As part of the BALM Protocol, we encourage the avoidance of ultra-processed baked goods and related food.
- Ultra-processed foods (also known as UPFs, NOVA 4 or G4 foods) are ready-to-eat or heat, commercially-made, energy-dense products that are low in valuable nutrients (B vitamins, minerals and fibre), which likely contain cosmetic additives and are largely devoid of whole foods. Think soft drinks, fast food, ice cream, breakfast cereals, salty snacks and sliced bread – in other words: not “real food”. Manufacturers aren’t required to list the processes (or purposes or methods) used to make their products, so it can be tough and troubling to recognise UPFs. They’re also not standardised worldwide.
- In a study published last year, NYU researchers who analysed US federal health agency survey data conducted from 2001 to 2018 found that there was high consumption of UPFs across the US. Furthermore, the intake of these foods has continuously increased in most of the population over the past two decades. Nearly 41,000 adults who took the questionnaire over the 18-year span were asked what they had eaten in a 24-hour period. Analyses of that data showed that the proportion of UPFs in Americans’ diets grew from 53.5% of calories to 57%. Simultaneously, consumption of whole foods dropped from 32.7% of calories down to 27.4% as people are eating less meat and dairy.
- Among America’s youth (aged 2-19), the numbers are even more worrisome as most of their daily calories come from these UPFs. Research published last year indicated that the likely percentage of total energy from the consumption of UPFs from 1999 to 2018 jumped from 61.4% to 67%. UPFs are a big part of the UK diet, too. A similar retrospective study found that the actual consumption of UPFs among UK adults from 2008 to 2016 could be as high as 54.3% – not far behind the US numbers. In Australia, intake in adults is roughly 39% of total energy consumption.
- A nice diagram included in a recent report by the Soil Association illustrates findings that UK shoppers are bringing home at least three times more junk food than other European countries (France, Italy, Portugal) and that 8% of their grocery bags are filled with ultra-processed bread. Not surprisingly, the French pick fresh bread over packaged bread (14% and 3%, respectively), and they do so more than the Brits who purchase only 3% fresh loaves. The report also includes results from a study that suggests 2 in 5 UK adults eat a ready-made meal at least once per week.
- Ninety per cent of our energy intake comes from 15 crop plants, and the diets of more than four billion people rely on only three of them: rice, wheat and corn. Interestingly, 49% of the $424.4 billion US farmers received in subsidies between 1995 and 2020 went to grow three high-yielding cash crops – corn, wheat and soybeans — that makeup 80% of the processed foods we eat. Wheat takes $48.4 billion of that share. Fruits, veggies and nuts (or “speciality crops”) aren’t given the same government handouts. US farmers are becoming more reliant on and incentivised by government aid to grow the ingredients for less wholesome products being consumed at an ever-growing rate. Findings from a recent study by the University of Warwick claim that a subsidy on fresh fruit and vegetables could increase consumption of healthier foods by as much as 15%, as a lower price on healthier foods mean people will buy more of them.
- In a study last year evaluating nutrient adequacy in the American diet, seven years of CDC intake data show that 5.4 out of the 6.3 ounces of grains being consumed daily are refined – exceeding the 3-ounce cap recommended by the USDA in their newest Dietary Guidelines. The USDA asserts that while the daily suggestion of total grain intake is being met by most Americans, 98% of adults eat less than the recommended whole grains amount, and 74% exceed the limits for refined grains (or “enriched” grains).
- Whole grains contain the entire kernel (bran, germ and endosperm). Defined as grains milled to remove the bran and germ, most refined grains in the US are required to be enriched or fortified (adding in nutrients that don’t occur naturally in the food) with nutrients lost during the milling process – iron, fibre and B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid). Most refined grains are enriched because they include only the starchy part of the grain, and many enriched grains are also fortified. Fibre, however, is not added back to enriched grains. Whole grains may or may not be fortified. (More on the fortification process later)
- Researchers from the above study concluded that American adults are currently under-consuming daily intake of nutrients – not just those removed during the refining process but also magnesium, folate and vitamins A, C, D and E. Furthermore, removing bread or grains (both whole and enriched) entirely from the diet not only resulted in a higher ratio of adults falling short of recommended nutritional intakes but exacerbated the deficits. The study highlights the nutritional value that enriched grains bring to the table by bridging the daily recommended intake gap in the American diet.
- We know that the long-term consumption of UPFs comes at a cost to our health – IBS, depression and a higher risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It is key now that we uncover the role of whole foods and their nutrients on the state of the microbial community in our gut and its link to brain function, behaviour and mood. The results of a recent Spanish study on UPFs consumption in men and women encourage us to also consider how diet on gender can shape gut microbiota composition.
- In a study published last year, NYU researchers who analysed US federal health agency survey data conducted from 2001 to 2018 found that there was high consumption of UPFs across the US. Furthermore, the intake of these foods has continuously increased in most of the population over the past two decades. Nearly 41,000 adults who took the questionnaire over the 18-year span were asked what they had eaten in 24 hours.
