Supermarket aisles are lined with shelves of processed foods. And while there’s nothing like the satisfying crunch of a potato chip, you’re probably no stranger to the fact that processed foods can have some negative effects on your health.
In fact, 50 percent of the diet is made up of ultra-processed foods.
What are processed foods?
This type of food is much more than just packaged cereals or fast food.
Technically, “processed foods” are those that have been cooked, frozen, packaged, or changed in nutritional composition. They can range from minimally to more processed.
- Minimally processed foods: Foods that have been packaged or preserved with the utmost freshness, such as canned tomatoes, pre-cut vegetables, tuna, or frozen fruits fall into this category.
- Highly processed or ultra-processed foods: those ready to eat are on the more processed side. These include things like crackers, granola, and deli meats. The most processed foods are usually prepared meals, such as frozen dinners.
Processed food is often blamed for being the cause of losing dietary continuity, but not everyone deserves the bad reputation it is given. In some cases, processing can provide additional vitamins and nutrients due to fortification. Fortification is when certain nutrients are added to food to improve nutrient density.
For example, milk is fortified with vitamin D (which is not naturally present in milk), a nutrient that most of us do not ingest enough.
The pasteurization is another form of food processing benefits rather than harms to your health. This process applies heat to food (often dairy products) to destroy any potentially harmful bacteria. Without this form of food processing, many dairy products could be dangerous to consume.
Along with some of these health benefits, processed or packaged foods may also be more convenient for anyone with a busy lifestyle. Not everyone has the time, energy, or availability to cook from scratch every night.
But of course, more processed foods can be detrimental to health if you eat them too much or too often.
4 effects that occur on the body
It can increase your weight
Processed foods have been linked to overeating and weight gain, as they can be calorie-dense.
People who follow a highly-processed diet tend to eat around 500 more calories than those who follow a minimally processed diet, according to a small July 2019 study in Cell Metabolism. As a result, people who followed highly processed meal plans gained more weight on average and also ate faster.
Eating too fast can make it difficult to identify satiety signals, causing overeating in some cases. Additionally, it’s associated with an increased risk of obesity, according to a December 2017 review published in Current Obesity Reports.
It’s unclear whether the high risk of obesity is due to food processing, which strips it of important nutrients, or because processed foods often contain more ingredients like sugar, which adds more calories.
Affects longevity
Although no ultra-processed ingredient or food has been shown to cause cancer directly, a highly-processed diet has been linked to an increased overall risk of death, according to a May 2019 study in the BMJ, which analyzed the diets of nearly 20,000 men and women older than 5 years.
In this study, the leading cause of death was cancer, and the risk of death from all causes was found to be 62 percent higher for those with the highest amount (more than four servings per day) of ultra-processed foods.
What’s worse is that the risk of death from all causes increased by 18 percent with just an additional serving of processed foods per day.
Negatively influences your heart
Another study from May 2019 in the BMJ examined more than 100,000 people and found that eating ultra-processed foods was associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
Some of the types of foods they were associated with were ultra-processed fats and sauces, meats, sugary products, processed beverages, and salty snacks.
Using data from more than 13,000 adults, the researchers observed an overall decline in heart health for every 5 percent increase in calories from ultra-processed foods, according to research presented in November 2019 by the Centers for Disease Control and Control. U.S. Disease Prevention
The high sodium levels are related to high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Since most Americans’ sodium comes from processed foods, choosing low-sodium options, for example, is one step you can take to minimize the negative effects of ultra-processed foods.
Alters the mycobiome of the intestine
A healthy intestine is one that has a diverse number of bacteria, both in type and number.
Diet has the potential to change the composition of bacteria in the intestine. In fact, fiber-rich diets can promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria and reduce inflammation in the gut, according to an August 2019 review published in Microorganisms.
Fermented foods, like yogurt and sauerkraut, have also been shown to promote a healthy gut.
Additionally, researchers may be getting closer to an answer on whether artificial sweeteners are good or bad for your gut health. According to an October 2019 review in Nutrients, artificial sweeteners negatively altered gut bacteria in people who didn’t normally consume them.
The researchers also found a link between artificial sweeteners and glucose intolerance.