The Case Against Ultra-Processed Food

The following paper was originally written in January. It was submitted as a final paper in a class I was taking at the time (I got an “A”). In light of a recent study conducted by the USDA in which a diet consisting entirely of ultra-processed foods was constructed and deemed “healthy” under the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, I thought we needed to revisit the topic. Read about the study on the USDA’s website here: https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/scientists-build-a-healthy-dietary-pattern-using-ultra-processed-foods/ This is an absolute travesty. Nutrient density of food matters. Not just getting some food-like substance in your mouth (or your children’s mouths) to satisfy a guideline. Too bad the agency in charge of directing and advising us doesn’t understand that. Frankenfood (ultra-processed food created by people, not nature) is not food, and it is making us sick. Here is my paper on the subject:

The Case Against Ultra-Processed Food

If we were to look back at pictures of people on beaches in the 1960s, it is hard not to notice that everyone is thin and fit. This physique is such a striking contrast to what we see today that we must ask: What happened? We fell in love with ultra-processed food, and our influencers continue encouraging this toxic relationship. In a recent report, it was revealed that The Nutrition and Dietetics Association (NDA), the ruling body in control of educating and licensing dietitians across the United States, has been pocketing funds from big food giants and owns shares in companies that produce ultra-processed food (Carriedo, 2022). This means dietitians, the very people who should know what good nutrition means and be teaching it to others, are being influenced by entities interested in getting people hooked on junk food. Ultra-processed foods are ubiquitous in today’s American diet. Indeed, half of the calories consumed in the United States are ultra-processed (Monteiro et al., 2022). Ultra-processed foods are addicting, high in carbohydrates and fat but low in nutrients, and contain potentially harmful ingredients, all of which contribute to obesity and metabolic disease; therefore, people should avoid ultra-processed foods in their diets.

           The term “ultra-processed food” is defined as a food-like substance created with ingredients “never or rarely used in kitchens or classes of additives designed to make the final product palatable or more appealing (Monteiro et al., 2022, Abstract).” Ultra-processed foods differ from minimally processed foods in that minimally processed foods consist of food ingredients found in nature that may have been modified to decrease preparation time. In contrast, ultra-processed foods are created by adding sugar, fat, salt, and at least one ingredient produced in an industrial plant or laboratory (Monteiro et al., 2022). 

Industrial food processing began in the 1910s with the advent of Crisco, made by adding a hydrogen atom to cottonseed oil, turning the liquid oil into a solid (Payne-Palacio & Theis, 2016) (Forristal, 2009). In a brilliant show of marketing to homemakers who previously cooked with lard and butter directly from the farm, by the 1960s, Crisco installed itself in homes across the nation, masquerading as a healthy alternative to animal-based fat. Unfortunately, hydrogenated oils, like those in Crisco and margarine, contain trans fatty acids, which, unbeknownst to those discerning housewives, can lead to diseases such as heart disease and cancer (Forristal, 2009). After World War II, when many women went to work, interest in convenience foods skyrocketed. Advertising shifted from healthful and wholesome to quick and easy. Soon, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease were rising sharply, and scientists were working hard to discover why (Engel, 2018).

           Ultra-processed foods are engineered to be hyper-palatable and frequently downright addicting. In order to make food hard to resist, manufacturers need only to add the right amount of sugar, salt, and fat, or they can add things like monosodium glutamate (MSG) that have an umami flavor profile (Schatzker, 2015). Food scientists spend hours in the lab, and food manufacturers spend billions of dollars on developing the right flavor profile to keep their customers coming back for more. Hyper-palatable foods are easy to overeat by design. In addition to the irresistible flavors and additives, the type of fats used in ultra-processed foods were found to increase endocannabinoid levels (Alvheim et al., 2016), making foods made with processed fats literally addictive. Overeating alone could lead to obesity, but these foods also tend to be high in refined carbohydrates, hydrogenated fats, and calories and low in nutrients. 

