Ultra-Processed Foods (UPF)

Edition: 2024-11-24

Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are getting increasing attention these days, in many cases from dissident health advocates. There are even attempts to define ⓦUPF.

It’s to a large extent a distraction.

• The terms used mistakenly focus the attention on the processing (2% of the problem), rather than on the ingredients themselves (98% of the problem).
• The associated narrative tends to focus on avoidance, and is usually weak or even mistaken on what to eat instead.
• But people do need to learn what elements make UPFs such a problem, because elements to avoid need to be avoided whether in a packaged food or not.
• Few of the pernicious forms of food processing are going to be disclosed for the product at all, whereas key RAS ingredients are usually plainly visible.

The program here has had no specific focus on UPF to date, and infrequently uses the phrase “junk food”. On one hand, on a whole foods diet, processed foods simply don’t arise. On the other, grains need to be avoided even as home-milled organic heirloom einkorn.

⟲ Detecting a UPF

So just what is the “junk” in junk food?

• Simply checking net carbs on a processed food-like substance is a quick disqualifier.
     Net-carbs = Total_carbs - Total_fiber
  This needs to be 15 grams or less for the whole meal or 6 hour interval, and probably less than 8 grams for a snack. Most UPFs are going to fail this step, which inherently rules out excess non-grain carbs like sugary fruits, potato starch and pseudo-cereals.

If you’re going to consume things that have Ingredients list, you have to learn how to read them. When further considering a packaged food or purchased prepared menu item, the routine program avoidance of the following ingredients is going to rule out 99% of UPFs:

• Grains (any seed of grass)
• Sugars (any mono- or di-saccharides)
• Artificial sweeteners (excluding non-nutritive naturals)
• Most seed oils (grain, legume, or otherwise high in ω6LA or unspecified ω9)
• Emulsifiers, Stabilizers, Preservatives (learn to identify)
• Colorants (utterly unnecessary)
• Flavorants (if needed, they trashed the natural ingredients)
• Trans fats (hydrogenation)
• Fried or oil-roasted anything
• Lack of Organic and non-GMO claims

Anything that passes that test can then be pondered for:

• Suspect proteins (soy, pea, whey)
• Ingredients presenting undisclosed modern toxin risks
• Non-credible drupe oils (olive, avocado)

Anything that passes all those tests is not going be a UPF.

Note that salt is not on the list. If it really has too much, you won’t take a second bite anyway.
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Bob Niland [⎆disclosures] [⎆topics] [⎆abbreviations]