Diet and Health/Ultra processed foods (UPF)

Diet has a major role in determining your health. Eating a balanced healthy diet is the first step towards prevention of modern day non communicable diseases. 

Now that industry generated foods have become a stable part of our diet it’s crucial that public is made aware of the processed foods, avoids their excess consumption and turn to healthy eating.

Scientist classify foods according to type of chemical constituents (carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and essential minerals). In addition, food is also categorised on extent of processing and this blog will concentrate on Ultra processed foods (UPF)

The term ‘ultra-processed foods’ comes from the NOVA food classification system, which was developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.The system places food into four categories based on how much they have been processed during their production:

1. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods: This includes produce such as fruit, vegetables, milk, fish, pulses, whole grain, nuts and seeds, eggs, whole grain starchy carbohydrate (whole wheat bread, oats whole wheat pasta) that have no added ingredients and have been little altered from their natural state.
2. Processed ingredients: This includes foods that are added to other foods rather than eaten by themselves, such as salt, sugar and oils.
3. Processed foods: These are foods that are made by combining foods from groups 1 and 2, which are altered in a way that home cooks could do themselves. They include foods such as jam, pickles, tinned fruit and vegetables, homemade breads and cheeses.
4. Ultra-processed foods: UPFs, which are defined as ‘formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, that result from a series of industrial processes (hence “ultra-processed”), many requiring sophisticated equipment and technology, processed foods typically have more than one ingredient that you never or rarely find in a kitchen. They also tend to include many additives and ingredients that are not typically used in home cooking, such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and artificial colours and flavours. These foods generally have a long shelf life.

Ingredients characteristic of UPFs include food substances of no or rare culinary use, including sugar, protein and oil derivatives (e.g., high-fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, protein isolates, hydrogenated oil) and cosmetic additives (e.g., colours, flavours, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers, thickeners, and artificial sweeteners) designed to make the final product more palatable.

  UPF include  fatty or salty packaged snacks, bread and buns, cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes, cake mixes, margarine, and other spreads and modified oils (hydrogenated or interesterified) as well processed meats and cheese.

UPF further examples: processed meat (canned meat, hot dogs sausages, beef jerky, ham) fried chicken,  crisps, mass-produced bread, some breakfast cereals, biscuits, flavoured candy bars with long ingredient list, carbonated drinks,(Coke, Sprite, Fanta 7Up etc) ice cream ,fruit-flavoured yogurts, instant soups.

Why should one limit the intake of UPF

UPF often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar and it been suggested that additives in these food could be responsible for negative health effects. These foods are high in calories, low in fibre and poor nutrition value. They are energy dense, meaning very high calories and increase risk of obesity which in turns leads to diabetes and heart diseases.

Ultra-processed foods are often high in unhealthful, cheap fats. For example, they often contain refined seed or vegetable oils, which can be easy to use, inexpensive, and last a long time. Manufacturers create artificial trans fats by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils, making them more solid. Trans fats increase inflammation in the body. They also raise levels of low-density lipoprotein, or “bad,” cholesterol, and decrease levels of high-density lipoprotein, or “good,” cholesterol.
Eating trans fats is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. For example, according to a 2019 study, a 2% increase in energy intake from trans fats is linked with a 23% increase in cardiovascular risk.

Studies have shown that there is no health benefit of eating UPF and observation studies have  linked UPF with  high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and early death.

Advise is that your diet should mostly consist of unprocessed foods ie all kinds of grains (whole meal roti/bakery whole meal bread) whole meal cereals, rice, beans, lentils, fresh meat, fruits & vegetables, fresh diary products ( milk, yogurt, cheese, butter).

Be aware that UPF are usually industry produce, read the labels and any product which has long list of ingredients and especially has ingredients which you don’t recognise as foods or are not used in home cooking its best keep the consumption of such foods to minimal.