IS ULTRA PROCESSED FOOD ACTUALLY BAD FOR YOU?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you only had McDonald’s for 30 days straight? Well, a man documented his journey of doing this, tracking his health with a team of medical practitioners. Picture this: a man, a mountain of fries, and a team of brave medical practitioners documenting the journey. Spoiler alert – it's not a happy meal for your health! Documenting every nugget, fry, and questionable McFlurry choice along the way, what would have been the result? Not surprisingly, he gained weight, but also, the McAdventurer doubled his risk of coronary heart disease, doubling the risk of heart failure. We all know we need to eat healthy, looking at the catastrophic effects unhealthy or junk food can have on us. But the problem is that we all have fragmented information that we call nutrition. So, let’s discuss what even is healthy and how to begin the process of achieving a healthier body, soul, and mind. So, let's chat. What is considered healthy in spinach? How can we untangle this spaghetti of nutritional confusion? What is unhealthy and what is not?

Harvard spills the beans (and not the canned ones!) – unprocessed foods are the unsung heroes, the Avengers of nutrition, if you will. They're the whole foods, strutting around with all their vitamins and nutrients intact, having dodged the processing mayhem. Now, let's debunk a myth that's been swirling in the culinary world – the belief that home-cooked equals healthy, while restaurant equals a nutritional battlefield. Newsflash: it's not about where the food is cooked; it's about how it's prepared. We're talking about the tricky business of processing. Processing changes the natural state of a food. Ultra-processed or highly processed foods are the sneaky villains of this story. They're the ones with a dark side, throwing in extra salt, oil, sugar, artificial colors, and preservatives. The simple and rustic way of home cooking is the magic we need. What does eating unhealthy food do to us?

Isn’t packaged, ready-to-go food so convenient! Why should we even bother if something is processed or not?

Cell-Metabolism published a study to quash some of these very questions. They pitted unprocessed and ultra-processed foods against each other in the ring. They took 20 healthy and stable individuals on an experimental journey, pitting unprocessed and ultra-processed diets against each other for a whopping 14 days each. Participants were randomly assigned either ultra-processed or unprocessed diets, and they were instructed to do so. With a team of medical professionals to monitor everything, participants were served either unprocessed or ultra-processed diets at random. To level the playing field, all the diets were matched for presented calories, sugar, fat, fiber, and macronutrients.

The result? A 500-calorie binge on the ultra-processed side, like a junk food whisper enticing one more bite. Convenient? Yes. Healthy? Not so much.

Another study done on over 100,000 French adults over a five-year period observed that a higher intake of processed foods had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. In a world filled with tempting shortcuts and packaged delights, the magic we need lies in simple, rustic home cooking. It’s time to swap the golden arches for green plates and savor the benefits of a whole food adventure.