Punchline first:
Basically don’t eat any (ultra processed) foods that have INDUSTRIAL ingredients, are ADVERTISED or come in PACKAGES!
See the prior blog on processed food. Processed food like substances are often subsidized by the government and have led to rising rates of obesity. Even though you eat vegan food, if it is processed, it may be good for the environment but is still harmful for your health.
Thanks to Anne E for sending me the link to this NPR article.
The article references a study that was published in Cell Metabolism recently.
Study participants on the ultra-processed diet ate an average of 508 calories more per day and ended up gaining an average of 2 pounds over a two-week period. People on the unprocessed diet, meanwhile, ended up losing about 2 pounds on average over a two-week period.
Why did this happen?
- Participants in unprocessed diet group had higher levels of an appetite-suppressing hormone called PYY and lower levels of ghrelin, a hunger hormone, which might explain why they ate fewer calories. On the ultra-processed diet, these hormonal changes flipped.
- Protein leverage hypothesis – people will eat until their protein needs are met. People in the ultra-processed diet group ate more carbs and fat due to the design of the food.
- People in the ultra-processed food group ate faster – the social hypothesis – see #8 in my weight loss tips.
NY Times article on the same topic has detailed information on the different foods served.
Substances only found in ultra-processed products include some directly extracted from foods, such as casein, lactose, whey, and gluten, and some derived from further processing of food constituents, such as hydrogenated or interesterified oils, hydrolysed proteins, soy protein isolate, maltodextrin, invert sugar and high fructose corn syrup.Classes of additive only found in ultra-processed products include dyes and other colours, colour stabilisers,flavours, flavour enhancers, non-sugar sweeteners, and processing aids such as carbonating, firming, bulking and anti-bulking, de-foaming, anti-caking and glazing agents,emulsifiers, sequestrants and humectants.
Dr. Carlos Monteiro was the first to describe ultra processed foods. He developed the NOVA system of classifying foods.
Common attributes of ultra-processed products are hyper-palatability, sophisticated and attractive packaging, multi-media and other aggressive
marketing to children and adolescents, health claims, high profitability, and branding and ownership by transnational corporations
Examples of typical ultra-processed products are: carbonated drinks; sweet or savoury packaged snacks; ice-cream, chocolate, candies (confectionery); mass-produced packaged breads and buns; margarines and spreads; cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes, and cake mixes; breakfast ‘cereals’, ‘cereal’ and ‘energy’ bars; ‘energy’ drinks; milk drinks, ‘fruit’
yoghurts and ‘fruit’ drinks; cocoa drinks; meat and chicken extracts and ‘instant’ sauces; infant formulas, follow-on milks, other baby products; ‘health’ and ‘slimming’ products such as powdered or ‘fortified’ meal and dish substitutes; and many ready to heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes; poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and
‘sticks’, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, and powdered and packaged ‘instant’ soups, noodles and desserts.
Basically, ultra processed food is DESIGNED to make you overeat and that is why you gain weight with these foods.
Who would you rather make your food?
This person?
Or a grandma?
I would rather eat (vegan) food that any of these grandmas make.