What are ultra-processed foods and just how bad are they for our health? Here’s what the science says

We hear a lot about the dangers of ultra-processed food, but can any processed foods be good for us? Nutritionist Corin Sadler takes a look…

Most food we eat goes through some kind of processing.

At its simplest, we do this in our own kitchens. Boiling rice or making chilli from scratch are all ways of processing ingredients.

Further up the processing scale, things become more industrial. Refining grains like rice or wheat to create ‘white’ versions for example, stripping the grain of nutrients and fibre on the way.

Beyond that, we come to ultra-processing.

A surprising amount of the food available to us sits in this category, which can generally be defined as food with an ingredient list containing a long list of additives you wouldn’t include if you made it yourself at home.

What’s in this article?

Click on the links below to navigate to each section.

• What is ultra-processed food?
• Why should we avoid ultra-processed food?
• How can we spot ultra-processed food and supplements?
• Are any processed foods OK to eat occasionally?
• Avoiding ultra-processed food with a busy lifestyle

What counts as an ultra-processed foodstuff?

It’s not just the obvious foods like meat substitutes and sugary snacks that fit in this category.

It may be surprising to learn that many everyday staples, such as bread, cereals, vegan cheese, and milk alternatives are also ultra-processed foods.

Food supplements too can sit in this category.

While processing is usually necessary to some degree, highly coloured and flavoured vegan chewy gummies are often stacked full of additives and excipients (inactive substances), and frequently aimed at children’s health, but increasingly adults too.

Why should we avoid ultra-processed food?

Ultra-processed foods tend to be higher in sugar, and or sweeteners, saturated fat and calories too and are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health¹, diabetes², cancer³, obesity⁴ and depression⁵.

Children with a lifetime of exposure are even more at risk of these detrimental effects.

Childhood consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to asthma and cardio-metabolic changes⁶, paving the way to heart disease, insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver and more.

Artificial preservatives used in some food supplements, such as sodium benzoate, are linked to childhood behavioural issues and hyperactivity.⁷

Ultra-processed foods often have very little or no nutritional benefit.

Relying on them reduces our intake of nutrients including beneficial phytonutrients, omega-3 fats and vitamins and minerals necessary for health and wellbeing, as well as their inherent vitality.

How can we go about spotting ultra-processed food and supplements?

Most foods in the supermarket aisles are processed or ultra-processed.

Unless choosing wholegrains, dried beans and lentils, fresh fruit and vegetables, you can assume it’s processed.

However natural the product sounds, the ingredients list can reveal numerous processing ingredients.

Common ultra-processed food ingredients:

• Acidity regulators, such as citric acid or potassium phosphate.
• Stabilisers, such as gellan gum or carrageenan.
• Firming/gelling agents such as methylcellulose, locust bean gum or calcium sulfate.
• Anti-caking agents such as tricalcium phosphate.
• Thickeners such as modified maize or corn starch.
• Preservatives such as potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate.
• Flavourings/artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose.

You should check your supplements too.

Both artificial sweeteners and flavourings often feature as brands try to avoid adding sugar.

The World Health Organisation is monitoring aspartame as a possible carcinogen, while sucralose has been linked to leaky gut, gut inflammation and microbiome changes.⁸

Emulsifiers like polysorbate 80 and carrageenan can also disrupt the gut lining and cause gut inflammation.⁹

Magnesium stearate is also commonly used, but the jury is still out as to its detrimental effects.

With all this in mind, we recommend people to dig deeper and read the label.

Reduce your reliance on ultra-processed food by making these healthier vegan meat alternatives

Are any processed foods OK to eat occasionally?

Unless you are eating a raw plant-based diet, processed foods are hard to avoid.

With studies into their detrimental effects mounting, it’s wise to try to avoid ultra-processed food as much as possible.

Studies also show that the more a food is processed, the more the nutrient availability reduces, so relying on them could drastically reduce your intake of vital vitamins and minerals needed for health and wellbeing.

Are processed vegan cheese and meat alternatives healthy?

Vegan cheese alternatives have risen in popularity in recent years and can vary considerably in terms of ingredients and manufacture.

Artisan offerings tend to be based on cashew nuts or nut blends and use culturing or live bacteria in the manufacturing process.

Everyday offerings tend to be based on fats, such as coconut oil blended with starch or thickeners and flavours.

Both are processed, but nut-based cheese alternatives use more natural ingredients. Nuts are higher in protein and healthy fats too.

Recreating the texture and flavour of burgers, bacon, mince or chicken, meat alternatives often requires long ingredient lists crammed full of stabilisers, emulsifiers and flavours.

While these may make the transition from meat eater to a plant-based diet easier, they are definitely not good to rely on in the longer term.

Avoiding ultra-processed food with a busy lifestyle

Cooking from scratch can be time-consuming, so how can we create healthy meals in a hurry?

To keep it simple, stock up on a variety of healthy, balanced ingredients that can be mixed and matched into a variety of meals.

Try to base your meals around pulses like lentils or beans, plain tofu (which can absorb natural flavours like garlic, chilli, ginger or miso), nuts, seeds, whole grains and plenty of a wide variety of vegetables.

To save time when preparing meals, try to dedicate a bit of free time to pre-preparing your ingredients.

You don’t need to spend hours soaking dried beans before every meal. Soak a large batch, cook and then freeze in portions to use later.

You can also batch cook whole meals and store portions in the freezer so you always have something to heat up in a hurry.

Easy tray-bake recipes that just require chopping, tossing in oil, seasoning, and roasting, are great for a low-effort meal.

Soups, chillies, curries, stews or stir-fries can be excellent to cook quickly from scratch, and if it’s a one-pot vegan recipe, you’ll save time on washing up too!

Hacking more complicated recipes with curry pastes, ready-made spice or herb mixes, pre-chopped veg packs and tinned beans or lentils can really speed things up.

Want to cut back on ultra-processed foods? Learn the benefits of a whole food plant based diet

Featured photo © Mizina via Getty Images

References:

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