New research warns against consuming ultra-processed foods

When Lays chips used the slogan that no one can eat just one in an ad, the company wanted to convey the good taste of the product. Fries are so delicious that even someone with the discipline of a professional athlete doesn’t have the strength to stop at just one.

But new research published in the British Medical Journal finds that when it comes to certain foods, willpower doesn’t matter much, even if you’re Canadian hockey great Mark Messier.

Ultra-processed foods can disrupt your body’s signals of feeling full, your ability to absorb nutrients, and your digestion. These interruptions can make it difficult to know when to stop eating. This may be why ultra-processed foods are correlated with more than 30 health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Beth Olson, associate professor of nutritional sciences in the Department of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently spoke to WPRs Central Time about how to identify ultra-processed foods and make healthier choices.

The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Rob Ferrett: What are the rules of thumb for when you’re in grocery stores and restaurants trying to figure out if something is too processed to be healthy?

Beth Olson: We can use a couple of things. One is common sense. When you’re in the produce aisle and looking at the fruits and vegetables, these will be good foods for you. Shop around the perimeter of the store.

The other thing is to look at the labels. When you’re in the middle of the store and pick up a can, box, or frozen package, look at the label and say, How much fiber is in this? What is the ingredient list? Does it list whole wheat, or does it list some sort of refined grain?

RF: What types of food are most likely to undergo ultra-processing?

GOOD: Snack categories or treat categories pretty much everything in the aisle that has chips and cookies and foods like that, the candy and baked goods aisle. All of these foods will undoubtedly fall into this ultra-processed category.

RF: What is it about these ultra-processed foods that may be linked to poor health outcomes in the future? Are there bad things in the food itself, or were they eating ultra-processed foods instead of good things?

GOOD: It’s probably both. You’re eating foods that are likely higher in fat…foods that may lack ingredients that we need to keep our guts healthy.

Part of it is that they were eliminating all the foods that we recommend to people. If people actually followed the Dietary Guidelines and ate the recommended foods, they simply wouldn’t have as much room in their diets for ultra-processed foods.

RF: We’ve heard about food deserts where people don’t have access to fresh produce, people don’t have enough money or time to prepare food. What can we do to help in these situations?

GOOD: We can work in communities to have better shops in our local neighbourhoods. We can provide incentives to buy healthier foods or make them accessible to those who don’t have as much money by having healthy foods available in our schools, for example, so that any child who comes to school can have a healthy meal.

We can also do education. Working with people on how you choose which foods are best? How do you choose with the money you have? How do you read labels to maximize the nutrients you get for the money you spend?

RF: Some of these ultra-processed foods are processed to be hyper-appetizing, meaning they make us want to eat them and keep eating them. Does this really lead us to eat more calories and more salt, sugar and fat?

GOOD: Food manufacturers know how to make food taste good. That’s their business. It will help us eat a little more than we should.

It also comes from how we were raised and what we get used to. If we grew up with these foods, this is what we prefer. If we can help families make other food choices for their younger children so that they grow up exposed to fruits and vegetables and whole grains, we can help people develop some preference for them.

RF: I’ve seen this argument that any food your grandparents wouldn’t recognize or make is probably ultra-processed. What do you think as a general rule?

GOOD: Most researchers and nutritionists see a difference between processed and ultra-processed. In fact, much of the food we eat now compared to what our grandmothers grew in their gardens is processed. But that doesn’t mean everything is unhealthy.

There are many healthy options that come in boxes or cans or in the frozen food aisle: frozen or canned fruits and vegetables, and whole grain breads, for example.

I think it’s too simple to say that if your grandmother didn’t make it, it’s not healthy.

RF: I eat cereal for breakfast. I’ve been eating it all my life. I probably ate a disturbing amount. Generally, my rule of thumb is that I look at the label, and if it has four grams of fiber or more, that makes me think there’s real food in here. Am I fooling myself?

GOOD: It’s a great rule of thumb. One of the ways I talk to people about food choices is, if that’s what you want to eat…pick a selection, look at the labels, and compare. Are you choosing a food with more fiber and more whole grains if you’re looking at bread or cereal for breakfast?

If you’re buying a soup, does it have more fiber, more vegetables, leaner meat, or more added fat or sugar? Choose the soup, but look through the soups and make the best choice among them.