Expert Explained: Why Ultra-Processed Foods Are Unhealthy
Ultra-processed food means that it has gone through a lot of processing: grinding, heating, slicing, frying, flavoring. This includes most of the packaged products. For example, chips, pates, french fries, bread, and cookies.
Why ultra-processed foods are unhealthy
Research on this topic shows that industrial food processing changes appetite, weight, hormones and increases the risk of obesity and chronic disease.
Processed foods are so easily absorbed by the body that they almost do not need to be digested. In addition, such products do not saturate, which often leads to overeating and weight gain.
Fardet and his colleagues have found in their studies that deep processing of foods reduces satiety and has an effect on blood sugar levels.
Deep food processing breaks the bonds between food nutrients and creates new ones that the human body is not able to recognize. Thus, the process of digestion and assimilation of nutrients is disturbed.
