The Dangers Of Ultra Processed Food

We have stopped eating ultra processed food wherever possible. 

It’s unavoidable today that we have to eat some form of processed food. Even a sliced apple or the fresh vegetables in ntuc is processed to a certain degree.

Ultra processed food is entirely different. Proper food must either contribute to the growth or the burning of an organism to qualify as real food. Ultra processed food does neither. 

Ultra processed foods like instant noodles and junk fast food have very little nutrients and fibre, but they also contain a lot of sugar. 

And we are not referring to the sugar found in fresh fruits and vegetables, but something called high fructose corn syrup which is added to almost all ultra processed foods.

Ultra processed foods remove almost all sources of fibre and usually dehydrated to achieve a long shelf life which eliminates almost all vitamins and nutrients, leaving very little taste as well. 

Fructose syrup is added to give it flavour and this is done even in savoury foods to achieve a “bliss point” that when someone eats such foods, they will find it tasty and not realise that sugar is used.

Fructose can be found in fruits naturally, but the fructose syrup used in processed foods is man made, and is commonly added to very unhealthy stuff like sodas, sweetened drinks and the prior mentioned savoury instant foods. 

Fructose, unlike glucose and lactose is also the only sugar that cannot be used by every cell in our body for burning. It is only metabolised in the liver into glucose and excess fructose is turned into fat. 

Which is why sugar is the key driver for obesity today, and when the pancreas that produces insulin to manage the glucose into our bloodstream cannot cope, insulin resistance occurs. This is how people get diabetes. 

Beyond just diabetes, too much sugar and fructose in particular can lead to other chronic diseases which we can prevent in the first place and we will also discuss this in a separate post.

That’s why we encourage everyone to eliminate as much of ultra processed foods from your diet today to begin living a chronic disease free life.