           Another way ultra-processed foods make us fat and sick is with highly refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates are no different than sugar at a molecular level (DiNicolantonio et al., 2018). Ultra-processed food almost always contains highly refined carbohydrates, meaning the carbohydrate source is mainly starch and lacks fiber. Since fiber slows down starch digestion, the body has more time to deal with the resulting glycemic response (Edwards, 2015). Thus, refined grain products in ultra-processed food cause a higher glycemic response than whole grain products. This matters because foods with a higher glycemic index contribute to weight gain, especially around the abdominal area, due to an increased insulin response. Insulin is the hormone that drives sugar into the cells to be used for energy, but it also signals fat storage, especially around the middle, and prevents fat stores from being used for energy (Fung, 2016). Foods labeled “heart healthy” or “fat free” often contain added sugar to compensate for the flavor lost when removing fat. Remember, ultra-processed foods engineered to be hyper-palatable need only to contain fat, sugar, salt, or a combination of the three (Schatzker, 2015). In other words, it is not fat making us fat. It is the refined carbohydrates in soda, fruit juice, hamburger buns, crackers, pasta, and cereal.

           Ultra-processed foods contain highly processed seed oils which are pro-inflammatory and thus contribute to obesity and metabolic disease. It should come as no surprise that the type of fat we eat matters when considering the causes of obesity. What may be surprising is that saturated fat is not necessarily public enemy number one. Animal fat, in its whole form, is unprocessed or minimally processed and has been used copiously in the human diet for thousands of years without making people fat. The obesity epidemic as we know it was in its infancy in the 1960s when the major shift from animal fats like lard and butter was replaced with processed fats like hydrogenated oils and margarine. Therefore, industrially processed polyunsaturated seed oils are the problem, not saturated animal fat. Polyunsaturated fats like seed oils are highly volatile, meaning the molecules can break apart and cause inflammation, promoting an environment supporting weight gain, cancer, heart disease, and other metabolic diseases (Shanahan, 2016). Heating unstable oils increases the rate at which they break apart. Reheating them repeatedly, such as in a fryer at a fast-food restaurant, ensures that many molecules break apart. Oil in a fryer vat that has not been changed in a few days has degraded to the point of rancidity, tastes terrible, and is dangerous. Additionally, linoleic acid, one type of polyunsaturated fat, has been found to “increase feed efficiency in animals (Alvheim et al., 2014, Abstract).” In other words, it takes less food containing polyunsaturated fats to increase the weight of an animal. These factors should be convincing evidence that the fat in ultra-processed food increases the risk of developing obesity and metabolic disease.

           Ultra-processed foods also contain artificial ingredients, which increase palatability by altering taste, texture, appearance, or shelf-life. For example, MSG may be added to a product to increase the umami flavor (Schatzker, 2015). Artificial sugars may be added so an item can say “zero sugar” on the label. Polyunsaturated oils are often added so a label can say “low fat.” Emulsifiers, gums, hydrolyzed proteins, anti-foaming or foaming agents, and colors can have various effects on the body, some of which are unknown. Moreover, new additives are constantly being created. Many of them are not properly tested before reaching the market. Remember the fat substitute Olestra and the anal leakage it caused? Most notably, artificial food additives negatively affect the gut microbiome leading to inflammation, weight gain, and chronic disease (Zinöcker & Lindseth, 2018). The bacteria in our lower intestine, our gut microbiome, have wide-reaching effects on health, producing hormones, regulating mood, and even determining what foods we crave and how much we eat. Altering their population or the metabolites they produce may have far-reaching effects beyond contributing to obesity.

           Another reason ultra-processed foods are easy to overconsume and thus contribute to weight gain may not be the taste of the food but the lack of nutrients. According to the Protein Leverage Hypothesis, people overeat fats and carbohydrates because of the body’s strong appetite for protein, which the body actively favors over everything else (Grech et al., 2022). We will be hungry until we eat enough to satisfy a protein target. If people consume more highly processed and refined foods, which tend to be high in calories and low in protein, they increase their risk of obesity. To put a nail in the coffin, in a randomized controlled trial published in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers found that patients allowed food ad libitum ate 500 calories more per day if the food was ultra-processed than if it were whole, natural foods (Hall et al., 2019). Thus, ultra-processed food contributes to obesity by causing people to overeat.

