There are a ton of food rules to help us eat ‘healthier’ and ‘less processed’ foods: shop the perimeter of the grocery store, don’t eat anything in a box, choose foods whose ingredients you can pronounce, foods with more than 5 ingredients shouldn’t be eaten…but are these ‘rules’ even helpful? When it comes to minimally processed versus processed versus ultra processed, how do we determine which foods are which, and which of them we should be eating?
What are Processed Foods?
A lot of the questions I get about processed foods are around what that term means. It’s thrown around a lot and is usually associated with something negative, so to mitigate any more confusion, let’s go ahead and define it.
NOVA is a food classification system developed in Brazil and used in the US, Canada, and many other countries around the world. It’s ‘recognized as a valid tool for nutrition and public health research, policy and action.’
The NOVA definition of levels of food processing are as follows:
Minimally processed foods are defined as “unprocessed foods altered in ways that do not add or introduce any new substance (such as fats, sugars, or salt) but often involve removal of parts of the food.” These include milk, frozen vegetables and fruits,
Processed foods are defined as “foods made by adding fats, oils, sugars, salt, and other culinary ingredients to minimally processed foods to make them more durable and usually more palatable, and by various methods of preservation.”
Ultra processed foods are defined as “not modified foods but formulations of industrial ingredients and other substances derived from foods, plus additives. They mostly contain little if any intact food. The purpose of ultra-processing is to create products that are convenient (durable, ready-to-eat, -drink or -heat), attractive (hyper- palatable), and profitable (cheap ingredients). Their effect all over the world is to displace all other food groups. They are usually branded assertively, packaged attractively, and marketed intensively.”
That sounds about right.
So, this:
Whole fruit? Unprocessed.
Hummus? Processed.
Pasteurized milk? Minimally processed.
Velveeta? Ultra processed.
Is Something Wrong with Processed Foods?
The most recent study done on ultra processed versus minimally processed foods was just released this month. In it, 20 people were kept in a lab for 28 days and fed 14 days each of controlled UP and a MP diets. Researchers found that while on the UP diet, participants each ate around 500 calories more per day, and gained around 2 pounds as a result. Although the study was small (try getting people to live in a lab for a month) and short (again, living in a lab), it still further confirms what we suspect to be true: diets consisting entirely of ultra processed foods are associated with weight gain to a greater extent than their minimally processed counterparts. Outside of this study, ultra processed diets are also thought to negatively affect our microbiome and increase risk of chronic disease .
Diets that are heavily dependent on ultra processed foods usually lack of fiber, meaning that gut bacteria don’t get the nourishment they need to keep us healthy (remember, 80% of our immune system is in our gut, and fiber is what good gut bacteria eat).
Highly processed diets also contain overwhelming amount of omega 6 fatty acids and too few omega 3s, which can lead to inflammation.
While minimally processed and unprocessed foods may be superior health-wise to ultra processed foods, most people have a mix of these food types in their diets, and that’s a good thing.
Nobody is going to die from eating a frozen pizza, yet we’re conditioned now to believe that any food that’s processed or ultra processed is embarrassingly wrong to consume. That it’s ‘bad’ and ‘unclean’. I’m willing to bet though that most people who make those proclamations have a secret stash of frozen chicken nuggets and Chips Ahoy…because it’s almost impossible to never eat processed food. And FYI: it’s also really obnoxious to pretend that you don’t, and it doesn’t make you a better person. You are NOT your diet.
What Should Your Diet Be Like?
Choosing only minimally processed foods isn’t realistic for most people. For every ‘nutrition guru’ out there saying that processed food is ‘toxic’, there are thousands of people who can’t afford the cost, time, and effort of buying and making a completely unprocessed diet. There are probably just as many people who just don’t want to eat a gross coconut-cream covered watermelon cake on their birthday instead of the real thing, and those of us who like the taste of store-bought hummus and crackers, thankyouverymuch. All of you know of my love for Oreos…never in a million years would I ever give those up. Double Stuff, please.
Anyone’s diet can be nourishing and still include processed and ultra processed food. Period.
As for those ‘rules’ I mentioned above, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store means you’ll miss things like beans, peanut butter, canned tuna, and Oreos. This is an antiquated concept that needs to go away now. Also: my store keeps ice cream in the outer aisle.
‘Don’t eat anything in a box’ or ‘don’t eat food with more than 5 ingredients’ (what, like bread or cheese?) is completely ridiculous and unrealistic unless you’re a pioneer living on the homestead. Hey Pa! Where’s Half-Pint?
Being able to pronounce all of the ingredients in food isn’t a measure of anything: many nourishing foods have unpronounceable words listed in the ingredients. Who can say thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and d-calcium pantothenate, all of which are simply vitamins?
How Should I Eat?
Is it ‘healthier’ to eat more unprocessed and minimally processed foods than ultra processed ones? Sure. That’s what I’ve been recommending for years. But this statement means different things to different people. You might limit your ultra processed foods to a few times a week. Your neighbor, on the other hand, may be trying to move from a diet of mostly ultra processed foods to one that includes more minimally processed foods. One is no less acceptable than the other.
The bottom line in the processed food story is that we should all do what’s best for us and our families. Going on social media to say that ultra processed and processed food is ‘toxic’ is elitist and obnoxious. Most people with average intelligence already know that an apple is more nourishing than a Twinkie, yet everyone has their own reasons why they choose the foods they do. Eat salads. Eat Oreos. Don’t have unrealistic diet expectations for yourself and others.