Ultra-processed foods and cardio-metabolic health
We are doing terribly. Ultra-processed foods make up 58% of the average American’s diet.
With RFK as our new head of Health and Human Services, this is going to be a popular topic. Why do Americans eat so much ultra-processed foods?
Americans are not lazy, dumb or unconcerned with their health, at least not in comparison to other countries. Americans do spend a lot of time on social media, have a corporate media who is always telling us that we have to do better on some issue, and government agencies that don’t necessarily have our best interests in mind.
What are ultra-processed foods? The Nova scale establishes the level of processing. If you don’t have time for definitions, the concept is that unprocessed foods are naturally occurring foods that can be eaten without adding anything else. Ultra-processed foods are engineered from a bunch of ingredients that aren’t usually eaten individually.
If you are too lazy or dumb to read words, here is a graphical representation.
On the left, is raw, unprocessed honey gathered by my own bees who have never encountered pesticides.
On the right, is a product called “Soylent”. This product is engineered to contain every nutrient and micro-nutrient a person needs. It is a meal replacement, and can be a person’s only food indefinitely with no ill effects.
Here is the list of ingredients: Filtered Water, Soy Protein Isolate, Maltodextrin, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Allulose, Canola Oil, Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Soluble Corn Fiber, Soy Lecithin, Cellulose, Salt, Gellan Gum, Sucralose, Magnesium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Ascorbic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Ferrous Bisglycinate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Potassium Iodide, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Vitamin K1 Sodium Selenite, Sodium Molybdate, Biotin, Ergocalciferol, and Cyanocobalamin
My honey is delicious straight from the bottle and can be added to almost any other food with good effect. Barbecued ribs, tea, whiskey or biscuits all get better.
Soylent doesn’t go with anything. Original Soylent is the only variety that I’ve tried. It tastes like cereal milk, but a little thicker, like the milk left after the Cap’n Crunch is gone. I got used to it, but some friends found it appalling.
Soylent is as ultra-processed as a food can get. Water is the only ingredient that would be consumed individually. Salt and cocoa powder are the only other visually recognizable ingredients. I might recognize zinc oxide if a lifeguard were applying it as sunscreen.
The Nova scale and the detrimental health effects from ultra-processed foods are bullshit. Soylent is more nutritious than honey, so a person would be healthier subsisting on Soylent, then on honey.
About ultra-processed foods, the BMJ article says:
These foods are generally convenient, affordable, highly palatable, and often intensively advertised.
In that sentence, “generally” is doing a lot of work. There are endless examples that contradict that statement. Fruits are more convenient, affordable and palatable than Soylent, and neither are advertised much.
Ultra-processed foods will be a fad for a while, and some kind of rating will probably be added to nutritional labels on food packaging. It won’t make any difference, but the ineffective rating will be a burden for food producers make everything cost a tiny bit more.
Corporate media and governmental nutritional information is relentless, contradictory and unreliable. Many people think that margarine is a healthy alternative to butter. Margarine is an ultra-processed, Nova level 4 food. Butter is a culinary processed, Nova level 2 food. The Nova scale has some value, but is too vague to be rigidly applied.
Cooking is cheap, easy and a creative activity. Do that. There is value in eating food made from ingredients you understand. A hunk of meat is better than lunch meat. Buy a chuck roast for $5 per pound, and learn how to cook it, rather than beef lunch meat for $12 per pound.
An Egg McMuffin is not a guilty pleasure, it’s gross. Have some self-respect. If mornings are hectic, grab a hard boiled egg. It’s faster and cheaper. An egg usually costs less than 25 cents. If that takes too long, pickle some eggs. They are tasty and take no time to eat.
I don’t even know why they make instant rice. Rice is easy to cook, is more nutritious, tastes better and can be frozen. Basmati rice costs $25 for a 20 pound bag. That much Uncle Ben’s instant Basmati costs $94.
The government isn’t going to tell you that because Uncle Ben and Ronald McDonald would be pounding on the door to complain, instead of dropping off bags of cash.
Get a vacuum sealer and get in the kitchen. Don’t complain about not having time. For the half-hour it takes to boil the water and cook the rice, you can browse social media on your phone.