           A counterargument to the idea that ultra-processed foods cause obesity on their own comes from a study conducted in Brazil. A diet lower in calories, carbohydrates, and fat will lead to weight loss even if a person consumes ultra-processed food. While this study did find that minimally processed diets consistent with traditional cultural foods were inversely related to weight gain, it was noted that the subjects also ate some ultra-processed food during the trial period and still maintained or lost weight. Because some ultra-processed food was consumed, the authors note, “The consumption of ultra-processed foods was not associated with excess weight and cardiovascular risk markers” (De Melo et al., 2017, Discussion).” The subjects studied were adolescents from a rural city. The foods considered ultra-processed in this study were white bread, soft drinks, confectionary treats, yogurt with sugar added, and sausage. Only those who ate the most sausage were found to have gained the most weight. We need to know what was in the sausage, but we assume that it contained fat, sugar, and salt, which have been noted above to be highly palatable and conducive to weight gain. Sausage is also high in calories, giving weight to the counterargument that a lower calorie, lower fat, or lower carbohydrate diet will work in the short term, even if one consumes ultra-processed food.

           It would be irresponsible to point out such a tremendous problem without offering a solution. Consuming minimally processed food prepared at home from ingredients recognizable to a person from the 1800s will be protective against excessive weight gain and diseases of modern society. Whole foods have their nutrients intact. Fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients shown to prevent disease (Shanahan, 2016). Animal-based protein has a complete amino acid profile and is balanced with unprocessed fat, leading to satiety (DiNicolantonio & Land, 2022). Unprocessed foods found in nature are consistent with how our bodies have evolved over millennia (Nabhan, 2013). Even foods higher in “bad” components, like saturated fat or salt, are conducive to lower weight and better health since whole foods are nearly impossible to overconsume (DiNicolantonio & Land, 2022). So a person can eat as much as they want and still weigh less.

           Indeed, we would do better to listen to our great-grandmothers than the NDA if we want to look more like the people on those 1960s beaches. If we did eat like Granny, we would not be addicted to hyper-palatable, ultra-processed foods high in refined carbohydrates, processed fats, and artificial ingredients and low in nutrients. We would be less likely to develop obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Our favorite Sunday dinner would be roast beef with stewed vegetables and homemade pie instead of takeaway pizza, chicken wings, and soda. While both meals may have similar calories, the roast beef meal is loaded with fiber, natural fat, all-natural ingredients, and nutrients as opposed to the pizza meal, which is full of refined carbohydrates, processed fats, artificial additives, and devoid of nutrients. The roast and vegetables are filling, requiring little effort to eat healthy portions. The pizza begs the eater to eat more. Given the evidence, which meal would better suit that 1960s beach body?

Read more about this subject without going to PubMed:

DiNicolantonio, J. & Land, S. (2022). The Obesity Fix: How to beat food cravings, lose weight and gain energy. Independently published, Monee, IL.

Schatzker, M. (2015). The Dorito effect: The surprising new truth about food and flavor. Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

Shanahan, C. (2016). Deep Nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food. Flatiron Books, New York, NY.

If you like PubMed, here are some interesting studies NOT referenced in this post

de Araújo, T. P., de Moraes, M. M., Magalhães, V., Afonso, C., Santos, C., & Rodrigues, S. S. P. (2021). Ultra-Processed Food Availability and Noncommunicable Diseases: A Systematic Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(14), 7382. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147382

Lane, M. M., Gamage, E., Travica, N., Dissanayaka, T., Ashtree, D. N., Gauci, S., Lotfaliany, M., O’Neil, A., Jacka, F. N., & Marx, W. (2022). Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Nutrients, 14(13), 2568. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14132568

