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Tag: Ultraprocessed foods

  • How to reach age 70 free of major chronic conditions

    How to reach age 70 free of major chronic conditions

    New research reveals that people who eat healthy in midlife increase the likelihood that they will reach the age of 70 without major chronic conditions, reports Maya Goldstein for the Harvard School of Public Health. What does it mean to eat healthy?

    The Mediterranean diet is one way to go to increase your odds of living free of chronic conditions into your 70’s. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, nuts and legumes. Avoid eating ultraprocessed foods, drinks with sugar added, salt, and refined grains. And, minimize eating meat, particularly red meat.

    Following a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, with minimal red meat, sugar and salt, should promote both your physical and your mental health and well-being, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Montreal and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their research was just published in Nature Medicine. You are more likely to be able to live independently and have a good quality of life.

    The researchers looked at the diets of 105,000 health professionals between the ages of 39 and 69 over 30 years. They studied men and women. But, they did not look at people of differing socio-economic status.

    People who ate more processed meat, drinks with sugar, diet drinks, and other ultraprocessed foods, reduced their odds of living free of chronic conditions into their 70’s. The researchers further found that a healthy diet comes in a lot of varieties. People can eat more or less of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes that they like.

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  • Colorectal cancer: How to minimize your risk

    Colorectal cancer: How to minimize your risk

    Fewer American’s over 65 have been getting colorectal cancer in the last 30 years. Older adults are getting screened and are more aware of the need to take care of themselves. But, colorectal cancer is rising among younger Americans at a rapid pace, writes Dr. Alessandro Fichera at healthmatters.nyp.org

    Some people have a genetic predisposition to colorectal cancer. If you have a family history of a mother, father or sibling with polyps, you are at an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Get screened early, at least ten years sooner than your relative was diagnosed.

    Diet plays a significant role in whether you get colorectal cancer. Your diet can inflame your gut and your bowels. This inflammation can cause colorectal cancer. To some extent, you can minimize your risk of colorectal cancer by eating healthy.

    Here’s what to eat for a healthier colon:
    • Foods with fiber, such as plant-based foods, including fruits and vegetables such as kale, leafy greens, spinach
    • Whole grains
    • Seafood
    • Nuts and berries
    Here’s what not to eat for a healthier colon.
    • Avoid ultraprocessed foods
    • Avoid foods high in fat, particularly animal fat
    • Avoid red meat and processed meat, particularly hot dogs, salami, cold cuts and bacon
    • Avoid sugary drinks, particularly foods with high fructose corn syrup
    • Avoid alcohol
    • Avoid smoking
    About four percent of men and women in the US will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Overall, the rate of people being newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer is declining (36.5 per 100,000,) as is the death rate (12.9 per 100,000) from colorectal cancer. There were nearly 153,000 Americans newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2024, representing 7.6 percent of all new cancer cases.

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  • Can RFK Jr. limit harmful chemical additives in our food supply?

    Can RFK Jr. limit harmful chemical additives in our food supply?

    Corporations add a multitude of chemicals into our food supply, about which you are likely not aware. What’s worse is that the FDA allows it. RFK Jr., our new Secretary of Health and Human Services, wants to limit these chemical additives in our food reports Sarah Todd and Lizzie Lawrence for StatNews.

    The chemical additives in our food are considered GRAS–generally recognized as safe–even though they have not been adequately tested. The FDA assumes they are save until they are proven otherwise.  So, corporations can include chemical additives in our food without FDA approval.

    The FDA has not looked at the toxicity of literally thousands of chemical additives in our food supply. Researchers are concerned about how they affect us. But, food manufactures continue to put more and more additives into our food. In the 18 years beginning 2001, packaged foods with chemical additives grew about 25 percent, from 49.6 percent to 59.5 percent.

    Kennedy’s conundrum is that the FDA needs money to investigate the harms of artificial food additives. But, President Trump is cutting FDA staff and funding. Already nearly a third of the staff responsible for food safety have been let go.

    Still, while many experts opposed Kennedy’s confirmation to head the US Department of Health and Human Services, they agree with him on the importance of studying chemical additives in food and ensuring food safety.

    Unfortunately, you cannot look at the ingredients on a food label to know whether the food contains harmful chemical additives. Any time you see “artificial flavor” or “natural flavor” on a label, thousands of possible chemical additives are in play in your food.

    It will be hard to regulate the GRAS chemicals in food. The food manufacturers are a powerful group. People have tried to change the rules about chemical additives in food since the Nixon administration. For change to happen, the FDA will need a lot more money and legal power, as well as time.

    Right now, the FDA does not even know which GRAS chemicals are in which foods. The manufacturers do not have to disclose this information, even to the FDA. They consider it a business trade secret. But, the FDA cannot protect us from dangerous chemicals in food without knowing which chemicals are in which foods.

    Not surprisingly, the FDA has not scrutinized virtually any GRAS chemical in our food supply. So, unsuspecting Americans can develop chronic conditions from them over the long-term or can get sick from them in the short term. For example, tara flour poisoned hundreds of Americans when it was introduced into our food supply in 2022; many were hospitalized. The FDA only then declared it to be unsafe.

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  • Live longer, avoid ultraprocessed foods

    Live longer, avoid ultraprocessed foods

    A few weeks ago, I took a New York Times quiz on ultraprocessed foods, sure I could identify them and complete the quiz with flying colors. I didn’t flunk, but my score was equivalent to a D+, which was unsettling. To live longer, we should avoid ultraprocessed foods.

    To help recall which answers I got wrong, I just retook the New York Times quiz; and, I got a similar score! I suppose I am struggling to accept the fact that seltzer water with “natural flavors” is an ultraprocessed food. Bottom line, once a food has natural flavors or artificial sweeteners it is ultraprocessed.

