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Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition

bmj.com

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

#181

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

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…

>I wish we put more emphasis on educating young people about basic cooking and nutrition.

More difficult than it sounds. Most people want to eat healthier but when they research it they'll get fad diets and pseudoscience. Just look at Keto, paleo, whole 30, etc.

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

#182

Post by vram22 »

dcolkitt wrote: post #97
dragontamer wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 m…

> Its not like "processing" makes something more or less poisonous I completely agree with this. There's nothing inherent to processing food that makes it less healthy. In fact it could potentially make it even more healthy, e.g. adding fiber or protein to a starch. Heck, even just like at the original processing technique. Cooked vegetables are more nutritious than raw vegetables. But the reality is that 99% of proc…

Interestingly, Ayurveda recommends cooked vegetables more than raw vegetables, and less (but not zero) of raw food generally, on the principle (IIRC) that cooked foods are usually easier for humans to digest - and digestion is "the key to health" in Ayurveda. Source: Prakruti - your Ayurvedic Constitution, by Vaidya* Robert Svoboda.

*Vaidya is the title for an Ayurvedic doctor.

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

#183

Post by ravenstine »

inglor_cz wrote: post #104

Just by comparing photos and videos from the 1980s to the situation in the streets now, it is painfully obvious that we (and by "we" I mean at least half of humanity) have a serious obesity and metabolic syndrome problem. It is breathtaking how civilized nations silently accept such an enormous slide in quality of life, when other, much smaller problems lead to civic unrest, political discussions and overhaul of old…

> I am 42. My "kids these days"... complaint is that "kids these days are horribly fat". Compared to the 1990s, yeah, fitness of the young generation has gone down significantly.

Dude, I was the fat kid back in the early 2000's. These days, 1/3 of the kids I see are way fatter than I was, but it seems way more normal now.

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

#184

Post by majormajor »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #181
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…

>I wish we put more emphasis on educating young people about basic cooking and nutrition. More difficult than it sounds. Most people want to eat healthier but when they research it they'll get fad diets and pseudoscience. Just look at Keto, paleo, whole 30, etc.

> More difficult than it sounds. Most people want to eat healthier but when they research it they'll get fad diets and pseudoscience. Just look at Keto, paleo, whole 30, etc.

Any of those are a big improvement over Five Guys and In N Out and other takeaway or fast food...

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

#185

Post by ska »

UnFleshedOne wrote: post #114
dcolkitt wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, cooking healthy may be "easy" but it's still more work than junk food. One advantage of intermittent fasting is that it's much less burdensome to make a single, large healthy than it is to make three healthy meals plus snacks. (Though this can be a double-edge sword. If you wind up eating junk food, like pizza, for your large meal, then it becomes the equivalent of eating junk food for breakfast, lunch and din…

Who the hell makes 3 meals a day anyway? Unless you include reheating something prepared in bulk several days ago in that count?

I typically do, although some dinners or lunches will have a component that is reheated (e.g., reheat some frozen braise from last weekend, but with fresh cooked veg and potatoes, say.)

If I'm in a hurry, there are lots of things I can make in 30 min or less. More often if I'm busy I'll make something that doesn't require much interaction; e.g. 10-15 min prep and 60 nearly untouched in a 500 degree oven for a roast chicken with root veg in one pan. I do other things in that hour.

Honestly, I've been doing this long enough I'm pretty efficient. I could save a little time buying more prepared food, but my meal quality would go way down so I don't mind. Shopping is pretty efficient too, as I mostly don't shop by recipe.

To be fair though, I find cooking relaxing as a way to wind down after work, so sometimes I'll do something more involved just for the hell of it on a random Wednesday.

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

#186

Post by Miraste »

ACow_Adonis wrote: post #175
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweeter indeed, amount of sugar im food is absolutely insane these days. I am from Russia, and food in Uk is like 3 times sweeter, there is added sugar on freaking Roasted Vegetables! Its bonkers!

what's scary is that you said UK and not US. Coming from other Anglo cultures and going to the US feels similar to what you describe moving from Russia. instant increase in added sugar and serving sizes.

I live in the US and recently tried to find bread--standard, sliced bread--without sugar in it at my local store. They don't have any. The lowest I could find was a gram of sugar per slice!

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

#187

Post by dolni »

SoSoRoCoCo wrote: post #163
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…

Can't believe no one has quoted Michael Pollan yet, but his 7 rules still ring true (see #4 for your question): 1. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" Pollan says. 2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or in…

There are some good rules of thumb here, but this:

> 2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

This just smacks of so much ignorance as to be disgraceful. Something isn't good for you just because there's a short word for it, or bad for you because it has a scientific name. And it's definitely not bad for you just because it has more than 5 ingredients.

I remember hearing how people were duped in the past by the dangeous chemical dihydrogen monoxide: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dangers-dihydrogen-monoxid...

People should do research and be informed, not make ridiculous decisions about food based on whatever words happen to be associated to their ingredients.

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

#188

Post by Miraste »

hogFeast wrote: post #152
icandoit wrote: post #38

I like what this guy has to say about nutrition (take it with a grain of salt, he is an epistemologist) https://meaningness.com/nutrition-resigns "Your job is to wear white lab coats while saying that food ingredients are healthy and unhealthy, and to wave charts around. That makes the ingredients authoritatively healthy and unhealthy, which covers our asses. ... "Signed, [The governments of every country in the worl…

Yes, according to the article that kind of science (i.e. the basic logic of energy usage) was invented by Coca-Cola. This is what happens when you combine weak knowledge of science with a credulous mind (you think everything is a conspiracy theory invented by group of people you dislike ). Maybe "processed food" (whatever that means, according to the article it is everything not produced in an "artisinal restaurant")…

> which is a function of greed and laziness

This is incorrect, or at least not a useful lens with which to examine the problem. Societal changes on the level of the obesity epidemic (universal to the point of affecting lab animals) don't happen because of individual increases in greed and laziness. There is at least one broad nutritional/socioeconomic factor behind this, probably several, but because of the state of nutritional science we don't know what they are.

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

#189

Post by mssundaram »

jasode wrote: post #50
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 in my experience most people prefer these foods because they think it's more convenient. [...] Everyone should learn how to cook some boring, staple meals using basic ingredients from the store. It's amazing how many people don't know how easy and cheap it can be to prepare simple crock pot or stir-fry meals that are healthy and delicious. I'm a strict health food eater but I have to be realistic and concede t…

My go to meal when I don't have much time is lentils and frozen broccoli. I put 180g red lentils in my pressure cooker with 500ml water and 400g frozen broccoli. Done in about 10 minutes. Very filling, tasty and healthy. I usually eat it with rice. Add whatever spice you like but I recommend turmeric, cumin, cayenne, mustard seed, and black pepper. But it also tastes good with just salt!

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

#190

Post by mssundaram »

jeffreyrogers wrote: post #117
ev1 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disappointingly, some people quite literally cannot cook - I don't have a stove. This is a lot more common[0] than one might think, and arguably hits the worst demographic for it - university students and fresh out of university students, where the only affordable place is $2-3k for barely a hundred square feet with a microwave and minifridge. There is a fair amount of places near tech companies where it's quite comm…

Get an airfryer and an instant pot. Neither one takes up much space on a countertop, and they are easy to clean and store. I hardly use my stove anymore unless I'm baking something.

In fact I have my stove unplugged and 3 instant pots sitting on top of it (and an air fryer near by)
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