Unhealthy ingredients in ultra-processed foods
Unhealthy ingredients are substances added to food products that may negatively affect health when consumed excessively. These ingredients are often found in processed and convenience foods, fast food, sugary beverages, snacks, and baked goods. While small amounts of these ingredients may be acceptable as part of a balanced diet, excessive consumption can contribute to various health problems, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. Here are some common unhealthy ingredients to be aware of:
Added Sugars: Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods and beverages during processing or preparation. Excessive consumption of added sugars can contribute to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay. Common sources of added sugars include sugar-sweetened beverages, candies, pastries, desserts, and sweetened cereals.
Trans Fats: Trans fats are artificially produced fats that are created through hydrogenation, a process used to solidify liquid oils and increase the shelf life of processed foods. Trans fats raise levels of LDL cholesterol (often referred to as "bad" cholesterol) in the blood while lowering levels of HDL cholesterol (often referred to as "good" cholesterol), increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Trans fats are found in many commercially baked goods, fried foods, margarine, and processed snacks.
Saturated Fats: Saturated fats are found primarily in animal-based foods such as fatty meats, poultry with skin, butter, cheese, and other dairy products. Some plant-based sources of saturated fats include coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil. Consuming too much-saturated fat can raise levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Artificial Sweeteners: Artificial sweeteners are synthetic sugar substitutes that provide sweetness without sugar calories. While they may be beneficial for people trying to reduce their calorie intake or manage blood sugar levels, some studies suggest that artificial sweeteners may negatively affect gut health, metabolism, and appetite regulation. Common artificial sweeteners include aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, and acesulfame potassium.
Sodium (Salt): High sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. Processed and packaged foods, fast food, canned soups, salty snacks, and condiments are common sources of excess sodium in the diet. Reducing sodium intake by choosing lower-sodium options and cooking more meals at home with fresh ingredients can help support heart health.
Food Additives: Food additives are substances added to food products to enhance flavour, texture, appearance, or shelf life. While many food additives are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by regulatory agencies, some may negatively affect health, particularly in sensitive individuals. Examples of food additives include artificial colours, flavours, preservatives, emulsifiers, and stabilizers.
Highly Processed Ingredients: Highly processed ingredients, such as refined grains, hydrogenated oils, and isolated sugars and starches, are often used in processed foods to improve texture, taste, and shelf life. However, these ingredients provide little to no nutritional value and may contribute to weight gain, inflammation, and chronic disease when consumed in excess.
"Dark matter" of nutrition: Recent advancements in understanding how diet influences health have expanded beyond the typical 150 key nutritional components catalogued in national databases. These components include calories, sugar, fat, vitamins, and others. However, this knowledge covers only a fraction of the more than 26,000 distinct biochemicals found in our food. For example, garlic contains over 2,306 distinct chemical components, many of which have documented health effects. This immense chemical diversity in our foods can be likened to the ‘dark matter’ of nutrition, as most of these chemicals are not fully recognized in studies or widely known to the public.
It is highly unlikely that any UPF producer knows anything about the interaction and balance between the 26,000 substances found so far in different food products when no one actually knows anything.
The food industry focuses on palatability, price and quantity, which creates concern about balanced nutrition and proper absorption. This raises questions on how heavily engineered ultra-processed foods consider the 'dark matter' of nutrition, balance, and molecular interactions and their long-term health effects. If a company engineers a healthy bar, could it prove that nutrients inside work in a symbiotic manner and contribute to health when considering that we are not able to give definitive answers even for whole food products that have been proven for millennia?
Reading food labels and ingredient lists can help you identify and avoid unhealthy ingredients in your diet. Choosing whole, minimally processed foods and cooking more meals at home with fresh ingredients are effective strategies for reducing your intake of unhealthy ingredients and promoting overall health and well-being.
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