Are ultra-processed foods healthy?

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Ultra-processed foods include prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals, and pleasure foods such as hot dogs, sausages, french fries, sodas, store-bought cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, ice cream, and many more. Such foods are typically high in calories, added sugar, and salt and low in fiber, all of which can contribute to cardiometabolic health problems, weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, experts say, and increased risk of stroke. The study analyzed data on 30,000 people participating in the regard, or Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study, made up of 50 % Whites and 50% Blacks in a nationally diverse group of people who have been followed for up to 20 years. The risk of stroke was 8% higher for people who added the most ultra-processed foods to their diet as compared with those who ate minimally processed foods, said study author and neurologist Dr. W. Taylor Kimberly, chief of the division of neurocritical care at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. That risk rose to 15 % for Black participants, likely due to the impact of ultra-processed foods on high blood pressure in that population, Kimberly said. However, if a person ate more unprocessed or minimally processed foods, the risk of stroke dropped by 9 %, the study found. We need to put a sign in the ultra-processed food section, or on the packaging like they do on cigarettes, saying, ‘Warning, this food may be detrimental to your health,’” Freeman said. “What we think of as ‘convenient food’ really needs to change from a package of chips to an apple or carrot that is also shelf-stable and can travel in your purse or backpack,” he said. “And we need to make that kind of stuff more readily available, especially to our kids and in food deserts where often all the available food is ultra-processed.”

Dietary pattern: Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Include healthy sources of protein, mostly from plant sources (legumes and nuts), fish and seafood, fat-free or low-fat dairy, lean cuts of unprocessed meat, and skinless poultry. Drink eight to 12 cups of water daily. Fish, berries, brassicas, eggs, nuts and seeds, and oats are also good food choices. Avocados are rich in healthy monounsaturated fat, avocados also contain protein, potassium, magnesium, folic acid, B vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Nutrient-dense foods include- Nuts, sweet potato, salmon, legumes, kale, quinoa, berries, and dandelion greens. Eat dark green vegetables at least three to four times a week. Whole grains at least two or three times daily. Try to eat a bean-based meal at least once a week.

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