We keep hearing how bad ultra-processed foods are for us – but can we avoid them without spending more?
This article about ultra-processed foods contains affiliate links. We may earn money from them, which helps us to continue our work helping people in hardship
There’s been a lot of talk recently about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and the harm they’re doing to our health.
TV doctor Chris van Tulleken has looked into it deeply. He’s known for the BBC series What Are We Feeding Our Kids? and his book Ultra-Processed People.
To see the effects for himself, he spent a month eating mostly UPFs. He gained weight, felt more anxious and struggled to sleep. That was just in four weeks.
The long-term risks are even worse. UPFs can make us more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and even depression and cancer.
But what is an ultra-processed food?
Dr Chris has a pretty simple rule of thumb for this. If we check the ingredient list and there’s something on it that we wouldn’t find in our kitchen at home, then it’s probably ultra-processed.
Lots of these ingredients have long, chemical-sounding names and they might be there to influence the texture, taste, the shelf life or simply because they’re cheaper than “real” ingredients. They usually have more sugar, fat and salt than homemade versions.
Some examples of ultra-processed foods include fast foods, frozen meals like pizzas and chicken nuggets, breakfast cereals, ready meals and packaged biscuits and snacks.
Not our Fault
Dr Chris says many of these foods are designed to be addictive.
He gives the example of a cereal company that puts two versions of its product out to testers. If one version makes people eat five per cent more then that’s the version that ends up on the supermarket shelf.
But there’s more to the problem than that. It’s about the cost of living too.
Often ultra-processed foods are quite cheap. And because they’ve been engineered to be so tasty, of course, we buy more. It’s not our fault though, says Dr Chris. A lot of thought (and science) has gone into making sure we can’t resist.
“The number one thing customers want is cheap food,” Dr Chris told the Penguin podcast. “We live in such an unequal society. Everything is so expensive: our transport, our energy, our accommodation. We’re paying so much on rent, there’s nothing left for food.”
So when our budgets are at their limits, what can we do to limit our consumption of these foods?
Gradual change
Small swaps can make a big difference.
- For a start, we can drink more water. Soft drinks can contain plenty of calories but nothing in the way of nutrition. But if it’s the flavour that we’re after, tea and coffee can do the trick.
- Porridge and overnight oats are good alternatives to ultra-processed cereals. We can add fruit or a spoon of peanut butter to give it taste.
- Tinned beans, lentils and frozen veg are all smart swaps. They’re filling, affordable and last a long time.
- Cooking in batches and freezing leftovers can help too. It might stop us reaching for a takeaway when we’re tired.
- Home-popped popcorn is a cheap snack and still better than crisps. Even with sugar or salt, we’re in control of what goes in.
- We can try baking now and then. A homemade sponge with just a few cupboard ingredients is less harmful than a long-life cake packed with chemicals.
We should remind ourselves though that it’s ok to make changes slowly. No one’s saying we have to turn our diet around overnight.
As Dr Chris says, the fact that we love these foods is not our fault. But being able to tell the foods that will nourish us from the ones that might be making us ill means that we’ll be able to make choices that are good for our health and our wallet.
Want more? Dr Chris van Tulleken’s BBC documentary ‘Why we can’t stop eating’ and his book Ultra-Processed People are packed with tips.
Image: Alena Ozerova / Pexels
