Why processed foods are dangerous

https://youtu.be/BWA412bAA84?si=PniVRKAGRpdehvnc

It’s becoming more and more clear how bad ultra-processed foods are for our health.

Here’s a list of the main reasons ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are considered harmful, based on current research:

🔹 Nutritional Concerns

  1. High in added sugars → linked to obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes.

  2. High in refined starches → rapid blood sugar spikes, poor satiety.

  3. High in unhealthy fats (trans fats, refined oils) → increases cardiovascular risk.

  4. High sodium content → contributes to hypertension and heart disease.

  5. Low in fiber → worsens gut health, satiety, blood sugar control.

  6. Low in micronutrients → displaces nutrient-dense whole foods, leading to deficiencies.

🔹 Effects on Eating Behavior

  1. Hyper-palatability (engineered taste + texture) → drives overeating.

  2. Energy density → lots of calories in small volume.

  3. Liquid calories (sodas, shakes) → don’t trigger fullness, encourage excess intake.

  4. Portion size & packaging → promotes mindless snacking.

🔹 Biological & Metabolic Effects

  1. Increased risk of obesity (shown in randomized controlled trials).

  2. Greater risk of type 2 diabetes (observational studies).

  3. Increased cardiovascular disease risk (cohort studies in Europe, US, Latin America).

  4. Higher cancer risk (especially breast and colorectal).

  5. Promotes metabolic syndrome (combination of obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol).

🔹 Impact on Gut & Inflammation

  1. Loss of natural food matrix → faster digestion, higher glycemic load.

  2. Additives & emulsifiers (e.g., polysorbate-80, carboxymethylcellulose) → linked in animal and some human studies to gut microbiome disruption, inflammation, and increased gut permeability.

  3. Artificial sweeteners → some evidence they may alter microbiome or glucose response in certain individuals.

🔹 Broader Health & Lifestyle Effects

  1. All-cause mortality → multiple cohort studies link high UPF intake with earlier death.

  2. Cognitive decline & depression → emerging evidence suggests possible links with dementia and poor mental health.

  3. Food addiction–like properties → engineered to trigger dopamine reward pathways.

  4. Displacement of whole foods → reduces intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, legumes, etc.

🔹 Environmental & Social Concerns

  1. Highly industrialized production → environmentally costly, heavy packaging waste.

  2. Aggressive marketing → especially to children, reinforcing unhealthy eating habits.

  3. Economic dependence → cheap but nutritionally poor foods dominate in low-income areas (“food deserts”).

✅ Bottom line: UPFs are harmful because they combine poor nutrition, addictive eating properties, biological effects on metabolism and gut health, and displacement of healthier foods, leading to a wide spectrum of chronic disease risks.

References

🔹 Mortality & Chronic Disease

  1. Rico-Campà, A., et al. (2019). Association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and all cause mortality: SUN prospective cohort study. BMJ, 365, l1949.

  2. Blanco-Rojo, R., et al. (2019). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and mortality: a prospective cohort of Spanish university graduates. Public Health Nutrition, 22(11), 1770–1777.

  3. Chen, X., et al. (2020). Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality: UK Biobank. Nutrients, 12(7), 1955.

  4. Bonaccio, M., et al. (2021). Ultra-processed food consumption is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the Moli-sani Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 113(2), 446–455.

🔹 Cardiovascular Disease

  1. Srour, B., et al. (2019). Ultra-processed food intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: prospective cohort study (NutriNet-Santé). BMJ, 365, l1451.

  2. Lane, M. M., et al. (2021). Association between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition, 126(10), 1180–1190.

  3. Juul, F., et al. (2021). Ultra-processed foods and incident cardiovascular disease in the Framingham Offspring Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 77(12), 1520–1531.

🔹 Cancer

  1. Fiolet, T., et al. (2018). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort. BMJ, 360, k322.

  2. Romaguera, D., et al. (2021). Consumption of ultra-processed food and drinks and colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer in the UK Biobank cohort. European Journal of Nutrition, 60, 3775–3788.

  3. Beslay, M., et al. (2021). Ultra-processed food intake in relation to all-cause and cancer mortality in the NutriNet-Santé cohort. International Journal of Epidemiology, 50(2), 440–451.

🔹 Obesity, Weight Gain, and Diabetes

  1. Hall, K. D., et al. (2019). Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: An inpatient randomized controlled trial. Cell Metabolism, 30(1), 67–77.

  2. Juul, F., et al. (2018). Ultra-processed food consumption and excess weight among US adults. Public Health Nutrition, 21(1), 83–93.

  3. Mendonça, R. D., et al. (2019). Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of overweight and obesity: the SUN cohort study. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936–945.

  4. Srour, B., et al. (2020). Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes among participants of the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort. JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(2), 283–291.

🔹 Mental & Cognitive Health

  1. Gómez-Donoso, C., et al. (2020). Ultra-processed food consumption and the risk of depression in a Mediterranean cohort. BMC Medicine, 18, 134.

  2. Rauber, F., et al. (2020). Ultra-processed food consumption and indicators of diet quality in the UK Biobank. European Journal of Nutrition, 59, 3813–3826.

  3. Zhang, Z., et al. (2022). Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of dementia: prospective cohort study. Neurology, 99(24), e2668–e2679.

🔹 Gut Health & Mechanisms

  1. Chassaing, B., et al. (2015). Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome. Nature, 519, 92–96.

  2. Martínez Steele, E., et al. (2016). Ultra-processed foods and added sugars in the US diet: evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 6(3), e009892.

  3. Zinöcker, M. K., & Lindseth, I. A. (2018). The Western diet–microbiome-host interaction and its role in metabolic disease. Nutrients, 10(3), 365.

✅ Together, these studies show consistent links between UPF consumption and higher risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, dementia, gut dysfunction, and mortality.

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