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Ultra-processed foods study

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Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    senecarr wrote: »
    There are a few posts around that insist that people know what others eat based on looking at shopping carts, peaking in windows, etc.
    I find this interesting because, in a scientific sense, I don't even know what I eat unless I consult my food logs. Dieticians logging their food even get it wrong by about 25% at first according to at least one study.

    When I peek into obese peoples shopping trolleys, with their obese children toddling along behind, I have never once been surprised in what I see. It's usually obvious why they are obese :(

    It must not be obvious to me. Why?

    Seriously??? Because the majority of their haul is highly processed junk food, and very little if any whole fresh food. You know... The usual weight gain suspects.

    Adults do what you want, but when i see them feeding this stuff to their kids actively contributing to their obesity, it just makes me see red.

    so your observation is based on the .000001% of the population that you happen to see on a certain day in the supermarket?

    If someone saw me on a day that I ran out of talenti and I am stocking up on five different flavors then they would probably assume I am glutton as well....

    Are you obese with obese children??

    Not sure what that has to do with anything ...

    It was the point of my post... When I see obese people in the grocery store, nearly everyday, the contents in their trolley reflects their weight.

    Probably where you live... Where I live, "obese people with obese children" actually have about 80% of their carts in "minimally processed foods" because I live in a culture of home cooking. I'm obese, I've always been MORBIDLY obese, and the amount of processed foods I had from birth till now is probably a one year's worth for someone else somewhere else, obese or not. I probably consume 5 times my previous amount of processed food now that I'm dieting because the packaged calories are convenient. It simply can't be generalized by looking at how people in your neighborhood eat. Obesity is a function of calories, processed or not.

    Actually, epidemiology tells us that the consumption of ultra-processed foods is positively associated with the increased prevalence of obesity.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24667658
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20029821
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25804833
    Of course this is just correlation, and doesn't mean that highly processed foods are obesogenic per se. But considering that they are, by definition, a nutritionally poor choice, I see no reason to "stand up" for them.

    Depends on the definition. (Which is covered in earlier posts in this thread or maybe the other ultraprocessed food thread--I only recently realized there were two separate ones.)

    the study mentioned in the OP has a pretty clear definition:
    "Ultra-processed foods were defined as industrial formulations which, besides salt, sugar, oils and fats, include substances not used in culinary preparations, in particular additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations" so, yes, definitely nutritionally poor.

    There's nothing in that statement that means the foods are nutritionally poor.

    Where does my Greek yogurt fall in their category? gufnmrkuoigy.jpg

    It also has Nitrogen. The Food babe told me they pump it into planes, and now they are putting it right into foods!

    Yes. This is ultra processed. On top of that it has nitrogen. You're gonna die and I'm not. My yogurt is better than yours!


    b6fvfagrmuin.png

    9% fat?! Do they add extra cream to the milk? Pure cow milk is around 4% IIRC.

    Greek yogurt is basically regular yogurt that is strained. It loses some of its whey but most of the fat remains intact. We also make it at home and typically buy 3 kg of milk to get about 1 kg of greek yogurt.

    Ah, that makes sense now. It's referring to the fat % of the final product. Typically, when you see fat % on dairy products in the US such as cheeses or yogurt, it refers to the fat % of the milk used to make it.

    Like this:
    Fage+Total+2%2525+Greek+Yogurt+with+Cherry.jpg

    That's interesting. I think our labeling is still living in the 80s and 90s. In addition to conventional labeling there is always this additional tidbit of the percentage of fat in the product.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    edited March 2016
    yarwell wrote: »
    Ah, that makes sense now. It's referring to the fat % of the final product. Typically, when you see fat % on dairy products in the US such as cheeses or yogurt, it refers to the fat % of the milk used to make it.

    Another epic fail of US labelling

    I'm not sure how stating the fat % of the milk used vs. the fat % of the final product is a fail. It's just a difference. It's not like that information is hidden. The total fat and calories from fat is stated right there on the nutrition information.
    senecarr wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    senecarr wrote: »
    There are a few posts around that insist that people know what others eat based on looking at shopping carts, peaking in windows, etc.
    I find this interesting because, in a scientific sense, I don't even know what I eat unless I consult my food logs. Dieticians logging their food even get it wrong by about 25% at first according to at least one study.

    When I peek into obese peoples shopping trolleys, with their obese children toddling along behind, I have never once been surprised in what I see. It's usually obvious why they are obese :(

    It must not be obvious to me. Why?

    Seriously??? Because the majority of their haul is highly processed junk food, and very little if any whole fresh food. You know... The usual weight gain suspects.

    Adults do what you want, but when i see them feeding this stuff to their kids actively contributing to their obesity, it just makes me see red.

    so your observation is based on the .000001% of the population that you happen to see on a certain day in the supermarket?

    If someone saw me on a day that I ran out of talenti and I am stocking up on five different flavors then they would probably assume I am glutton as well....

    Are you obese with obese children??

    Not sure what that has to do with anything ...

    It was the point of my post... When I see obese people in the grocery store, nearly everyday, the contents in their trolley reflects their weight.

    Probably where you live... Where I live, "obese people with obese children" actually have about 80% of their carts in "minimally processed foods" because I live in a culture of home cooking. I'm obese, I've always been MORBIDLY obese, and the amount of processed foods I had from birth till now is probably a one year's worth for someone else somewhere else, obese or not. I probably consume 5 times my previous amount of processed food now that I'm dieting because the packaged calories are convenient. It simply can't be generalized by looking at how people in your neighborhood eat. Obesity is a function of calories, processed or not.

