Search for real food, not ultra-processed one!

Dr Yousuf Ali al Mulla - We know that ultra-processed foods are made in factories, and different chemicals and other additives for colour and flavour are added to them. But, amazingly, we still ignore exactly why it is so bad for us! The worry is not about the nutrients in such food, but absolutely about associated chemical changes that occur in the food as a result of processing in factories. So, policies and rules ideally should shift their priorities away from food reformulation, which risks positioning ultra-processed food as a solution to dietary problems. The ultra-processed food has been defined as ready-to-eat and microwaveable foods, such as bread, breakfast cereals, chicken or fish nuggets, chocolate bars chips and artificially sweetened beverages. I believe it is high time that we monitored our intake of ultra-processed foods and if we could cut down on our amounts could help us live longer. So, don’t be confused here as obviously most foods we eat are processed in some way. Apples are cut from trees and butter has been separated from the milk and churned. But there is a difference between mechanical processing and chemical processing. If it’s a single ingredient food with no added chemicals, then it doesn’t matter if it’s been ground or put into a jar. It’s still real food! People know that processed foods often have fewer nutrients than unprocessed foods and they contain higher amounts of sugar, salt, saturated fat all of which are associated with an increased risk for chronic diseases, yet their consumption is high! Surprisingly, an observational study done by a Spanish university found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods (more than 4 servings per day) is associated with a 62 per cent increased mortality risk compared with lower consumption (less than 2 servings per day). For each additional daily serving of ultra-processed food, mortality risk relatively increased by 18 per cent . Most highly processed foods are loaded with artificial chemicals, including flavourings, texturants, colourants and preservatives. Hence, we need to keep in mind that ultra-processed foods can contain dozens of additional chemicals that aren’t even listed on the label. Sadly, some people become addicted to this stuff and completely lose control over their consumption. Although food addiction is something that most people don’t know about, I am personally convinced that it is a huge problem in our society today! Definitely food manufacturers want their processed food products to have a long shelf life. We cannot ignore this aspect which leads to different health issues. Ultra-processed food contains refined simple carbohydrates, which can lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels and cause negative health effects. Also, it is not just how this food can increase the weight of consumer or its unhealthy fat can significantly increase risk of heart disease and cancer. It is just simply you cannot make ultra-processed food healthy by pumping more and more nutrients. Real food is the key to good health and ultra-processed one is not! We need new policies on importing such food and also on producing it. We shouldn’t wait until the harm is done. Any delayed action will increase the risk and take a heavy toll on health and wealth! Dr Yousuf Ali al Mulla, MD, Ministry of Health. He is a medical innovator and educator. For any queries regarding the content of the column, he can be contacted at: dryusufalmulla@gmail.com