in 2022, scientists examined the diets of 78,000 men and women from a health-conscious community of Seventh-day Adventists, many of whom were vegans and vegetarians. After following them for an average of about eight years, they found that those who ate the most ultra-processed foods had a 14 per cent higher mortality rate compared with those who ate the least.
Avoid things that come in packages with long lists of colourants, sweeteners, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers and other additives that you would not use in your own kitchen.Credit: iStock
Dozens of studies have linked ultra-processed foods to early death and an increased risk of more than 30 different health conditions, including higher rates of weight gain, obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease. A panel that shapes the federal government’s influential Dietary Guidelines for Americans is debating whether a warning against ultra-processed foods should be included in the next edition of the guidelines.
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Ultra-processed foods are what scientists call hyper-palatable: they’re industrially manufactured foods that have unusual combinations of flavours and additives, such as salt, sugar, stabilisers, emulsifiers, oils and artificial ingredients that cause us to crave and overeat them. In most cases, these foods are stripped of their fibre, vitamins, minerals and other naturally occurring nutrients and crammed full of kilojoules.
The authors of the study cautioned that their research showed a correlation between ultra-processed plant foods and cardiovascular disease, but that it did not prove cause and effect. It’s possible that the participants misreported the types and amounts of foods that they ate, for example, or that other lifestyle factors explained the findings.
Washington Post
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