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Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

cam.mbi.ufl.edu

111–120 of 177 posts

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#111
post #5

> Even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain. However much I'd like to alter my diet to be more healthy, including flavored nuts or bread as ultraprocessed means I have nearly zero chance avoiding a sizable portion of what academic scientists label as ultraprocessed. These studies and press rel…

I'm not sure what the situation in many parts of the US is, but is not freshly baked bread, the kind with unsurprising ingredients and that goes stale when you'd expect it, not an option? The stuff made to sit on the supermarket's shelf for long times has such an odd consistency and flavor, very spongy and very tangy and sweet, you can't spread anything on it without toasting it first. I wouldn't take it as the stand…

In many places it’s either not an option or not one that you’re going to find almost anywhere most people shop. As far as I know in my city the only place to find real bread is Whole Foods (where the inventory is limited and inconsistent) or the one independent bakery that happens to sell sliced bread. And it’s a Japanese bakery, so I would guess almost nobody would even think to look there. Almost every other bakery is selling bullshit like cupcakes.

It also costs $5+ a loaf when you can get the cheap stuff for $1-$2, so a lot of people just wouldn’t spend the money anyways because they don’t know or care about the difference.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#112
post #5

> Even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain. However much I'd like to alter my diet to be more healthy, including flavored nuts or bread as ultraprocessed means I have nearly zero chance avoiding a sizable portion of what academic scientists label as ultraprocessed. These studies and press rel…

Fresh fruit, vegetables, dried whole grain and beans, fresh meat and fish, fresh seashells, whole nuts, water.

It's not that it's hard to understand, it's just hard to stick to it.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's wild to you because it's total bullshit. > Today, 82 percent of the meals Americans eat are prepared at home, a much higher percentage than a decade ago, according to research from NPD Group Inc. cited by Bloomberg. Uncited comments on HN are frequently confidently incorrect, especially when they are descriptions of average American culture Maybe if you're a highly paid SWE in California with endless takeout opt…

Haha I see! The more I thought about it, the more it really didn't make sense.. Wouldn't all grocery stores be out of business?

You don't see small grocery stores in the US unless they specialize in the food of a particular ethnicity. They are all huge and serve a massive area.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#114
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freshly baked bread can be hard to obtain in many parts of the US. For me if I wanted fresh baked bread every day and not make it myself, I'd be looking at like 40-60 minutes of extra time per day if I drive there every day. The closest grocery store to me is 1.5 miles away up an extremely steep hill. Shit, fresh vegetables can be hard to obtain in many parts of the US. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert We'…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tub6eEdmjzs heh... we have over fresh bakery shops IN EVERY STREET so you are no more than 10 house lengths away from one. It has no yeast, around 3% is salt but is made fresh and goes bad in hours so it is consumed HOT. I wonder if stuff like our centuries old tech can be replicated in more "modern" nations?

In the US you can literally purchase a bread machine for $60 and as long as you have the ingredients on hand, you can have a hot loaf of bread any time you have 5 minutes to measure and add the ingredients.

Add the ingredients in the evening and enjoy fresh bread in the morning.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what the situation in many parts of the US is, but is not freshly baked bread, the kind with unsurprising ingredients and that goes stale when you'd expect it, not an option? The stuff made to sit on the supermarket's shelf for long times has such an odd consistency and flavor, very spongy and very tangy and sweet, you can't spread anything on it without toasting it first. I wouldn't take it as the stand…

If you want to understand what the average American consumes the answer is whatever is on the shelf of their local Walmart (they sell groceries). The average American may assemble food from time to time but generally does not cook. That said, there are hundreds of millions of people in that country, so this is obviously a generalization, and should be treated as such. That said Lidl is making aggressive inroads into…

Walmart sells fresh-baked bread too. Come on.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally believe it, but it is just so wild to me that it has gotten to the point where we can somewhat confidently say that most Americans just do not cook at all. I just don't even understand how that works, even if you have enough income, how do you have enough space to like store all the trash for the week? Don't you just get tired of restraunt food at some point?

It's wild to you because it's total bullshit. > Today, 82 percent of the meals Americans eat are prepared at home, a much higher percentage than a decade ago, according to research from NPD Group Inc. cited by Bloomberg. Uncited comments on HN are frequently confidently incorrect, especially when they are descriptions of average American culture Maybe if you're a highly paid SWE in California with endless takeout opt…

It really isn’t BS at all. I’m in Ohio and almost nobody I know under the age of 40 knows how to cook anything that doesn’t come out of a can or a box. “Prepared at home” in many cases is just warming up processed foods or combining a couple processed ingredients.

The vast majority of the people I see actually buying produce at the grocery store are older people and immigrants. Almost everyone else is buying the processed crap in the aisles.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#117
post #5

> Even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain. However much I'd like to alter my diet to be more healthy, including flavored nuts or bread as ultraprocessed means I have nearly zero chance avoiding a sizable portion of what academic scientists label as ultraprocessed. These studies and press rel…

It is interesting that "ultraprocessed" foods have all these effects but I think it seems necessary to try and tease out what about them is causing the effect because it seems like we're including wildly disparate foods, some of them not so different from something someone could plausibly make at home.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally believe it, but it is just so wild to me that it has gotten to the point where we can somewhat confidently say that most Americans just do not cook at all. I just don't even understand how that works, even if you have enough income, how do you have enough space to like store all the trash for the week? Don't you just get tired of restraunt food at some point?

It's wild to you because it's total bullshit. > Today, 82 percent of the meals Americans eat are prepared at home, a much higher percentage than a decade ago, according to research from NPD Group Inc. cited by Bloomberg. Uncited comments on HN are frequently confidently incorrect, especially when they are descriptions of average American culture Maybe if you're a highly paid SWE in California with endless takeout opt…

There are different degrees of food prep. Microwaving frozen chicken nuggets is considered preparing at home but is a far cry from prepare a meal from scratch. There's also a myriad of options in between.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#119
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't flour highly processed?

what do you mean by highly processed flour? whole wheat is not treated or anything, just dehusked if i remember and then ground down. is there something else they do to whole wheat flour these days?

In the US it's allowed [1] to add bromate to the flour, which helps with the texture apparently. Brominated flour probably counts as highly processed.

1. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/pro/reference/bromate

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally believe it, but it is just so wild to me that it has gotten to the point where we can somewhat confidently say that most Americans just do not cook at all. I just don't even understand how that works, even if you have enough income, how do you have enough space to like store all the trash for the week? Don't you just get tired of restraunt food at some point?

In the US in many places trash disposal is a flat rate included in your utility bill, rolled up into your rent, or you have a common dumpster area you can throw trash into for free. This isn't Switzerland where you have to pay two bucks for a LICENSED small plastic trash bag. Here you can generate as much residential trash as you want for the same price or for free if you drive the trash to the county dump yourself.…

Maybe its just me, or maybe I've spent too much time working in kitchens, but there is an overriding sameness to restaurant food even if you are considering the full spectrum of McDonald's to fancy steakhouse takeout. Something about the necessary restrictions and specificity in cooking commercially in big kitchens creates certain tendencies around flavors and salt and such that I just personally need a break from if I find myself eating out a lot. But I guess that is extremely subjective.
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