What do ultra-processed foods do to our bodies? | your nest

What we do with food to create new flavors and incredibly creative experiences.

But what the foods we eat do for us is perhaps even more remarkable, especially when it comes to ultra-processed foods.

What are “ultra-processed” foods?

Canning, canning, pasteurization, fermentation, reshaping – these are all forms of food processing, and the end results are often delicious.

But what distinguishes “ultra-processed” foods is that they have been altered beyond recognition, and chemically transformed, using methods and ingredients not normally used when cooking at home.

Physician and researcher Chris Van Tolkien recently conducted an experiment for the BBC in which he ate ultra-processed foods for a month. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t good.

For the experience that was part of the documentary What do we feed our children? (“What do we feed our children?”, in free translation), Tulleken has adopted a diet in which he gets 80% of his calories from ultra-processed foods – an increasingly common ratio for people in high-income countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United States American. Even with a sample of only one person, the experiment indicated several important elements.

• The study says that Brazil is the country where food prices have risen the fastest during the epidemic
• Watch how the water crisis affects food production

How do ultra-processed foods affect the body?

At the end of the month period, Tulleken reported Lack of sleep, heartburn, lethargy, constipation, hemorrhoids and weight gain 7 kg.

“I felt 10 years older,” he says, adding that he didn’t realize “that’s it [por causa] of food until I stopped eating this diet.”

A study conducted in conjunction with the Tulleken Experiment provided some scientific reasons for this.

Research has shown that Those who adopt a highly processed diet end up eating at least 500 calories a day Compared to those consuming small amounts of ultra-processing.

As individual A records An increase in the hormone responsible for hunger and a decrease in the hormone that makes us feel full, which could explain the cause of overeating and increased obesity.

But weight gain is just one of the many problems associated with a diet rich in ultra-processed foods.

Other previous studies showed a relationship between Prolonged consumption of ultra-processed products and an increased risk of heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and even depression.

In the study, ultra-processed foods also had an effect on the way we eat: People who ate a diet rich in ultra-processed foods ate much faster than those who ate minimally processed foods.

Previous research has linked slow eating to feeling full. But Tolikon admits that ultra-processed foods are “easy to chew and swallow.”

“Ultra-processed foods taste good,” says Emma Beckett, a food scientist and nutritionist. As a nutritionist, she has a simple explanation for it.

According to her, our love of fats and carbohydrates is a “residue of evolution.” “Energy and salt sources were scarce at the time of selection [natural] Choose our taste buds.

For our ancestors, “sweet and umami referred directly to energy sources, carbohydrates, and proteins, respectively,” she says. “Salt may be appetizing because it is necessary in small quantities, but it has not been readily available throughout history.”

But perhaps just as important as evolution is the production process behind these ultra-processed foods.

Beckett explains, “Often these products are engineered to hit our ‘bliss point,'” the ideal level of salt, fat, and/or sugar; And to be just below the point. It’s called “specific sensory satiety,” and that’s the goal where the senses are overwhelmed and you don’t want them anymore.”

In other words, ultra-processed foods are messing with our minds, too.

What do they do with the brain?

“Eating ultra-processed foods has become something my brain tells me to do, without me even wanting to,” Tolkien says.

In fact, tests of his brain activity showed that the regions responsible for reward are linked to the regions that lead to repetitive automatic behaviour. Basically, your brain has become addicted to ultra-processed foods.

“One side effect of really tasty food is that it’s really hard to stop eating it,” says Tulleken. Herein lies the difficulty of quitting the habit.

Moreover, according to Beckett, ultra-processed products can trigger a mechanism called the “optimism bias.”

“The positive vibes of fast food start immediately,” he explains.

But the negative effects take time. It’s easy for us to believe we have time to change [nossos hábitos alimentares] laterOr that the outcome was inevitable anyway.”

Bottom line: You’ll love it now, but you’ll regret it later.

And as if they needed more help getting our attention, Beckett says the intense marketing of these foods helps burn them more deeply in our minds.

“A lot of our food choices are unconscious and habitual. We don’t always deliberately think about health. The more we see — in stores, in the media, and in advertisements, the more likely we are to buy.”

Why do we eat ultra-processed foods?

If ultra-processed products pose a health risk, you may start to wonder why they are there.

“In the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, we call these foods ‘optional foods’ because they are a choice, not a necessity,” Beckett explains.

But, she said, those who can choose need to remember that “not everyone is in a position to choose healthy eating.”

“Highly processed food lasts a long time, is easy to transport, and requires little or no preparation. And when we’re short on time or money, they can seem like good options overall.”

The real bogeyman, she says, is the forces that drive people to choose ultra-processed foods over healthier options.

She cites as an example that “chronic stress can alter our appetite for sweet, fatty, and salty foods. Stress can affect the time and energy we are willing to devote to finding healthy options.”

Also, not everything that is processed is necessarily “junk”.

“Processed foods include some really important and healthy foods, such as canned vegetables, pasta, rice, bread, and high-fiber breakfast cereals,” Beckett says.

But above all, we must not forget that food is much greater than the sum of its components.

“Food is more than a necessity, it’s part of our joy, our culture, our society, our social make-up and so much more,” Beckett recalls. “We just need to help people balance happiness and health.”