«Cereals and wholemeal bread are also considered ultra-processed foods but they contain various beneficial nutrients such as fibre, vitamins and minerals – Professor Song actually stated. – But I think that people should try to avoid or limit it the consumption of some ultra-processed foodsas processed meat and artificially sweetened drinks”.
There researchFurthermore, it certainly has the merit of having been conducted over a very long period of time, however it is still an observational study. This means that the researchers have highlighted a correlation between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and a increased risk of death premature but they cannot say that food was the cause of death – underlined Peter Wilde, from the Quadram Institute Bioscience in the United Kingdom.
So it will be There is a need to further examine the components of ultra-processed foods that could have health effects – be they food additives, emulsifiers or flavourings – to advise governments and institutions on how to proceed to regulate them – Professor Song also specified.
Eating a healthy diet matters most
Finally, it is important to know that researchers have discovered that fmost important actor to reduce the risk of death the quality of the overall diet always remains of a person.
“If people eat a generally healthy diet, I don’t think they should be worried or scared – Song said. – The adopted dietary modelas a whole, is still the predominant factor in determining health effects.”.
If you are worried about the food additives, it is good to choose those foods that have low levels of these substances – Wilde stated – and be aware of the nutritional content of the ultra-processed foods you choose to consume.
As the Istituto Superiore di Sanità explains, the food additives are substances used in the food industry during preparation, storage and marketing of products intended for food. They perform certain functions such as, for example, coloring, sweetening or preserving.
Regulation (EC) no. 1333/2008 defines food additive «any substance not usually consumed as food in itself and not used as a characteristic ingredient of foods, with or without nutritional value, the intentional addition to foods for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage thereof, has or is likely to result in the substance or its by-products becoming, directly or indirectly, components of such foods.”. In the European Union all food additives are identified by a number preceded by the letter AND and grouped according to their function. Food additives, when present, must always be indicated among the ingredients of foods.
The importance of moderate consumption
«Equally important – Wilde underlines – is knowing that some foods must be consumed in a balanced way. Fruit juice, for example, contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants benefits if consumed in moderation but, in excessive quantities, it will have high levels of sugar which could cancel out the benefits.”
How to recognize ultra-processed foods?
According to experts at Harvard Medical School, in general, it is easy to identify ultra-processed foods. It’s about those foods with long lists of ingredients, which are easily found on supermarket shelves and frozen food counters. However, the matter becomes more complicated in the case of those ultra-processed foods that seem healthy when they aren’t.
This is especially true for ultra-processed versions of fruit-flavored yogurtsfrozen soups, granola bars, fruit juice, breakfast cereals, frozen yogurt, low-fat salad dressings, butter substitutes and crackers.
Advice? Is that of take a look at the label of these products too: if you notice them numerous ingredients, including chemicals and words you don’t knowit is most likely an ultra-processed food that is best replaced with a less elaborate alternativethat is, with a product whose label shows the most limited list of ingredients.
Valuable advice also comes from Chris van Tullekendoctor and popularizer, author of the book Ultra-processed foods. How to recognize and avoid the unsuspected enemies of our health (just released in Italy, published by Vallardi). In the volume the author explains how ultra-processed foods are often unsuspected foods, accompanied by labels that sponsor their authenticity, and provides strategies for recognizing them and thus defending oneself from the damage that this «food-not food” cause to our health.