    Similarly, plant milks with artificial sweeteners or emulsifiers are ultraprocessed. I also did not appreciate that there are some frozen foods that do not have additives and are not ultraprocessed.

    What’s the trick to knowing whether something is ultraprocessed? If it contains ingredients that you don’t have in your kitchen.

    What’s the nutritional value of ultraprocessed foods? Little. They tend to have extra sugars or salt or contain saturated fats and transfats. They can have additives and usually do not have fiber.

    Why avoid ultraprocessed foods? Avoiding ultraprocessed foods reduces your risk of an early death, according to a new study published in the BMJ, reports Lauren Irwin for The Hill. The study, which took place over 32 years, looked at what 115,000 ate. Avoiding ultraprocessed foods also reduces your risk of heart disease and depression. In the study, people with different diets had different life expectancies.

    How much more likely is it you’ll die as a result of consuming ultraprocessed foods? The study found that people who ate the most ultraprocessed food had a four percent higher risk of dying.

    What are the ultraprocessed foods with strong links to greater risk of death? Consuming “ready to eat” meats and fish were tightly linked to death. Breakfast cereals, soda and ice cream also posed greater risk. Foods that have fiber, vitamins and minerals have a lower risk of death.

    Some good news: At least some experts believe that having a healthy diet should override the negative consequences of eating ultraprocessed foods.

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  • Stay healthy: Avoid foods that cause inflammation

    Stay healthy: Avoid foods that cause inflammation

    Inflammation in our bodies can heal infected areas through increased blood flow. But, constant inflammation can lead to digestive issues, stiff joints and muscle pain, among other serious health conditions. If you avoid four types of foods, you can minimize your risk of chronic inflammation, says Dr. Jacqueline Wolf, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, for CNBC.

    You want to ensure you have healthy bacteria in your gut that work to fight inflammation. The solution is to reduce your consumption of fatty meats, ultra-processed foods, drinks with added sugar and foods with coconut and palm oil. Put differently, eat more plant-based foods—fruits and vegetables—as well as fish and chicken, whole grains, extra virgin olive oil and flaxseed oil.

    Don’t eat:

    1. Fatty meats. Avoid beef, lamb and pork as much as possible. By so doing, you should improve your colon health.
    2. Ultra-processed foods. Avoid hot dogs, sausages, bacon, ham, deli meats, and pepperoni. Don’t eat snack foods like oreos and goldfish either. Their salt, extra sugar and lack of antioxidants are bad for your gut. Eating these foods can lead to colorectal cancer, diabetes, dementia, heart disease and other serious health conditions. Eating these foods can change your gut’s microbiome, causing chronic inflammation. In turn, your blood pressure can rise, along with your risk of death. (N.B. One large 2021 study performed in Britain concluded that for every additional 25 grams—about one ounce—of processed meat in a person’s daily diet, the risk of dementia increased by 44 percent, and that of Alzheimer’s disease increased by 52 percent.)
    3. Drinks with sugar. Avoid sodas, lemonade and sweetened iced tea. One study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that people who drank as few as two glasses (16 ounces) of soda a day, including diet soda, had a greater chance of dying from any cause than people who drank fewer than 12 glasses of soda a year. After 19 years of drinking sugar-sweetened sodas, including diluted syrups, both men and women had a greater risk of dying from digestive disorders than people who did not.
    4. Foods with coconut and palm oil. Avoid products with high levels of saturated fat. Coconut oil has been found to raise both LDL and HDL cholesterol levels relative to unsaturated fats.

    N.B. If you want to reduce your soft drink intake, consider doing so gradually rather than going cold turkey. You probably will have a greater likelihood of success. You might try substituting ice water for soft drinks. If you like carbonated drinks, you can substitute soda water for soft drinks. For extra flavor, you can add a small amount of juice to the soda water.

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  • Ultraprocessed foods are likely bad for your brain

    Ultraprocessed foods are likely bad for your brain

    It’s hard to avoid eating ultraprocessed foods. They can be very delicious. Who can resist a candy bar, french fries, ice cream, or doughnuts? But, Sandy LaMotte reports for CNN on the latest research study in JAMA Neurology showing that ultraprocessed foods are bad for your brain and might be increasing your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

    Adults typically consume about 2,000 calories a day. If at least 400 of those calories (20 percent) are from ultraprocessed foods, you could be at greater risk of losing basic cognitive functions, including your ability to process information and make decisions.

    It’s easy to consume a lot of calories from ultraprocessed foods. If you’re a sucker for a McDonald’s cheeseburger sand small fries, for example, together they total 530 calories! As it turns out, ultraprocessed foods represent 58 percent of the typical American’s diet.

    How serious is the cognitive decay from eating a lot of ultraprocessed foods? The JAMA observational study found that people who ate a lot of ultraprocessed foods lost the ability to process information 25 percent faster than those who ate the least amount of ultraprocessed foods. Overall, cognitive impairment for those who ate the most ultraprocessed food came 28 percent faster than for those who ate the least.

    This all said, if you generally eat a healthy diet but combine healthy foods with ultraprocessed foods, you could be in luck when it comes to your mental health. The study found no cognitive decay associated with people who ate a lot of whole fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins and whole grains, along with ultraprocessed foods.

    While it’s an observational study that cannot directly tie eating ultraprocessed foods with cognitive decay, the findings should be taken seriously. The study involved 10,000 participants for as long as ten years. Compelling evidence!

    Participants’ average age was 51. The researchers defined ultraprocessed foods as “industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other cosmetic additives.” Ultraprocessed foods tend to have a lot of sugar, salt and fat, which cause inflammation in the body and jeopardize healthy aging.

    Putting aside cognitive decay, ultraprocessed foods should be avoided for many reasons. Among others, they increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death.

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