Should You Eat Ultra-Processed Foods?

Is you New Years Resolution Heathy Eating?

Should You Eat Ultra-Processed Foods? blog image

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Happy New Year may 2025 be happy and healthy for all of you.
It’s the time of year we make our resolutions and for a lot of us that’s to eat healthier.

So I thought I’d share my research with you about ultra processed food. It really makes you realise that to eat healthier we need to go back to basics and eat fresh home cooked meals.

I hope you will find this informative and that it will help you kick those bad food habits. 

What are Ultra processed foods?

Here’s your guide to what’s ultra-processed and what’s not. This is the NOVA classification which assigns a group to food products based on how much processing they’ve been through: 

Group 1 - Unprocessed or minimally processed foods  

Group 2 - Processed culinary ingredients such as oils, butter, vinegars, sugars and salt. 

Group 3 - Processed foods - are usually made using a mix of group one and two ingredients, and include smoked meats, cheeses, fresh bread, salted nuts, tinned fruit, beer and wine.

Group 4 - Ultra-processed food and drink products are industrial formulations made entirely or mostly from substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modified starch), or synthesized in laboratories from food substrates or other organic sources (flavour enhancers, colours, and several food additives used to make the product hyper-palatable). 

The NOVA list of Ultra Processed foods (some of them may surprise you)


  • Fatty, sweet, savory or salty packaged snacks
  • Cookies (biscuits) Ice creams and frozen desserts
  • Chocolates, candies and confectionery in general
  • Cola, soda and other carbonated soft drinks ‘Energy’ and sports drinks
  • Canned, packaged, dehydrated (powdered) and other ‘instant’ soups, noodles, sauces, desserts, drink mixes and seasonings
  • Sweetened and flavored yogurts, including fruit yogurts
  • Dairy drinks, including chocolate milk
  • Sweetened juices
  • Margarines and spreads
  • Pre-prepared (packaged) meat, fish and vegetables
  • Pre-prepared pizza and pasta dishes
  • Fast foods, from restaurants or boxed (e.g., burgers, hot dogs, sausages)
  • Pre-prepared poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’
  • Other animal products made from remnants
  • Packaged breads, hamburger and hot dog buns
  • Baked products made with ingredients such as hydrogenated vegetable fat, whey, emulsifiers, and other additives
  • Breakfast cereals and bars
  • Infant formulas & drinks,
  • Meal replacement shakes (e.g., SlimFast®)
  • Pastries, cakes, and cake mixes
  • Distilled alcoholic beverages (e.g., whisky, gin, rum, vodka, etc.)

So now you know what ultra-processed foods are, what about the studies?

February 2023 - Published in the Lancet by eClinicalMedicine - The UK-based cohort study suggests that higher UPF consumption may be linked to an increased burden and mortality for overall and certain site-specific cancers especially ovarian cancer in women.

August 2019 In a letter to the BMJ - The dramatic rise of ultra-processed foods.

Two doctors agree with conclusions from other doctors urging the WHO to reconsider its dietary recommendations and prioritise a food based approach in future dietary guidelines. They argue that ultra-processed food consumption results in reduced dietary protein density and increased sugar intake, which in turn is linked with higher rates of obesity and metabolic disorders.

Related content: WHO draft guidelines on dietary saturated and trans fatty acids: time for a new approach

May 2019 - From the National Institutes of Health: NIH study finds heavily processed foods cause overeating and weight gain.

May 2019 From the JNCI - Preventable Cancer Burden Associated with Poor Diet in the United States

May 2019 - In the BMJ – Association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and all-cause mortality

February 2019 – A Study from France found that eating a lot of heavily processed foods is linked to a risk of earlier death.

Jan 2018 Household availability of ultra-processed foods and obesity in nineteen European countries

This research shows that ultra-processed foods now make up over half of the UKfamily food purchases, more than any other European country. They then looked at obesity levels in European countries as well and the UK had the highest rate. 

They concluded: The study contributes to a growing literature showing that the consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with an increased risk of diet-related non-communicable diseases.

From 2015 – Researchers find a link between processed food and autoimmune disease.

I’m linking to an article about this where they explain it better than I can. And to the study as well if you’d like to delve deeper.

So what should you do?

Try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.

Shopping/Planning ahead

I try to shop once a week and think about what I might want to cook in the week and then get the meat, fish or veg I need. 

Trust me it doesn’t always work out that way and I end up freezing some of the food, but that’s good as well for weeks when I’ve been tied up and not able to do my normal shop. Bags of frozen fish are also a godsend.

Most supermarkets do deliveries these days and with kids it saves so much time.

Cooking regularly

The next thing is just to get used to cooking most nights. When my kids were younger, I’d do stir-fry type dishes, pastas or quick curries. There were still nights when they had chicken nuggets and chips, I’m not a saint, but they weren’t the norm and if I’d known then what I know now, they would have been even rarer.

I recently experimented with microwave cooking and did a Bolognese sauce, in the microwave, in 15 minutes, while the pasta was cooking. It came out brilliantly.

Batch cooking

On the weekend make up a bigger portion of your meals for the week, and freeze in individual or family sized portions. On a busy workday you can then just pop it in the oven or microwave for a quick healthy meal, prepared by you. BBC good food has a selection of batch cook recipes.

Slow cooker

Lots of my friends are fans of slow cookers. Pop your ingredients in before work then come home to a super meal all ready for you. 

Want a night off cooking?

If you really don’t want to cook, then takeaways are the next best thing, choose ones that are freshly prepared in a restaurant, not fast food (remember the list). 
We are very lucking in the UK have a huge variety of international cuisine and lots of restaurants offer take away these day.

Conclusions

Ultra-processed foods are not good for your health and may lead to weight gain, unwanted diseases or even early death. 

Many are created with ingredients that we can’t even recognise and are definitely not natural, so stay away from them. Check the food you’re buying and if you don’t recognise most of the ingredients, stay away from it.

Cook as much as you can yourself with ingredients that you recognise. There are so many helpful websites these days to help you plan your shopping, that are packed with great batch cook recipes. Or invest in a slow cooker for a hearty meal ready when you come home.
 
There are also loads of great recipes here on ChecKYourFood and other websites so make the break from ultra-processed foods and give good old fashioned cooking with real food a try.
The choices are endless..

So once again HAPPY NEW YEAR and have a very healthy 2025.


Surya Wright

Surya Wright

Co-founder, production manager

I'm our communications and marketing person, dealing with social media and copywriting. I also work with Matt and Ric overseeing the design and strategic management of the site. I'm also the author of the Eva the Hungry Amoeba children's book series (only one so far). You can find it on Amazon. My favourite foods, shepherds pie and smoked haddock!

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