By Dr. Linda J. Dobberstein, DC, Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition
Article Highlights:
- Ultra processed foods and drinks are high in white flour, sugar, saturated fat, empty calories, and chemical additives. They have little to no nutritional value.
- Regularly eating ultra processed foods contributes to brain deterioration, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases that plague Americans.
- Kids and the elderly are often at higher risk for a poor diet.
If you find yourself reaching for frozen pizzas, packaged meals, or sweetened cereals, you're not alone. These convenient options, known as ultra-processed foods, are loaded with long lists of ingredients, chemical additives, high fat and sugar, and little to no whole foods. While these foods might save you time, they can take a toll on your and your family’s health. New evidence shows just how damaging these foods can be and the “disease reality” that goes with them.
Epidemics of Poor Health from Ultra-Processed Foods
The amount of ultra-processed food consumed in America in the last twenty years has greatly increased, while the consumption of whole foods has declined. America has numerous health epidemics because of consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages which also greatly impacts the economy.
The mental health crisis, obesity, cancer, heart disease, dementia, degenerative joint disease, autoimmune disease, autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders affect all age groups. These widespread issues are tied to ultra-processed food and beverage consumption.
What are Ultra-Processed Foods?
Foods are classified as 1. Unprocessed and minimally processed whole foods, 2. Processed culinary ingredients, 3. Processed foods, or 4. Ultra-processed foods.
Ultra-processed foods and beverages contain little to no whole foods content. They have low nutrient density with high calories. They are high in saturated fats, trans fatty acids, added sugars, and salt.
Ultra processed foods are poor sources of protein, fiber, and nutrients. They contain additives to make them imitate whole foods, “making them edible, palatable, highly attractive, and habit-forming”. Ultra processed foods have little to no nutritional value.
Some examples of ultra-processed foods include packaged chicken nuggets, frozen meals, French fries, corn chips, potato chips, cookies, hot dogs and buns, instant soups, soft drinks, sports drinks, sweetened breakfast cereals, candies, fruit leather, Pop Tarts, veggie straws, flavored yogurts, packaged breads, etc. (Homemade from scratch or store-bought brands made with whole foods are better choices.) Do you or your kids regularly eat these foods?
Brain Deterioration, Focus, and Learning
Some of the most startling and concerning things about ultra-processed foods are the negative effects on your brain. These foods adversely change the structure and neurology of your body’s most precious organ, your brain.
Ultra-processed foods and beverages are linked to decreased memory and learning capacity. Eating these foods inflame and shrink critical parts of your brain like the hippocampus, amygdala, and other parts of the limbic system affecting mood, motivation, control, satiety, and memory.
The number of synaptic connections between neurons and signaling mechanisms decline as a result of eating this way. The synaptic size and neuroplasticity are decreased making it harder to think, handle stress, perform, work, learn, and function in life. The ability to adapt to change and stress is more difficult.
These foods cause more work and stress on the housekeeping glial cells in your brain because of increased inflammation, making your brain age faster. It increases levels of LPS toxins and stresses white blood cell function making your central nervous system more inflamed. A lack of nutritional reserves further handicaps cellular repair and inflammation management. The more you consume ultra-processed food, the greater the risk, incidence, and severity of these neurodegeneration and mood disorders.
Concussions
Increasing numbers of individuals are experiencing concussions and post-concussion syndrome. A diet of ultra-processed foods impairs your ability to recover from a concussion. Without the nutritional reserves necessary to manage acute, consequential, and underlying inflammation, your brain doesn’t have the energy and resiliency to manage cellular trauma from the concussive event. Recovery is more difficult, delayed, or worse. GMO foods and other toxins further diminish your brain’s resiliency.
Diseases Caused by Ultra-Processed Food
In addition to the deterioration of brain health, ultra-processed foods are linked with these conditions:
• Cancers, overall, breast cancer, colorectal cancer
• Cholesterol/Lipid imbalances
• COPD
• Dementia, cognitive dysfunction, neurodegeneration
• Fatty Liver (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD)
• Increased intestinal permeability/ Leaky Gut Syndrome
• Inflammation, chronic, low-grade
• Kidney, Chronic Kidney Disease
• Mitochondrial damage, acquired
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Obesity
• Osteoarthritis/Degenerative Joint Disease
• PCOS/Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Stroke
• Other
Ultra-processed foods expose you to greater amounts of artificial sweeteners, additives, fillers, emulsifiers, gums, bisphenols, phthalates, acrylamide, and other chemicals. These compounds are endocrine disruptors, obesogenic, and cause chronic low-grade inflammation. They disrupt your metabolism, fertility, and reproductive health for you and future generations.
These disorders and the epidemics our country faces are directly impacted by your daily dietary choices. Every aspect of your health is affected. Even if that food or beverage tastes ever so good for a moment, the long-term effects are not worth it. It’s an addictive, damaging resource made by big for-profit businesses at your expense. The result is disease, poor health, addiction to the product, and more expensive disease care from foods that doesn’t nourish your body.
Reflect and Observe
How are you doing today? Are you facing multiple degenerative changes faster than your parents? Do you or your child have chronic depression that doesn’t respond to treatment? Have sleepless nights? Are you addicted to a certain processed food or beverage and unwilling to give it up? Are you struggling with extra weight and tempted to try a popular GLP-1 weight-loss drug out of desperation? Our country’s health has changed dramatically in just a few decades which parallels the quality of food choices and toxin load.
Risk Increased
The more ultra-processed foods you consume daily, the greater the odds and decline of your overall health. Additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, added sugars, GMO foods, pesticides, herbicides, medications, and other toxins further stress your body and increase nutritional needs. Furthermore, doctor’s visits, medications, surgeries, and other treatments will become the new norm for your life if you don’t change.
Take Steps to Reduce Ultra Processed Foods
1. Prioritize Whole Foods: Aim to fill 80-90% of your diet with whole, minimally processed foods. This means choosing fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains over packaged and processed options. Teach and encourage your kids and elderly family members the importance of making these healthier choices.
2. Start Your Day Right: Begin with a high-protein breakfast and stick to three balanced meals a day. Avoid snacking between meals or eating after dinner. Following The Leptin Diet can help curb cravings for ultra-processed foods.
3. Stock Up on Healthy Choices: Fill your fridge with a variety of whole foods and get rid of the junk food. When healthy options are readily available, you’re less likely to reach for ultra-processed alternatives.
4. Incorporate Exercise and Sleep: Regular physical activity, quality sleep, and healthy relationships are key components of a balanced life. These factors can also reduce your reliance on ultra-processed foods, as they help regulate hunger and stress levels.
5. Choose Supplements Wisely: Supplement quality matters! Avoid ultra-processed options like gummies, energy drinks, and mass-produced protein drinks that are loaded with sugars or sugar substitutes. They add little nutritional benefit compared to high quality nutritional supplements.
Your daily dietary choices have a direct impact on your health and longevity. Think of it like fueling your car—if you use bad gasoline, the engine can misfire or even get damaged. Would you deliberately keep using bad fuel? Now, think about how your food choices are affecting the "vehicle" that is your body. Don’t you want to fuel your body with nutrient-dense foods that improve your health and well-being?
