Posted on 01/16/2025 6:49:18 AM PST by MtnClimber
“Ultraprocessed foods.” That sounds really bad. In fact, not just really bad, but really, really bad. Bad on a level with, maybe, “assault rifles” or “cis-heteronormativity.” Definitely, with a condemnatory name like that, “ultraprocessed foods” would be something that no sensible person would ever eat, or at least certainly not in large quantities.
The term “ultraprocessed foods” has been in usage for a while, but the frequency seems to have exploded everywhere in the past few months. Perhaps that has resulted from the naming of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has made a thing about proclaiming a health crisis in the U.S., which he asserts is substantially brought about by our “broken food system.” On November 15 — just after President-elect Trump tapped Kennedy to lead HHS in the new administration — The New York Times had a piece outlining Kennedy’s critiques of the “food system.” Number one on the list of Kennedy’s critiques identified by the NYT was “ultraprocessed food.”
After reading this, I thought it might be time for me to get on top of what this “ultraprocessed food” stuff might be. Is this something that you need to really be concerned about, or is it just another one of the usual scare tactics of the left to try to take more control of your life? The answer, as will not surprise you, is the latter.
Fortunately, I went into this investigation comfortable in the knowledge that this “ultraprocessed foods” thing had little or nothing to do with me. I only eat the healthiest of the healthy. For example, yesterday for dinner for Mrs. MC and myself, I went to the store and bought a fresh salmon filet, some new potatoes, and a head of broccoli — the freshest of possible “whole” foods. I sautéed the salmon in a pan, and for the potatoes and broccoli, I mixed them in a bowl with just some oil and salt and roasted them in the oven. Delicious! And also, the farthest thing possible from “ultraprocessed food.” Or so you might think.
And then, to begin my research, I followed a link in The New York Times piece cited above, and came to this April 21, 2023 article in Nature Communications, one of the many affiliate publications of the premier British science journal Nature. Or maybe I should put the word “science” there in scare quotes, because Nature has so thoroughly disgraced itself by falling for and propagating the climate scam, let alone who knows what other pseudoscience. But for whatever residual level of credibility they may have left, I was still surprised to learn that the article claimed that some 73% of the U.S. food supply is “ultraprocessed.” How is such a high level even possible? This seemingly very precise figure had supposedly been determined by a new “machine learning algorithm”:
Here we introduce a machine learning algorithm that accurately predicts the degree of processing for any food, indicating that over 73% of the US food supply is ultra-processed.
And how about this to scare you:
We show that the increased reliance of an individual’s diet on ultra-processed food correlates with higher risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, angina, elevated blood pressure and biological age, and reduces the bio-availability of vitamins.
Here is another piece from Harvard Health Publishing, June 17, 2024, with the title “Ultra-processed foods? Just say no.” The thesis, based on “new research,” is that consumption of “ultraprocessed foods” increases the risk of cognitive impairment and strokes:
[I]f you . . . eat some ultra-processed foods, is that bad for your brain health? A new study appears to deliver resounding yes: eating ultra-processed foods is linked to a greater risk of cognitive impairment and strokes.
Both of these pieces give examples of things that are said to fall in the “ultraprocessed” category — things like Twinkies and non-diet cola — but no precise or comprehensive definition. Surely nobody has a diet consisting of 73% Twinkies and non-diet cola, or of anything comparable. They must be sweeping lots of other things into the definition. But what? How are we supposed to avoid these things without a comprehensive definition?
At this point, before I might find myself prematurely in the grave, I decided it was time for some of my own research. For my first subject of inquiry I picked potato chips. “Ultraprocessed” or not? Remarkably, I find some debate in the literature about whether potato chips are “ultraprocessed” versus merely “processed.” But plenty of articles call them “ultraprocessed,” for example this piece from Canada’s Global News, October 12, 2023 (“From pop to potato chips, report finds ultra-processed food can be addictive. . . . Ultra-processed foods like sugary drinks, potato chips and ready meals can cause withdrawal symptoms similar to people trying to quit smoking. . . .”).
There was a reason I looked up potato chips first. On a bag of potato chips, the ingredients are listed as: potatoes, oil, salt. Those are the exact same ingredients as in the potato dish in my super-healthy meal last night. Could I really have been eating “ultraprocessed food”? I’m now starting to understand how 73% of an American diet can be “ultraprocessed.”
Let me try three more common items that have been promoted to me for decades as the quintessential super-healthy foods: whole grain breakfast cereal, Greek yogurt, and whole wheat bread. I find all three of those considered together in this July 6, 2022 piece from a source called Very Well Health. Surprise:
Whole grain breakfast cereal, Greek yogurt, and 100% whole wheat bread have more in common than being part of a “balanced breakfast”—they can all be classified as “ultra-processed” foods. . . . Some estimates have found that up to 73% of the American food supply is ultra-processed foods. However, experts don’t agree on what to do about ultra-processed foods—or even how to classify them.
So, if whole grain breakfast cereal, Greek yogurt, and whole wheat bread are “ultraprocessed foods,” are they part of the cause of “higher risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, angina, elevated blood pressure and biological age” that Nature attributes to “ultraprocessed foods”? Are they part of the cause of “greater risk of cognitive impairment and strokes” that Harvard Medical School attributes to “ultraprocessed foods.” If they are not, then how do we tell which of the “ultraprocessed foods” are the ones that must be avoided and which not?
