For a recent TV project I tasted 40 different, highly-processed foods in a day. At the start, it felt fun and exciting – a day off from my usual brain-healthy diet – but by the end I felt dehydrated, somewhat nauseous and very bloated. My mouth was coated in salt and a taste I can’t quite explain, but I suspect it came from the variety of ultra-processed oils and emulsifiers I’d consumed.
What are UPFs?
I don’t know how I would have felt after a week, or month, or lifetime of eating that kind of food but I’m not intending to find out. We know that ultra-processed foods are no friend to longevity. A recent joint statement by the World Health Organisation and the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the UN outlined key elements of healthy diets. The statement emphasises the importance of whole foods: particularly fruit and vegetables, unsaturated fats, complex (ie fibre-rich) carbohydrates and protein from sources other than red meat.
My particular interest in this instance is the advice against ultra-processed foods – defined in the statement as having ‘undergone processing that alters the structure of the original food ingredients’. The statement points out that they tend to be high in salt (linked to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease) and sugar (linked to metabolic disorders). But that ‘evidence suggests that the association with negative health effects go beyond their fat, salt and sugar content.’
Biological ageing
So what else causes the negative health effects? An Italian study published a couple of weeks ago linked UPFs intake with accelerated biological ageing – exactly what we’re trying to avoid here at the Age-Well Project! A diet with more than 14% of total calories from UPFs was associated with faster biological ageing – that’s a pretty small percentage making a big impact on health. What’s interesting about this study is that the link is only partly explained by the low nutritional value of UPFs. The study authors suggested there may be other, non-nutrient factors at play here. These may include:
- The way in which foods are broken down into isolated nutrients, disrupting their natural structure which in turn disrupts gut microbiota and blood glucose.
- Harmful substances formed during processing, particularly at high heat, like advanced glycation end products, which increase oxidation and inflammation.
- Long-term contact with unhealthy packaging materials, which can contain hormone disruptors, which in turn also promote inflammation.
The cost? £268bn a year
There are lots of new studies looking at this, and approaching it from a variety of ways. Research published this summer in the highly-respected journal, Nature, looked specifically at common dietary emulsifiers (the additives which give UPFs that creamy ‘mouth feel’), linking them to disrupted blood sugar regulation and dysfunctional gut microbiota.
I know some of these phrases, like ‘blood sugar regulation’ and ‘dysfunctional gut microbiota’ can feel a little abstract. But the reality is that they have a hugely detrimental impact on our lives. It’s been estimated that here in the UK our passion for UPFs (as a nation, more than half of calories consumed come from them) is costing £268bn a year, in health care, social care welfare and lost productivity. To put that in perspective, it’s more than the entire annual NHS budget.
These foods can be convenient, and easy and, often, cheap. I know that. But every time we opt for fresh, unprocessed foods, we’re doing our health, and longevity, a favour.
A few quicker-than-the-microwave recipes from the archive
Our recipe archive has plenty of recipes that are quicker than a microwave ready meal. In the run-up to Christmas, I’ve included a few of the nibbly, dippable kinds of dishes that we’re often looking for at this time of year.
Side note – Annabel and I went out for dinner last week to celebrate (very belatedly) our birthdays. We mused about how we managed to test, write and photograph recipes every week….. Now our lives are more fluid, our nests almost empty, it seems impossible! There’s a recipe tab on our home page: you can search by ingredient or meal type.
Moroccan spinach and chickpeas
Susan
Photo: Scott Webb for Unsplash
This is all so interesting. I try, and have always tried, to cook from scratch all my life. Having had the luxury of not having to work full time when I was bringing up
my children I hope they have benefitted from this. Not however my grandchildren – with two full time working parents they often have processed food. It bothers me but what to do! Also many friends and relatives cite allergies and insist on such things as GF breads etc. processed “non milk” and all the other things that contain a list of ingredients as long as your arm. My husband who has learned about bread making says that the Chorley Wood method of making bread which many of us eat causes untold harm to the gut. The food industry has a lot to answer for. Yes it’s all cheap but at what cost to the nation. I can’t see an answer. A vast swathe of our population do not have the money to eat properly.
Thanks so much for your comment, Liza. I can’t see an answer either, which is why it was such an interesting post to write. For Annabel and I, part of our ethos, both while raising our families and with the Age-Well Project, has been to keep things simple. But, like you, we realise it’s a privilege to be able to buy and cook fresh food. And it really shouldn’t be.
Please can I beg you not to advocate eating salmon. The intensive farming of salmon is environmentally horrific. The fish are covered in sores and clearly unhealthy. The “wild” salmon living near by are suffering too and stocks are disappearing fast. Do check it out.
I’m with you on this, Rosalind. Tinned sardines (or fresh if available) are great for Omega 3s, and very occasional wild salmon as a treat. SAlmon was a ‘special treat’ and expensive when I was growing up – and that’s how it should be (in my view). What a mess we’re making of our wonderful planet… argh!