Let’s Talk About Ultra-Processed Foods
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Article written by:
Dr. Francisco Arroyo
Medical Director of SportsMed
Sports Medicine & Stem Cell Specialist
Medical | Regenerative Medicine
The higher the intake of ultra-processed foods, the higher the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
If our lives have changed during the pandemic, so have countless other things, including food, which has become more complex to prepare. This has caused their classification to change.
We all know natural foods, those which we don’t modify (well, I suppose) and which we eat as they are. But take for example the grains of wheat, rye, and barley, which are mainly used to make flour in general. The main component to which many of the people I know are “allergic” (besides being trendy) is gluten.
I’m not denying the allergy but let me give you an example. I have a nutritionist friend who is an eminence in the field of Sports Nutrition (Dan Benardot) and a long time ago he explained to me that he couldn’t eat any type of bread, but it was because of the type of flour used in it (ultra-processed flour) which caused the allergy, but that he could eat bread made with wheat grains as long as they were not processed.
In other words, many of the foods we buy in supermarkets or stores are so-called ultra-processed (this term was introduced in 2016 by a group of Brazilian researchers who linked cancer with the intake of these foods), which are made from formulas extracted or derived from foods, but during the manufacturing process additives, preservatives, flavorings, cosmetics, colorings, etc. are added. and this is done in order to make them look appetizing, but from a nutritional point of view they are unbalanced foods.
These foods can replace a full meal, but because they cause us to eat too much since their satiety index (that is, leaving us satisfied) is very low and on the other hand their glycemic index (that is, increasing circulating glucose) is very high and the risk of causing diabetes is high.
Some examples of these foods are: Cookies, sweet and / or salty packaged snacks, breakfast cereals and granola or cereal bars, energy drinks, bottled drinks, foods to reconstitute such as broths, soups; sausages and cold cuts, ice cream, fortified foods, chicken nuggets, fish or similar, pizzas, baby food, hamburgers, etc.
In a study done in New Zealand supermarkets 80% of the packaged foods were ultra-processed (Luiten et al. Ultra-processed foods have the worst nutrient profile, yet they are the most available packaged products in a sample of New Zealand supermarket. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2015).
In the United States, the average American gets half of their food requirement from ultra-processed foods (fast foods), which increases the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Unfortunately, the labels put on by those who produce these types of foods often say that they are healthy, which is not true.
How do I know if what I am buying and eating are ultra-processed foods? Well, let’s stick with this: “these types of foods are those that in their industrial formulation contain 5 or more ingredients” the above is according to the International Food Information Council, so read the label.
And remember, the higher the intake of ultra-processed foods, the higher the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
Article written by:
Dr. Francisco Arroyo – Medical Director of SportMed