Which processed foods are better than their natural versions

The language used to describe the foods we eat can have a big effect on how we perceive them: “organic”, “artisan”, “homemade” and “select” seem a little more tempting than prosaic “canned”. , “Rehydrated”. “or” lyophilized “.

Another adjective that can whet our appetites is “natural”, whereas we tend to associate “processed” with products with a long list of unpronounceable ingredients.

But when it comes to our health, is natural always better than transformed?

In fact, the natural does not automatically mean that a food is healthy, says Christina Sadler, director of the European Food Information Council and researcher at the University of Surrey in the UK.

In fact, natural foods can contain toxins, and minimal processing can make them safer.

Beans, for example, contain lectins, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. They are removed by soaking them overnight, then cooking them in boiling water.

The treatment also makes it possible to drink cow’s milk safely.

The milk is pasteurized since the end of the 19th century to kill harmful bacteria. Previously, it was distributed locally, as there was no good refrigeration in the houses.

“Cows were milked every day and people brought milk to their neighborhoods to sell,” says John Lucey, professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States.

“But the cities got bigger, the milk moved away and it took longer to reach the consumer, which meant the pathogens could multiply.”

Growing evidence suggesting that certain organisms in milk could be harmful has led to the development of heaters for milk and the invention of pasteurization, which was quickly adopted in Europe and later in the United States. United.

“It is one of the success stories in public health the most important of the last century, ”says Lucey.

“Just before World War II, about a quarter of all food and waterborne illnesses came from milk. Now it is less than 1% ”.

Processing can also help retain the nutrients in what we eat.

For example, the frozen, which is classified as minimal processing, allows fruits and vegetables to retain nutrients that might otherwise break down in the refrigerator.

“Often the vegetables are frozen soon after harvest, rather than being picked, transported and then put on the shelves, losing nutrients,” says Sadler.

In 2017, a group of researchers bought fresh vegetables from different grocery stores and tested their levels of nutrients, including vitamin C and folic acid, on the day they bought them and within five days of making them and putting them in the refrigerator.

They saw that they had comparable nutrient levels. And in some cases, the study found that frozen foods had higher levels than those stored in the refrigerator.

“There is a misconception that frozen food is not as good as fresh food, but it’s really inaccurate,” says Ronald Pegg, professor of food science and technology at the University of Georgia, also at the States. -United.

Processing also adds vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin D, calcium and folate, to some processed foods, including bread and cereals.

These efforts have helped reduce various nutrient deficiencies among the general public.

However, this does not necessarily make the meal nutritionally balanced.

Treatment may also help preserve food and make it more accessible.

Fermentation makes cheese stable for longer and in some cases reduces the amount of lactose, making it more digestible for those with mild intolerance.

In the past, the main reason foods were processed was to increase their shelf life.

For a long time, preserving food by adding ingredients like sugar or salt was crucial for people to survive the winter, says Gunter Kuhnle, professor of food and nutritional sciences at the University of Reading.

“The process allowed us to be where we are today, because it prevented us from starving, ”he explains.

“There are many foods that need to be processed to be consumed, such as bread. We couldn’t survive on grain alone ”.

Adding heat, also a minimal process, makes many foods edible, such as potatoes and mushrooms.

“Canned tomatoes are a classic example that processed foods are better than their fresh versions,” says Kuhnle.

“They can be harvested much later, when the product is much more mature, and they can be processed much more gently.”

And while certain processes can make a food less nutritious, they can still make the food more accessible.

Bacon, for example, doesn’t improve health, but it gives more people access to meat by keeping food from spoiling.

The defendants they also tend to be cheaper, because they can be produced inexpensively.

Not the ultra-treated

Various surveys have concluded that the healthiest foods are three times more expensive than those high in salt, sugar and fat, which are mostly highly processed.

But this highly processed products, made from food-borne substances and additives, are generally not good for us.

Studies have shown that food additives can alter our gut bacteria and cause inflammation in our body, which is linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

What’s more, research shows that people tend to overeat ultra-processed foods.

Studies have shown that people who consume ultra-processed foods overall consume more calories and gain more weight, and are at higher risk of developing heart disease.

A small study from 2019 found that participants, during the two weeks they ate a diet high in ultra-processed foods, consumed 500 more calories per day than during the weeks they ate unprocessed foods.

They also gained an average of almost a kilo with the ultra-processed diet.

However, the mechanisms behind why should be better understood, the researchers say.

More generally, there seems to be a consensus that more research is needed on the effects of processed foods on our health.

For example, it’s still unclear how flavonoids and polyphenols – micronutrients found in certain plants that have been linked to many health benefits – in fruits are affected by processing, Kuhnle says.

“There isn’t a lot of information on how the treatment limits the health benefits. A lot of research focuses on just one food, but people don’t just eat apples, their diet consists of apples, smoothies, cakes, etc.

While minimal processing has many advantages, the same cannot be said of what classification systems refer to as “ultra-processed” foods.

But there is a debate among scientists on definitions and terminology around what constitutes minimal and “ultra” processing.

Earlier this year, Sadler analyzed numerous systems that seek to classify processed foods.

He did not find a consensus on the factors that determine the level of treatment and states that the classification criteria they are “ambiguous” and “inconsistent”.

Nova is one of the best known and widely used classification systems in food research.

The classification includes unprocessed or minimally processed processed food ingredients, processed foods and ultra-processed foods.

According to Nova, ultra-processed foods are made up of fractionated ingredients and contain little to no whole foods.

But definitions of ultra-processed foods vary from publication to publication, and there is an ongoing debate over these definitions.

“There is no good definition of treatment. The public gets the idea, when they hear the word “processing,” that all food is taken apart and reassembled, but it could be as easy as heating or cooling. “, indica Lucey.

There is a debate on whether public health nutrition policies should focus more on the degree of food processing than on the nutrient profiles of foods.

But Is there something wrong with the treatment?

A group of scientists wrote in a 2017 article: “To our knowledge, no argument has been made as to how, or if, food processing in any way poses a risk to the health of the consumer. due to a possible unwanted input of nutrients or chemical or microbiological risks ”.

However, it should be noted that the lead author is a member of the Scientific Committees of Food Producers Nestlé and Cereal Partners Worldwide.

While ultra-processed foods generally contain fewer nutrients than minimally processed foods, fortified foods, to which micronutrients are added during production to improve public health, play an important role in production, they say.

While some studies show that ultra-processed foods fill us up less and leave us needing to eat more, the authors of the article argue that certain treatments are also used for reduce the amount of calories in certain foods, like semi-skimmed milk and low fat margarines.

Some ultra-processed foods may be linked to poor health outcomes, but not all processed foods are cut the same.

Frozen vegetables, pasteurized milk or boiled potatoes, for example, may be better for us than their raw counterparts..

But here’s the key: all of these foods look a lot like their natural form, and that’s what we need to keep in mind.

As long as we can recognize that a processed food is close to its natural form, including it in our diet may even be good for us.

BBC Mundo

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