The Truth About Ultra-Processed Foods: Tips for Sustainable Weight Loss
I recently spoke with a TeleHealthNP client who was hopelessly addicted to fast food. He loves to exercise, gets plenty of sleep, seems to manage his stress well, but he just couldn’t shake the daily drive thru trips, sometimes for three meals a day.
You probably picture Big Macs and chicken nuggets when you think of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), but they don’t always look like this.
This story highlights a few of the most insidious characteristics of UPFs: convenience, palatability, and addictiveness. Many processed foods do have unwanted health effects including weight gain and chronic disease.
On the other hand, processed foods have evolved with humans over time in response to the changing scope of our daily lives and to meet different dietary needs and preferences.
We’re talking about other processed foods like non-dairy milk alternatives, bread, cheese, and more.
We tend to hear the word “processed” and skip right to the extreme end of the spectrum, but processed foods do have a place in a healthy and balanced diet.
The truth is, you might not always be able to craft each meal lovingly from scratch with only whole, fresh foods. Busy parents, working people, and people with dietary restrictions and physical disabilities rely on processed foods to fill the gap.
The first step in creating a balanced diet is understanding the full spectrum of processed foods, which to avoid, and which to enjoy in moderation or abundance.
By the end of this post, hopefully you will have a better understanding about the differences between processed and ultra-processed and will feel confident making better decisions that will help you enjoy a diet that supports your health.
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?
For a more comprehensive definition of UPFs, we actually need to broaden how we think of them. The word “processed” has come to be synonymous with “bad” or “unhealthy,” but actually processing is a necessary step to preserve or extend shelf life, or remove or prevent bacteria.
UPFs, however, can be more specifically defined by NOVA as products that are industrially processed with additives to preserve shelf-life, prevent bacterial growth, and enhance the flavor, color, and appearance.
That’s actually a pretty broad definition.
While it’s true that fast food and junk food fall into this category, so do many other foods like sweetened cereals, protein bars, and non-dairy milk alternatives.
Think of processed foods as existing more on a spectrum than in rigid categories.
On one end of the spectrum you have whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods including things like fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits, whole grains, meat, poultry, fish, pasteurized milk, herbs, and spices.
In the middle you find foods like canned or jarred fruits, vegetables, and legumes, canned poultry and fish, fresh bread, cheese, and cured meats. These foods, while processed, are certainly not unhealthy.
On the far end of the spectrum, you have more of a mixed bag when it comes to your health. Ultra-processed, as defined above, can include foods like non-dairy milk alternatives as well as Big Mac burgers.
Are you starting to understand why these labels are not always as helpful as they are confusing?
Chart by Your Local Epidemiologist
Are All Ultra-Processed Foods a Concern?
It should be clear by now that ultra-processed foods are not all created equal. What we most want you to take away from this post is the discernment to differentiate between which foods are decidedly bad for you, and which are processed but have a valuable place in our modern diets.
Foods like protein bars, frozen ready-to-eat meats, sweetened yogurts, milk alternatives, and more can be valuable for all kinds of people.
Maybe you are a busy parent who is trying to get dinner on the table for picky kids.
Maybe you struggle to eat throughout the day and rely on an ocassional protein bar to meet your nutritional goals.
Maybe you are someone with physical or mental disabilities that make it hard for you to cook for yourself so you rely on canned or frozen ingredients to make it easier.
Whatever the reason, processed foods are there to serve a purpose in our diets, and you certainly shouldn’t avoid them because of the stigma created by the diet industry to shame and scare you.
That being said, some of these ultra-processed foods do have a significant health impact and should be enjoyed in moderation or avoided unless it is a special occasion (like a hot dog at a sports game or a scoop of ice cream to celebrate school getting out for the summer.)
The foods that should be avoided or enjoyed in moderation are the ones that are high in added sugars, fats, refined carbs, and sodium while lacking fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
These foods are associated with weight gain, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even depression.
Foods like candy, chips, and fast food are actually formulated to be hyper-palatable with tons of sugar and salt to keep you wanting more. The problem is that these foods come with behavioral concerns like overeating, addiction, and even the disruption of hunger and fullness cues.
Ultra-Processed Foods and Weight Loss
Have you ever eaten a whole bag of chips in one sitting? That’s because “junk'“ foods are highly palatable and low in fiber and other nutrients.
