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With the business of everyday life, there isn’t always time to prepare a full and well-balanced meal. Due to this, we resort to something quick, easy and cheap. This usually consists of frozen and fast foods that are readily available for on the go. These types of junk foods also being defined as ultra-processed foods have led to weight gain and other health problems amongst Americans. New conducted research goes as far as to not only show the difference between processed and ultra-processed foods but that the chemicals involved in them have less to do with the high calories but how they affect our metabolism.
The definition of an “ultra-processed food” falls under the line of food that is made in a way that has gone through several different methods of production that involve pumping of different chemicals, artificial coloring, and flavor to increase their shelf life. According to Uproxx, in 2009 researcher from the University of San Paulo, Carlos Monterio found that “ultra-processed” foods consist of things like sodas, frozen dinners, or that at most fast-food chains. This is the foods and products that are produced primarily in a factory. These types go one step further than what is known as “processed” that are things like canned vegetables or bread and cheese.
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Unfortunately, these types of foods Monterio is talking about are not only inexpensive but have become a huge part of the American diet because of it. In 2010 a study was conducted to show the amount of these “ultra-processed” foods had made way into people’s everyday life and found that half of most Americans daily calorie consumption was coming from these “ultra-processed foods”
The National Institutes of Health more recently put out results of a study on May 2019 which further proved how the consumption of such food types led to weight gain amongst individuals. The study consisted of 20 subjects, divided into two groups, half on a high ultra-processed food diet and the other not, then switched after two weeks. Results showed that even when members of separate groups consumed similar amounts of calorie intake throughout the study, those whose calories came from “ultra-processed” foods gained more weight.
So how does one find a solution to this issue? Experts recommend that it is best to find time in busy schedules to prepare proper meals in which you know all the ingredients are from and that is fresh. Whether this means meal prepping and bringing foods with you are being smarter about the difference between “processed” and “ultra-processed” foods.
