He ultra-processed consumption It is related to the appearance of many diseases, from cancer to a large number of intestinal conditions. Even depression. This is mainly due to its high content of ingredients such as sugars and fats. But also to the presence of some of the additives in it, such as emulsifiers.
Here it is necessary to make a point, to avoid falling into chemophobia. The additivesrepresented in the list of ingredients with the letter E followed by a numberthey are not usually dangerous per se. Quite the opposite. They generally make ultra-processed foods much safer for us.
Now, it is true that some of these compounds, especially if ingested in large quantities, can cause certain symptoms. For example, it has been seen that some emulsifiers can alter the intestinal microbiota. That is, the populations of beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms that live in the intestine become unbalanced, allowing the latter to proliferate more than usual. This, among other symptoms, can cause inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, which little by little causes digestive problems. Therefore, a team of scientists from the Paris City University has decided to try to attack this specific effect of ultra-processed ones. Does that mean that they have created a vaccine that will allow us to eat donuts as if there were no tomorrow, without suffering the consequences? Well unfortunately no. Let’s see step by step what they have achieved.
What are emulsifiers?
When, for example, we make mayonnaise at home, over time its ingredients separate. The liquid phase is separated from the solid and if we want to take it again we will have to stir or beat again. This happens with many other dishes that are made with ingredients liquids and solidsespecially when there are oils involved.
If it is industrial ultra-processing, emulsifiers can be added, which are compounds that help keep these phases mixed, as long as the product is handled in the recommended way. These can be, for example, carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate 80represented with the codes E-466 and E-433 respectively.
It should be noted that if we prepare mayonnaise at home with large amounts of salt and sunflower oil, it will still be an unhealthy ultra-processed product, even if it does not contain emulsifiers. But it is true that these can add another effect, by promoting the aforementioned imbalance of the microbiota.
A vaccine against ultra-processed
These effects of emulsifiers in ultra-processed products have been studied in depth in studies prior to the one just published in PLOS Biology. However, the authors of this research wanted to go further.
So that bacteria can reach the Intestinal mucosa and cause inflammation, they must be able to move. Generally it is flagellated bacteria. That is, they move thanks to a kind of tail, which moves, as if they were swimming. And in order for that tail to move, they have a protein called flagellin.
The immune system generally attacks proteins that you consider strange. Therefore, they asked themselves a question. What would happen if the intestinal immune system Will he train to attack the flagellin? That would leave the bacteria immobile, so that they could not cause inflammation, no matter how many ultra-processed emulsifiers were consumed.
To test whether they were right, they conducted a study with mice, whose immune systems were stimulated to produce antibodies against flagellin, like with a vaccine. Only in half of them. The rest were left unimmunized to compare the results.
Once the rodents were immunized, they were given foods to eat that contained carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate 80 among their ingredients. Thus, in those immunized, several interesting effects were seen. First, pathogenic bacteria did not migrate to the intestinal mucosa. This, secondly, prevented the characteristic effects of inflammation of the digestive mucosa. But they also saw something else: the proportion of pathogenic bacteria was different. That is, there was not such a large imbalance of the microbiota.
And now that?
The results with mice have been quite good. They lead to think that a drug based on this experiment could help prevent conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or type 2 diabetes. But that does not mean that exactly the same effects will occur in humans. The conclusions of the study must be taken with caution. That on the one hand.
On the other hand, we must not forget that ultra-processed foods will continue to be ultra-processed. And, as we have already seen, its worst ingredients will not be the additives marked with the letter E. Not even the emulsifiers. Ultra-processed foods usually have large amounts of fats, sugars or saltamong other ingredients that are harmful in large quantities.
Therefore, we should not see this as a vaccine against ultra-processed foods. We must continue eating healthy and without guilt. That is the basis of healthy eating in all aspects. The rest is just small help, very interesting, but without miracles.