Most of us have heard the term ultra-processed foods, but do you know what they are and their health impact?
Ultra-processed foods are products that have been heavily altered from their original ingredients and are usually made in factories.
They often contain additives, flavourings, emulsifiers, sweeteners and refined sugars or fats. Common examples include fizzy drinks, pastries, ready meals, many breakfast cereals and most supermarket breads.
So why are they considered a problem?
Firstly, they are designed to be easy to overeat. These foods are designed to be the perfect combination of sugar, fat and salt, which keeps you coming back for more – good for profits, bad for health. They don’t fill you up properly, and they bypass many of the natural appetite controls that whole foods trigger. This makes it very easy to consume far more calories than your body actually needs.
Secondly, ultra-processed foods are often low in fibre and nutrients. Fibre plays a huge role in gut health, blood sugar control and satiety. When fibre is stripped out during processing, the food is digested quickly, leading to spikes in blood sugar and energy crashes. Over time, diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even depression.
There’s also growing evidence that additives and emulsifiers may negatively affect gut bacteria, which plays a role in inflammation and overall health. While this is still an emerging area of research, the trend is clear; diets consisting mainly of ultra-processed foods are not good for long-term health.
Before you despair that you will end up living like a monk, you don’t need to eliminate them completely. As with many things in life it is about getting the balance right.
A small amount of ultra-processed food in an otherwise balanced diet is unlikely to cause much harm. A Mars bar after a long run, a ready meal on a busy evening, or some chocolate at the weekend can all fit into a healthy lifestyle. Stressing about food choices can be just as damaging as the food itself.
A good rule of thumb is this: aim to base most of your diet on foods that look close to how they came from nature: vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, eggs, beans, grains and dairy. Cook from scratch if you are able. Only use ultra-processed foods occasionally for convenience or enjoyment, not as the foundation of every meal.
One last through for you, read the ingredient list of some of these foods. Do you know what the ingredients are? At least understand what it is that you are eating.