You have probably heard that a eating highly processed foods is bad for you, and that a diet high in “whole” foods is healthier. But how bad are processed foods, really?

A recent study, showed that greater consumption of what they called “ultra-processed” foods was associated with higher mortality from all causes. Among 77,437 participants followed for an average of 7.5 years there were 9,293 deaths. They saw an
approximately 14% higher mortality in those consuming more ultra-processed foods
even in a relatively long-lived, health-conscious population with a large proportion of
vegetarians. The study compared the 90th percentile of people, who got 48% of their caloric intake from ultra-processed food, to the 10th percentile, who got 12% of dietary energy from ultra-processed food. The average American gets 57% of their calories from ultra-processed foods—even more than the high end of the study group.

So what are ultra-processed foods? Ultra-processed foods are produced to “optimize” taste, texture, shelf-life, and production costs, not health. They tend to be higher in a variety of ingredients that are of potential concern (especially when consumed in excess), such as added sugars, trans fats and saturated fats, and sodium. These features are well-known to promote increased body weight, higher blood pressure and higher cholesterol. They are typically calorie dense and tend to replace significant quantities of less processed foods in the diet. They have little to no dietary fiber and a relative absence of vitamins. The high energy density, low fiber content, and high palatability of many ultra-processed foods may all contribute to overconsumption.

Some common ultra-processed products are: Many ready-to-consume products such as carbonated soft drinks; sweet or savory packaged snacks; chocolate, candies
(confectionery); ice-cream; mass-produced packaged breads and buns; margarines and other spreads; cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes, and cake mixes; breakfast ‘cereals’, ‘cereal’ and ‘energy’ bars; ‘energy’ drinks; milk drinks, ‘fruit’ yogurts and ‘fruit’ drinks; ‘cocoa’ drinks; ‘instant’ sauces. Many pre-prepared ready-to-heat products including pies and pasta and pizza dishes; poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products;
and powdered and packaged ‘instant’ soups, noodles and desserts; ‘health’ and ‘slimming’ products such as meal replacement shakes and powders.

If this looks like your grocery shopping list, you may be in trouble. We all get tempted by the typically sweet or salty taste, eye-catching packaging and advertising, and convenience of processed foods. But, if your goal is longevity, you probably want to cut back on these items as much as possible. It is helpful to think of them as an occasional treat and not a dietary staple. I have cut back on a lot of these items—especially soda—and try to buy single-serving packages of the snacks I do buy to reduce overeating. In a future post, I will talk more about the importance of portion control. Until then, try to make the switch to healthier, less-processed options.