The Many Health Risks of Processed Foods

What are the many healthy risks of processed foods ?

The many health risks of processed foods ? We often touch on the topic of the type of food and why, although we are not in favor of labels ‘useful / harmful’ food, in the end it is good to limit some products if we want to feel good and take care of our health. We do not say that they are not present, because if a person sometimes feels the need to add them, it is not fatal, but let them not be at the core of the menu. Today we will continue the conversation about processed foods, looking at an interesting study.

Who is this article for?

• For those who still think that as long as they are calorie deficient, it does not matter what kind of food they eat. The important thing is that eventually the arrow on the scale will point to the left;
• For people whose diet is dominated by processed foods – those that are deprived of valuable nutrients or the latter are greatly reduced due to various processes and processing to reach the final product;
• And for those who are still enslaved to the belief that eating more nutritious foods means not tasting them.

What do we know at the moment?

We have defined what processed foods are and what the negative consequences are if they are overused. We learned why it is important to read the labels and why it is better to buy whole meat and grind it in front of us than to reach for the finished minced meat. The first takes more time, but not so much to be a factor.

We have clarified that the principle of energy balance is not a myth – depending on the equation between calories consumed and expended, you can gain, lose or maintain weight. But a number of processes also take place in the body, many of which cannot be calculated by calorie tables and formulas, and as a result, calories are not always just calories. Calorie counting makes sense and can help some people, but let it not be a last resort, because it is often inaccurate and should rather be a guide.

If you just want to lose weight, only interested in the number, it does not matter what foods you eat, as long as you are calorie deficient. But if you want to be healthy and feel good in your body without losing a very active weight, then things are different. We also looked in detail at the thermal effect of food – a parameter that shows how much of the energy / caloric content of a food is needed for its intake and absorption.

To digest food, we need energy – calories for chewing, ingestion, breakdown in the stomach, for enzymes and in general for all the processes we have considered in terms of the digestive system. On average, a person needs about 10% of daily calories burned to digest and absorb food, and it is important to mention that this percentage varies depending on the type of food (see TEF article again). However, TEF depends not only on the type of macronutrients, but also on the extent to which the food intake is processed.

Research

We will consider a study by Sadie B. Barr and Jonathan C. Wright from 2010 (Postprandial energy expenditure in whole-food and processed food meals: implications for daily energy expenditure). This is a consequence of empirical evidence looking at the link between increased obesity and increased consumption of processed foods. Although this observation is related to the US population, the findings will be useful to all. More similar studies are needed, but let’s see why the thermogenic response as a result of eating whole or processed foods can be a key factor in the trend of obesity,

Think about that

The percentage of obese older Americans has more than doubled in the last 30 years, from 15 to 32 percent. More than 2/3 of the population is either overweight or obese, an increase of more than 40% compared to 1980 . Of course, the main reason for this is the increased caloric intake, but this has to do with the increased consumption of processed foods and insufficient intake of whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc.

Most studies related to the thermal effect of food (TEF), also known as DIT (Diet-Induced Thermogenesis), track the caloric consumption of foods that differ in their content of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins or fats). However, there are not many studies that compare the same / similar foods, but different in the way they are processed. It is suggested that more processed foods have more metabolic deficiencies than whole / less processed foods.

Participants

The participants in the study were 18, 15 of them students aged 18-22 years and three adults between 47-56 years, all without food allergies, eating disorders or regular use of medication (except contraceptives). Their weight was normal compared to BMI. One of them was excluded from the final analysis because he fell ill during the experiment, so the final number of participants was 17 (7 women and 10 men).

Food

The selection of food for this study is not optimal in relation to the clarifications we made at the beginning for processed and unprocessed food, as they use sandwiches and although one option is better than the other, it still belongs to the group of processed foods. On the other hand, it is difficult to mislead people and for the purposes of the study the choice is probably good. On the one hand we have a wholemeal bread sandwich with whole grains and sunflower seeds and real cheddar cheese (“unprocessed / whole food”), and on the other – a white bread sandwich and a processed dairy product resembling cheese (“processed food”).

Comparison between the two types of sandwiches at the same caloric value of 600 kcal.

Whole / unprocessed food

Processed food

1 ½ sandwich

1 ½ sandwich

Calories (kcal)

Comparison between the two types of sandwiches with the same caloric value of 800 kcal

Whole / unprocessed food

Processed food

2 sandwiches

2 sandwiches

Calories (kcal)

Protocol for conducting the study After a 12-hour period without food (at night), participants were measured BMR (energy expenditure at rest). They were then randomly given either a processed sandwich or one of the most unprocessed products. Women were given a portion of 600 calories, and men – a portion of 800 calories. BMR was then measured every hour for 6 hours after consuming the sandwich.

After 2-6 days later, the participants returned to the laboratory and repeated the same process, but this time with the other type of sandwich.

Results

Many people think that foods with more nutrients are less tasty, but the results of the study show that whole meal bread sandwiches are rated as more palatable. There are no significant differences in the degree of saturation of the two types of sandwiches and this is observed both for the entire period of the study and at individual times.

However, the difference between the thermal effect is large – the digestion of the “unprocessed” sandwich consumes ~ 86% more energy (almost twice as much) as the processed one. The main factors for this are the content of protein and fiber – the “unprocessed” sandwich has a higher content of both components, the processing of which requires more energy.

Disadvantages of the study

Achieving the same caloric value between the two types of sandwiches is reflected in the small differences between the nutritional content. Protein is a macronutrient that has the highest thermal effect (20-30%), followed by carbohydrates (5-10%) and fats (0-3%). With this in mind, the main drawback of the study may be that the ‘unprocessed’ sandwich contains 5% more protein than the ‘processed’. On the other hand, this percentage is significantly lower compared to the difference between the total thermal effect of the two sandwiches.

Conclusions

Processed food requires less energy for digestion and absorption than unprocessed. If you want to lose weight and at the same time you are interested in your health and body composition, it is good that unprocessed food occupies a larger part of the menu. In addition to important macronutrients from good sources, it also carries valuable micronutrients that are absent in processed products. In addition, more unprocessed foods saturate better and we can afford larger portions, more skillfully controlling calorie intake.

What to choose in the store

If you are convinced that it is worth preferring unprocessed food, but you do not know how to find your way in the store, here are some practical tips:

• choose products whose label has fewer ingredients;
• choose products whose ingredients are well known to you;
• focus on foods that have reached you with fewer processing steps (avoid canned foods, ready-made sauces, etc.);
• buy whole fruits instead of ready-made juice;
• make your soups with whole vegetables instead of dry vegetable mixes;
• for similar products, choose one that has more dietary fiber and protein content and less sugar and fat.

Sources used

1 :https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Postprandial energy expenditure in whole-food and processed-food meals: implications for daily energy expenditure., Barr SB1, Wright JC.

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