By Bob Livingston
| They taste good, they’re convenient and they could kill you. I’m talking about ultra-processed foods. These are the foods that are so far removed from their raw ingredients that is almost no connection between the finished product and the original food. They are tantalizingly convenient because they are always are ready to consume, requiring little or no preparation in the same way as raw foods. But these foods have deadly additions — ultra-processed salt, highly refined sugar and fake fats. Additionally, these foods are often made from processed substances that are extracted or refined from whole foods, like hydrogenated oils, refined flours, starches, variants of sugar, and cheap parts or remnants of animal foods, says Ruth Kava, Ph.D., senior nutrition fellow at the American Council on Science and Health. Further, a study published in the mainstream yet prestigious British Medical Journal found a significant correlation between consumption of ultra-processed foods and the incidence of cancer. This trial was conducted among over 100,000 French adults over a period of eight years by the NutriNet-Santé cohort of nutritional epidemiologists and public health experts and statisticians. The web-based collection method recorded dietary intakes of adults age 18 or over (median age 42.8 years) covering some 3,300 different food items. The foods were categorized according to NOVA, a food classification system based on the extent and purpose of industrial food processing. The researchers considered foods to be “ultra-processed” if they had undergone several “physical, biological, and/or chemical processes.” Ultra-processed foods often have the characteristics I mentioned, but also lower amounts of fiber and vitamins. The NutriNet-Santé team also examined food containers and discovered that ultra-processed foods may be packaged with materials that can contaminate the food because of inherent carcinogenic properties. In addition, food additives frequently used in ultra-processed foods, like sodium nitrate and titanium dioxide (a white food pigment), may be carcinogenic themselves. Ultra-processed foods include:Mass-produced breads and bunsPackaged snacksIndustrially-produced dessertsSodas and sweetened drinksPackaged meatballsPackaged “nuggets” made from poultry or fishMeat products that contain preservatives other than saltInstant noodles or soupsFrozen or shelf-stable instant mealsAccording to the study, ultra-processed foods contribute from one-fourth to one-half of the calories in an average adult diet. The conclusion of the study was that people who consumed 10 percent more than the average person of ultra-processed foods faced a 12 percent higher risk of cancer in general, especially breast cancer. On average, there were 79 cancers per 10,000 people each year, and upping the proportion of processed food by 10 percent would lead to nine extra cancers per 10,000 people per year. “These results suggest that the rapidly increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades,” the research group said. The study indicates a statistical correlation that revealed people who eat elevated amounts of such foods may have other health, behavioral, and lifestyle factors that contribute to elevated risk of cancer. At the other end of the spectrum, the NutriNet-Santé found no significant link between cancer and the consumption of less-processed foods. In fact, the researchers found a lower risk overall of cancer and breast cancer among people largely consuming fresh and minimally processed foods. In the United States, cancer is the second most common cause of death. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that this year alone there will be around 1.7 million newly diagnosed cases of cancer resulting in more than 609,000 deaths. I’m confident you don’t want to be one of them. Will eating a single ultra-processed treat now and then kill you? Not today, but any increase in consumption correlates with increased cancer risk. And the study results should serve as a warning wake-up call to take stock of how much ultra-processed food you may be eating now. For a complete and healthy way of eating, I’ve found that the Nutritarian diet created by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a board-certified family physician with over 25 years’ experience practicing nutritional medicine, works effectively. (I’m not receiving a kickback or compensation for this recommendation). The Nutritarian diet involves the opposite of what Big Agra wants to give you with their ultra-processed foods that have no nutrients. Fuhrman employs the principle of “nutrient density” that allows eating tasty foods that ward off bad health effects like cancer, diabetes and dementia by keeping hormone levels balanced and normal. He recommends more micronutrients and less calories. He puts it this way: “The key to optimizing your health and achieving an ideal body weight is to eat food with a relatively high proportion of nutrients to calories. It is a simple equation: H = N / C. That is, your long-term Health is predicted by your Nutrient intake, per Calorie eaten). Fuhrman recommends our diet be 80 percent vegetables (organic) with only 20 percent meats (preferably free-range and not exposed to GMOs or antibiotics). Natural, colorful plant foods contain the largest assortment of micronutrients, including anti-cancer phytochemicals. |
