Ultraprocessed food diets are unhealthy. The reason why may hide in our guts.
Curated from: vox.com
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Those Ultraprocessed Foods Are Worse Than We Thought
- Two studies have linked ultraprocessed foods to a higher risk of death from all causes.
- One found people ate 500 calories more per day than those who ate minimally processed foods.
- Another found that the more processed food a person ate, the higher their risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Processed foods may disturb the gut microbiome, the trillions of diverse bacteria lining our intestines and colon.
- This may cause inflammation and increase the risk of chronic disease.
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Defining Ultraprocessed Foods
- Industrial formulations are made entirely or mostly from substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modified starch), or synthesized in laboratories from food substrates or other organic sources.
- They're pumped full of chemicals and other additives for colour, flavour, texture, and shelf life.
- This processing generally increases the flavour and caloric density of the foods while stripping away the fibre, vitamins, and nutrients.
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Industrialization Is Killing Everyone
- Diet is the No. 1 influencer and determinant of our gut microbiome composition
- The more diversity of bacteria in the gut microbiome, the better for our health
- Researchers have found that the further away people were from industrialization and ultraprocessed foods, the more diverse their gut microbiome was.
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Killing Of Microbial Life Inside Our Guts
- One theory is that these ingredients impair the microbial life in our gut, instead of helping it flourish.
- Another theory, outlined in a recent review paper on the effects of the Western diet on the microbiome, is that the sugar in ultraprocessed foods may feed harmful bacteria in the gut, causing them to bloom
- There's still a lot that scientists have to learn. For now, researchers have figured out that it's not just what's added to processed foods that may hurt the gut microbiome. It's also what's missing.
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Refined Foods Remove All The Fibre
- Fermentable fibres, which include all soluble fibres and some insoluble fibres, are metabolized or fermented by bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, producing chemicals, including short-chain fatty acids, that are important food sources for our gut bacteria.
- When we do not consume enough fibre, we are essentially starving our gut microbiome, which is likely detrimental for a variety of reasons.
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Ultraprocessed Foods Are Acidic And Cause Cancer
- Antagonizing the microbiota by highly processed diets - starving it by removing fibre and attacking it with emulsifiers - promotes inflammation
- That can hamper the body's ability to feel satiated and result in overeating
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IDEAS CURATED BY
CURATOR'S NOTE
Oreos and chips anyone?
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