Poti, J. M., Braga, B., & Qin, B. (2017). Ultra-processed Food Intake and Obesity: What Really Matters for Health-Processing or Nutrient Content?. Current obesity reports, 6(4), 420–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-017-0285-4

Here are the actual References cited in this post

Alvheim, A.R., Torstensen, B. E., Lin, Y. H., Lillefosse, H. H., Lock, E. J., Madsen, L., Froyland, L., Hibbbeln, J. T., & Made, M. K. (2014). Dietary linoleic acid elevates the endocannabinoids 2-AG and anandamide and promotes weight gain in mice fed a low fat diet. Lipids 49(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-013-3842-y

Carriedo, A., Pinsky, I., Crosbie, E., Ruskin, G., & Mialon, M. (2022). The corporate capture of the nutrition profession in the USA: The case of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Public Health Nutrition, 25(12), 3568-3582. doi:10.1017/S1368980022001835

De Melo, I.S.V.; Costa, C.A.C.B.; Santos, J.V.L.D.; Santos, A.F.D.; de Florêncio, T.M.; Bueno, N.B. (2017). Consumption of minimally processed food is inversely associated with excess weight in adolescents living in an underdeveloped city. PLoS ONE (12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188401

DiNicolantonio, J. J. Mehta, V., Onkaramurthy, N., & O’Keefe, J. H. (2018). Fructose-induced inflammation and increased cortisol: A new mechanism for how sugar induces visceral adiposity. Progress in Cardiovascular diseases, 61(1), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2017.12.001

DiNicolantonio, J. & Land, S. (2022). The Obesity Fix: How to beat food cravings, lose weight and gain energy. Independently published, Monee, IL.

Edwards, C. H., Grundy M. M.,Grassby, T., Vasilopoulou, D., Frost, G. S., Gary S., Butterworth, P. J., Berry S. E., Sanderson, J., Ellis, P. R. (2015, October). Manipulation of starch bioaccessibility in wheat endosperm to regulate starch digestion, postprandial glycemia, insulinemia, and gut hormone responses: a randomized controlled trial in health ileostomy participants. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 102(4), Pages 791–800, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.106203

Engel, J. (2018). Fat nation: A history of obesity in America. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Forristal, L. J. (2009, February 23). The rise and fall of Crisco. The Weston A. Price Foundation.   https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/modern-foods/the-rise-and-fall-of-     crisco/#gsc.tab=0

Fung, J. (2016). The obesity code: Unlocking the secrets of weight loss. Greystone Books, British Colombia, Canada.

Grech, A., Sui, Z., Rangan, A., Simpson, S. J., Coogan, S. C. P., & Raubenheimer, D. (2022, 2 November). Macronutrient (im)balance drives energy intake in an obesogenic food environment: An ecological analysis, Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23578

Hall, K. D., Ayuketah, A., Brychta, R., Can, H., Cassimatis, T., Chen, K.Y., Chung, S. T., Costa, E., Courville, A., Darcey, V., Fletcher, L.A., Forde, C. G., Gharib, A. M., Guo J., Howard, R., Joseph, P. V., McGehee, S., Ouwerkerk, R., Raising, K., Rozga, I., Zhou, M.(2019). Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: An inpatient randomized controlled trial of ad libitum food intake. Cell Metabolism 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008

Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J. C., Louzada, M. L., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C.(2019). Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public health nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003762

Nabhan, G. P. (2013). Food, genes, and culture: Eating right for your origins. Island Press, Washington. Payne-Palacio, J. & Theis, M. (2016). Foodservice management: Principles and practices (13th edition). Pearson Learning Solutions. https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/books/9781323584897

Schatzker, M. (2015). The Dorito effect: The surprising new truth about food and flavor. Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

Shanahan, C. (2016). Deep Nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food. Flatiron Books, New York, NY.

Zinöcker, M. K., & Lindseth, I. A. (2018). The Western Diet-Microbiome-Host Interaction and Its Role in Metabolic Disease. Nutrients, 10(3), 365. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10030365