This combination makes the food addicting, causing you to reach for more and more, while also lacking nutrients like fiber and protein which help your body to know when it’s full and time to stop.
Not only do foods high in sugar, fat, refined carbs, and salt cause you to overeat, but they also promote fat storage and insulin resistance. The result is that you eat way more calories with lower satiety.
Think about that bag of chips for example. Even though you overate, you probably weren’t even full or were hungry again soon after.
Nutrients like fiber and protein actually slow down the digestive process because they take longer for your body to digest, while junk food flies through your system and leaves you wanting more.
Remember our fast food-addicted patient from earlier? He struggled with weight loss plateau for years despite doing everything else right. He was eating highly palatable meals but they never actually satisfied his hunger.
This resulted in snacking between meals on top of an already high-fat diet, causing him to exceed his calorie deficit every day.
It wasn’t until he broke the fast food addiction that he was able to break through this plateau and reach his weight loss goals.
How to Build a Balanced and Sustainable Diet
We don’t recommend cutting out any food group completely, including the ultra-processed foods you hate to love! There is a place for all foods in a healthy diet.
After all, what’s a birthday party without a slice of cake, a ball game without a hot dog or nachos, or a hot summer day without a scoop of ice cream?
The key to creating and maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is by allowing yourself to enjoy things in moderation.
Just like processed food exists on a spectrum of good to worse, we have categorized foods on a spectrum ranging from “avoid” to “moderate,” and “enjoy.”
Let’s break it down:
Avoid
These foods can be enjoyed occasionally but are better avoided on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. These foods include those that are extremely high in fat, sugar, refined carbs, and salt and have little to no nutritional value.
Here are some examples of foods to avoid:
Ultra processed meat
Sweetened beverages and soda
Candy and packaged desserts
Flavored cereals
Instant soups
Margarine spreads
Packaged white bread
Moderate
These foods are processed but still have nutritional value and may help you to fill in gaps where you are unable to substitute the less processed version. Others may be high in sugar but include fiber, probiotics, or other nutritional value. Eating in moderation might mean they are a daily or weekly staple but aren’t eaten excessively.
Here are some examples of foods to eat in moderation:
Whole wheat bread, tortillas, and pastas
Sweetened yogurt
Unsweetened juice with pulp
Convenience foods like ready to eat frozen meats
Protein bars
Cheese
Enjoy
These processed and unprocessed foods are nutritionally dense and can be eaten daily as part of a healthy and balanced diet.
Here are some examples of foods to enjoy:
Canned beans and legumes
Canned veggies
Canned protein including fish or poultry
Fresh vegetables and fruits
Lean protein, chicken, and fish
Whole grains like rice and oats
Nuts and seeds
Navigating the Grocery Store
All of this information can start to feel overwhelming, so we wanted to provide some practical tips you can use to avoid confusion and make finding balance easier.
The first thing to remember is that there is no such thing as perfection, in fact the pursuit of perfect can bring about toxic all-or-nothing thinking that can make cravings worse and ultimately sabotage your progress.
Instead, aim for moderation, not restriction. It’s okay to enjoy the occasional treat as long as it’s not a daily habit.
When you’re navigating the grocery store, the majority of your shopping should take place in the perimeter of the store. This is where you find fresh produce, whole grain breads, dairy products, and fresh meats.
When you do reach those middle aisles, try to pay attention to the nutritional labels and choose items that have shorter ingredient lists with ingredients that you can identify without google.
Finally, use your common sense. You don’t need to read the ingredients on a packet of Oreos or hot dogs to know that those are highly processed items!
Let’s Eat!
When it comes to how we define ultra-processed foods, it’s not always clear how to categorize these foods as good, bad, or anything in between.
Processed foods are an important part of our diets because they help to preserve foods for longer, make them safer to eat, and provide a level of convenience for people who are busy or otherwise unable to cook for themselves.
That being said, foods that are high in sugar, fat, refined carbs, and salt, and are industrially modified to be highly-palatable and even addicting, should be avoided more often than they are enjoyed.
It should be clear that haunting the drive thru line shouldn’t be a daily habit, but that doesn’t mean you can never enjoy a fast-food burger again.
Aiming for moderation, rather than restriction, helps us to create balanced diets that are sustainable and enjoyable.
TeleHealthNP was created by a nurse practitioner and weight loss specialist to help you create a personalized approach to weight loss that works for your unique lifestyle.
Schedule a consultation to learn more about how we can help you!