The Very Well Health piece, in contrast to the pieces from far more “prestigious” sources like Nature and Harvard Medical School, is actually relatively informative on this subject. The piece provides some history, which I will spare you, of how the “ultraprocessed foods” characterization got started and developed. A fair summary is that it is a part of the overall UN effort to smear the West and the productive countries and companies of the world.
I’m certainly not recommending a diet consisting of nothing but Twinkies and non-diet cola. However, I’ve done plenty of research to conclude that the category of “ultraprocessed foods” is completely meaningless as a guide to trying to figure out how to eat a reasonably healthy diet. The pseudo-category of “ultraprocessed foods” includes plenty of things that are very healthy, plenty of things that are fine in moderation, and plenty of things to (mostly) avoid — and no assistance in distinguishing which ones are which. Institutions like Nature and Harvard Medical School that purport to reach epidemiological conclusions based on this pseudo-category only demonstrate their own incompetence.
As to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — if there is one Trump cabinet pick whom I would be happy to see not confirmed, he would be it.
Agreed. Start with all the corn syrup derivatives and fancy chemical additives.
My other point is people like to complain with their mouth full.
The Israelites did have a perfect food...........manna.
baked manna
fricasseed manna
French fried manna
steamed manna
stewed manna
etc.
all they did was complain.
They are not "ultra processed".
My rule of thumb is "if you can make it in your kitchen it is not ultra processed".
Now things like "beyond meat" is indeed ultra processed. No way you could make that in your kitchen. Black bean burger on the other hand can be easily made.
RFK won’t be in charge of guns.
Ultra processed foods.
Assault rifle.
Political blanket buzz words.
We just need truth in labeling…then we can all pick our own truth and poisons.
Likely the fresh eating kind. The Monsanto/Bayer patented Round Up ready GMO corn is field corn used for animal feed, corn flour/starch and all those extracted ingredients in the image.
That’s pretty much where I am. As long as he stays in his swim lane of HHS I’m fine with him. I want to see us stop being the only place on earth (besides New Zealand) that has pharma advertising.
All of our news media and broadcast companies are flooded with money from Pfizer Et al. It isn’t to push the product, it is to prevent those news outlets from honest reporting on things like the Covid clot-shot.
So if RFK wants to talk big pharma, seed oils, drug advertising, no more sex change drugs etc, i’m fine with him. But if he defines “Health” as gun control, climate change etc.... big problem.
Can’t tell you how many times we’ve had intestinal problems after eating out. Twice at Ruby’s BBQ (different locations to boot) when it always shows up on the best lists. Sick from the local donut place. Disgustingly grossed out at the local Whataburger when the dude stuck his spatula down the backside of his pants for a nice long scratch!!! Same with the “good” local Mexican restaurant where the waitstaff sticks the clean tableware in their back pockets they likely dropped to the floor when they used the restroom. Black goo under the Sonic gal’s fingernails. And the employees were taken to court for spitting and snotting on the sheriff’s food. And the place across the street from the school had poo clogged toilets the entire year. Whew, if only everyone would take a little time to know how awful the Boar’s Head recall was. It is too much to ask for food workers to wash their hands and especially at food trucks.
No thanks on eating out or prepared and processed food. The best we can do is cross your fingers with fresh and the least processed foods and cook at home to safe temps that kill the ickies. Don’t trust the microwave to kill the ickies since too many people can’t be bothered to nuke the middle to even thaw the ice in the middle.
No thanks on eating out or prepared and processed food
Just trying to get people to think about expectations and choices. We have choices, that is the amazing thing.
I often partake of fermented potato juice.
I’m doomed, but I too hope RFK doesn’t go all nanny Bloomberg on US.
My point is that I often hear people talk about how good we have it with our iPhones, world class medicine, material wealth, quantity and quality of food, etc...
...but all of these supposed luxuries aren't stopping us from wilting and withering and dying on the vine and the food aspect may even be the CAUSE of some of our maladies. Contrast this to past populations with fewer luxuries and less reliable food who experienced tremendous growth in population and innovation and overall better health.
My difference was with your original statement of "Anyone in history would trade us for our modern food and available selection."
Even if you may be right that they WOULD trade, perhaps they would be ill advised to do so.
RFK Jr is right about food and big ag and big pharma, but.......Yeah, I don’t trust him on other topics.
Not yet.
Yup.
Even if you may be right that they WOULD trade, perhaps they would be ill advised to do so.
The US has always had a cheap food policy. historically 15-20% of income in the us has been for food. some places that is much higher.
I know of no incidents of starving to death. I grew up poor, ate a lot of beans and rice. Wouldn’t trade that for anything.
We agree basically, we are both trying to get people to think about things.
Very well said.
I grow a lot of my own food and buy heirloom seeds that breed true if you save the seeds, and they are not Round-Up resistant.
Yes, I realize not everyone can do so, but people can grow even small amounts of stuff in pots on their patios or check out local farmers markets and get to know some real farmers.
Thank you for posting this article. I’m adding “ultraprocessed foods” to my list of Bullstuff Words and Phrases.
That would depend on the oil.
Not being discussed here is gmo foods or oils. The US still has failed to supply long term studies on the long term effects of eating GMO corn to Mexico. This GMO corn is banned from production in Mexico. Am guessing that other GMO products are included. Viva la Mexico or something for standing up to their people’s health long term. That won’t happen in this Corporate Oligarchy.
It’s the oil the potatoes are dunked in that is ultra processed. canola is an industrial lubricant ultra processed to remove the poison and the smell. canola oil is also an ingredient in “organic” pesticides.
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