FULL OF JUNK – AND WON’T FILL YOU UP!

WHAT does ‘ultra-processed’ really mean? According to the NOVA system, which places foods into one of four categories, based on how processed it is, ultra-processed foods contain ingredients you wouldn’t add when making food at home — colourings, sweeteners or preservatives with names you don’t recognise.

Examples include soft drinks, ice-cream, biscuits, sugary cereals, chicken nuggets and sausages, as well as some seemingly healthy low-fat spreads, protein bars and flavoured low-fat yoghurts.

At the other end of the scale are ‘unprocessed or minimally processed foods’ — foods in their original form, such as fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. These may have undergone basic processing, such as drying, freezing or pasteurising but don’t contain any added ingredients.

Next are ‘processed culinary ingredients’ — such as sugar, salt, vegetable oils and honey. The final group consists of ‘processed foods’ — relatively simple products made by adding salt, sugar or oil to an food. Pickling, salting and canning are all examples, as is unpackaged, fresh bread.

But what makes ultra processed food so hard to resist? No one is sure but one possibility is that the combination of intense processing and lack of fibre means they are they are softer and so easier to eat — allowing us to gulp them down without feeling full.

‘The faster consumption — proven in studies — means that appetite suppression hormones, like PYY, take longer to be activated,’ says Dr Carrie Ruxton, an independent dietitian. ‘We then keep eating for longer with consequences for our calorie intake and waistlines.’

And last but not least , human beings have an innate love for things with sugar and salt.