Smart Living: Study on ultra-processed foods
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Ultra-processed foods are an easy snack to grab and while they may taste good, they may not be the best choice.
Chips, frozen meals, processed meats and packaged snacks, what do all these have in common?
They're all examples of foods that have been ultra processed. This means they've been chemically modified in some way.
They often include high amounts of sugar and little to no whole foods. In the United States, more than half of the average diet includes these foods.
A new comprehensive study published in the BMJ found people who ate more ultra-processed foods had a higher risk of developing 32 different medical issues.
Of those, researchers found convincing evidence there was a link to cardiovascular disease-related death, anxiety and common mental disorders, as well as type 2 diabetes.
It found suggestive evidence of a higher chance of death from any cause, heart disease-related death, sleep issues, breathing problems, obesity, and depression.
So, how can you avoid ultra-processed foods?
Here are some tips:
Read the nutrition label. If there are a lot of ingredients you don't know, it's likely been processed quite a bit.
Try to shop the perimeter of the grocery store where you will mostly find fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy proteins.
Watch for foods labeled as healthy, but have actually been processed.
When possible, cook meals at home with fresh ingredients that don't have labels.
Doctors say it's often not practical to eliminate all ultra-processed foods.
Instead, you can start by making small changes to your daily and weekly diets. Once you start to change your habits, you can follow a healthier diet.
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