U.S. home consumption of ultraprocessed foods increasing at faster pace than consumption outside the home
This seems accurate but I worry the phrasing is potentially misleading. Since UP foods are typically extremely calorie dense, they make up a ton of the calories while only being a small percentage of the volume of food consumed. It really undersells the dangers of these foods, that even seemingly small amounts have a very disproportionate impact.
It really undersells the dangers of these foods, that even seemingly small amounts have a very disproportionate impact.
Yeah. I got down to a much healthier weight after I figured that out. I was using ultra processed huge calorie snacks to close a daily calorie gap. When I cut those out, I discovered that I basically needed to be preparing an extra daily meal. But since I’m lazy, I just dramatically increased my portion sizes of my regular meals, and still lost weight and felt better.
When I go to the grocery store I see this - many carts are filled with “junk food”. Meanwhile I don’t even go down those aisles.
I wonder what people think of beyond meat products.
It’s obviously going through processing, but a combination of short ingredient list and that a lot of processing is the peas getting partially digested mechanically, makes me feel they’re ok: https://sciencemeetsfood.org/plant-based-burgers/
This article seems to summarize a number of papers into a conclusive “they’re not bad for you, but like with any food, consider how you’re eating it”, e.g. a Bolognese pasta won’t magically become a healthy dish solely because you added soy crumbles.
What do you guys think?
UPFs are rightfully looked down upon, but regular processed food gets a bad rap I think. While many processed foods are bad, it’s my understanding that simply adding salt to a whole food would technically make that item a processed food. So there are good and relatively whole options within the umbrella of processed food. I think this is why the distinction between them and UPFs is so important these days.
beyond meat is horrible for you, just as bad as real meat. I’d rather get my plant protein from actual beans.
How so?
Because they are high in saturated fats, and also you don’t really know how much sodium is really in processed foods, and the ingredients overall. these are very important things to consider if you are on a plant-based diet for health reasons_. I would prefer to make my own black bean burgers from scratch, and meal prep them so i don’t make the excuse of “ugh i have to make these again!?!?”
Not so worried in that case. Thanks!
no worries.