    Actually, epidemiology tells us that the consumption of ultra-processed foods is positively associated with the increased prevalence of obesity.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24667658
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20029821
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25804833
    Of course this is just correlation, and doesn't mean that highly processed foods are obesogenic per se. But considering that they are, by definition, a nutritionally poor choice, I see no reason to "stand up" for them.

    Depends on the definition. (Which is covered in earlier posts in this thread or maybe the other ultraprocessed food thread--I only recently realized there were two separate ones.)

    the study mentioned in the OP has a pretty clear definition:
    "Ultra-processed foods were defined as industrial formulations which, besides salt, sugar, oils and fats, include substances not used in culinary preparations, in particular additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations" so, yes, definitely nutritionally poor.

    There's nothing in that statement that means the foods are nutritionally poor.

    Where does my Greek yogurt fall in their category? gufnmrkuoigy.jpg

    It also has Nitrogen. The Food babe told me they pump it into planes, and now they are putting it right into foods!

    Yes. This is ultra processed. On top of that it has nitrogen. You're gonna die and I'm not. My yogurt is better than yours!


    b6fvfagrmuin.png

    9% fat?! Do they add extra cream to the milk? Pure cow milk is around 4% IIRC.

    Greek yogurt is basically regular yogurt that is strained. It loses some of its whey but most of the fat remains intact. We also make it at home and typically buy 3 kg of milk to get about 1 kg of greek yogurt.

    Ah, that makes sense now. It's referring to the fat % of the final product. Typically, when you see fat % on dairy products in the US such as cheeses or yogurt, it refers to the fat % of the milk used to make it.

    Like this:
    Fage+Total+2%2525+Greek+Yogurt+with+Cherry.jpg

    That's interesting. I think our labeling is still living in the 80s and 90s. In addition to conventional labeling there is always this additional tidbit of the percentage of fat in the product.

    We still that leftover from the low fat trend as well. Calories from fat is still specifically called out in our nutrition labels.

    4azmw66jjr8o.jpg

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    It is overwhelming to think that our diets are really quite deficient on average of all the micronutrients that the body needs to perform its functions. It comes as no suprize that alot of the illnesses these days go hand in gand with nutritional deficiencies. The more processed a food the more you chance contamination also, i am talking harmful organisms, toxic heavy metals and whatever the product manufacterers procedures are.

    I am looking at my diet closely lately and even on my best days my vegetables and fruit are only getting close to 50% of my total calories. Everyone needs to do as much as they can to take responsibility for their choices. If illness really is to continue on we need to really look at how we are educating our children and if we are in fact preparing them to be able to cook all their snacks meals from home we can minimize the ignorance and give them the power to not only benefit but enjoy food in a safe healthy way.

    But most fruits and (especially) vegetables aren't that calorie dense, so even if you eat a lot of them they might not make up more than 50% of your intake. Non-fruits and vegetables have nutritional value too, so I'm not sure what the significance is of that 50% number for you.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
    It is overwhelming to think that our diets are really quite deficient on average of all the micronutrients that the body needs to perform its functions. It comes as no suprize that alot of the illnesses these days go hand in gand with nutritional deficiencies. The more processed a food the more you chance contamination also, i am talking harmful organisms, toxic heavy metals and whatever the product manufacterers procedures are.

    Modern medicine has a lot to do with the survival and breeding of people with nutritional issues, especially allergies. The people with these would die out long before being able to have children and pass on the traits. To blame it all on Big Foods is ridiculous.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    It is overwhelming to think that our diets are really quite deficient on average of all the micronutrients that the body needs to perform its functions. It comes as no suprize that alot of the illnesses these days go hand in gand with nutritional deficiencies. The more processed a food the more you chance contamination also, i am talking harmful organisms, toxic heavy metals and whatever the product manufacterers procedures are.

    I am looking at my diet closely lately and even on my best days my vegetables and fruit are only getting close to 50% of my total calories. Everyone needs to do as much as they can to take responsibility for their choices. If illness really is to continue on we need to really look at how we are educating our children and if we are in fact preparing them to be able to cook all their snacks meals from home we can minimize the ignorance and give them the power to not only benefit but enjoy food in a safe healthy way.

    But most fruits and (especially) vegetables aren't that calorie dense, so even if you eat a lot of them they might not make up more than 50% of your intake. Non-fruits and vegetables have nutritional value too, so I'm not sure what the significance is of that 50% number for you.

    Agreed. I think people get so caught up in fruits and vegetables being nutrient dense that they forget most other food also provides micronutrients. I've never read a recommendation for 50% of calories from fruit/veg. Many of those plate graphics show the plate 50% full of vegetables/fruit but that very different than calories.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Ah, that makes sense now. It's referring to the fat % of the final product. Typically, when you see fat % on dairy products in the US such as cheeses or yogurt, it refers to the fat % of the milk used to make it.

    Another epic fail of US labelling

    I'm not sure how stating the fat % of the milk used vs. the fat % of the final product is a fail. It's just a difference. It's not like that information is hidden. The total fat and calories from fat is stated right there on the nutrition information.


    Prominence of information. I would be fairly confident of getting a label like that banned here on account of it being misleading.

    What it's made from isn't really relevant to anything, I could make heavy whipping cream or 0% fat yoghurt from 2% fat milk.

This discussion has been closed.