Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

bmj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 345 posts

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#21

Post by orev »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #12

This statistic from the article is mind-boggling: > Ultra-processed products now account for nearly half of the average dietary intake of some high income countries, with consumption rising rapidly in most other countries. Note that they aren't just referring to processed foods. They classify ultra-processed foods as a step beyond what we typically think of as processed foods: > Ultra-processed foods and beverages ca…

Food companies have led very good marketing campaigns for many years telling people that “cooking is SO difficult and SUCH A PAIN. Just buy our prepackaged food which is so much easier.”

Unfortunately when so many people buy into it, it impacts those who don’t. Lately I’ve noticed that basic bags of frozen vegetables are being replaced with “ready to steam” bags that contain half as much quantity for the same price.

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#22

Post by dragontamer »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #12

This statistic from the article is mind-boggling: > Ultra-processed products now account for nearly half of the average dietary intake of some high income countries, with consumption rising rapidly in most other countries. Note that they aren't just referring to processed foods. They classify ultra-processed foods as a step beyond what we typically think of as processed foods: > Ultra-processed foods and beverages ca…

If half of our food is ultraprocessed, then that's a problem with the definition of ultraprocessed.

Breakfast cereal is "ultraprocessed" by the definition of the article. But Grain Berry cereal is going to be grossly different from a nutritional perspective than Frosted Flakes. For both to be lumped into the same category of "ultraprocessed" is a bit ridiculous.

-----------

Its not like "processing" makes something more or less poisonous. 100% all natural fully organic death cap mushrooms will kill you.

Now high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, high-preservative stuff is probably bad. Those things have clear science and nutrition issues associated with them. But the nutrition in "processed" canned corn (picked and canned at peak ripeness) is often found to be superior to "fresh" ears of corn (which loses nutrition the longer it sits in the food aisle).

If you cook all-natural brown rice with fresh pork-belly all day every day, and you'll have a heart attack from all that fat you're eating. It doesn't matter if that pork-belly is ultraprocessed bacon or freshly cut from a squealing pig in your backyard: pork-belly contains a ton of fat and is just innately unhealthy.

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#23

Post by mike00632 »

AlexTWithBeard wrote: post #4
syntaxing wrote: post #2

I mentioned this before on HN but it still blows my mind how much weight I lost by simply not eating processed food. Thanks to COVID, I cook most of my meals now and I lost a considerable amount of weight even though I didn't cut my portions. I think the biggest problem is that processed food makes me crave food even though I'm not hungry and the stuff used is just so packed in calories (fructose syrup).

And the best way to stop consuming highly processed foods is to write down your calories consumption. No limits, no shame, no pressure - just write it down. To me it was a revelation.

A friend of mine had a personal trainer that would make him send a photo of everything he ate. I thought that was a good idea.

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#24

Post by blakesterz »

icandoit wrote: post #8
goda90 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what's your cut off point for processed food? Just things that are ready to eat besides fruits and veggies? What about white flour and rice as opposed to whole grains?

For me personally: if (foodItem.ingredientList.size()>9) {return false;} else if (foodItem.inventedYearsAgo() So I can eat a baguette prepared traditionally, and a few brands of prepared bread from the grocery store.

I think Polan said something like "If your great grandparents didn't have it, it's probably not good for you" and I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb.

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#25

Post by mrfusion »

blakesterz wrote: post #24
icandoit wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me personally: if (foodItem.ingredientList.size()>9) {return false;} else if (foodItem.inventedYearsAgo() So I can eat a baguette prepared traditionally, and a few brands of prepared bread from the grocery store.

I think Polan said something like "If your great grandparents didn't have it, it's probably not good for you" and I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb.

Protein bars?

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#26

Post by silicon2401 »

mike00632 wrote: post #17
notdang wrote: post #13

The article states that : Ultra-processed products now account for nearly half of the average dietary intake of some high income countries, with consumption rising rapidly in most other countries. I've never lived for more than 1-2 months in any of these "high income countries". What does it mean to consume "ultra-processed" food? Can someone give an example how the daily dietary intake can be 50% processed foods? Wh…

Breakfast: Cereal and milk. My favorite cereal is Trix. Lunch: Sandwich made of bread, bologna, cheese, mustard. Coca-cola or chocolate milk to drink. Dinner: TV dinner, perhaps a Lean Cuisine or Pizza rolls. Mountain Dew or Kool Aid to drink. This was a typical day of food for me as a child and through being a teenager.

Is this really what you ate like on a day to day basis? Not snarky or anything, just genuinely shocked and curious

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#27

Post by dilap »

xnx wrote: post #7
goda90 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what's your cut off point for processed food? Just things that are ready to eat besides fruits and veggies? What about white flour and rice as opposed to whole grains?

I'm not sure what approach syntaxing used, and "processed" is a fuzzy term, but bread and pasta have a lot more in common with twinkies and oreos than fruits and vegetables.

Bread, pasta, fruits, and vegetables: all things we've been eating for at least a couple thousand years; no fat or mostly saturated fats.

Twinkies and Oreos: signicant quantities of novel ingredients that have only existed in the last 150 or so years; high quantities of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats.

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#28

Post by mrfusion »

AlexTWithBeard wrote: post #9
goda90 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what's your cut off point for processed food? Just things that are ready to eat besides fruits and veggies? What about white flour and rice as opposed to whole grains?

Not the OP, but: to me the cut point was when I started writing the calories down. After some time (a week?) you get a pretty good idea of what takes what. An apple is 100. "Boring foods" like boiled potatoes are circa 100 calories per 100 grams. "Fun foods" like chicken breast or ikea meatballs are 200 calories per 100 grams. Oil - 10 calories per ml. And then you look at cheesy crackers and realize that something i…

It’s a good way to look at things.

Someone on HN said you’ll easily lose weight if you stick to foods less than one calorie per gram.

I believe it but I can’t find many foods ...

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#29

Post by detaro »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #12

This statistic from the article is mind-boggling: > Ultra-processed products now account for nearly half of the average dietary intake of some high income countries, with consumption rising rapidly in most other countries. Note that they aren't just referring to processed foods. They classify ultra-processed foods as a step beyond what we typically think of as processed foods: > Ultra-processed foods and beverages ca…

> but also contain ingredients and additives not commonly used in home kitchens and artisanal restaurants

That is incredibly broad though? Not sure what "processed foods" would be then.

Re: Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

#30

Post by smt88 »

mrfusion wrote: post #25
blakesterz wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Polan said something like "If your great grandparents didn't have it, it's probably not good for you" and I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb.

Protein bars?

Pollan specifically calls out protein bars for being extremely processed and full of hidden unhealthy ingredients.
Post reply on HN