High levels of ultra-processed foods linked with early death, brain issues.
I found that for me, it was much easier to cut out highly-processed foods altogether (I went on a whole-food non-animal diet) that it was to "cut back." By cutting them out altogether, I lost my taste for them in just a few weeks.
I see ultra-processed/highly processed foods as food products manufactured using industrial methods from refined ingredients. They generally are made shelf-stable with preservatives, often include excess salt, preservatives, emulsifiers, food coloring, and artificial flavorings, and are sold packaged under a brand name.
Minimally processed foods are easy to find: intact whole grain, beans, produce (fruit and vegetables), mushrooms, nuts, spices, herbs
One approach is to focus on basing one's diet on minimally processed foods (listed above). If you eat minimally processed food, then you know you're not eating ultra-processed foods.
But I do think the simplest approach is just to stick to foods that have been minimally processed — that have been subjected only to things like rinsing, peeling, chopping, cooking. If you eat only minimally processed food, you automatically avoid ultra-processed food.
Fresh fruit is a safe bet, fruit juice not so much. Etc.
"Ultra-processed foods are ready-to-eat/heat industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods, including flavors, colors, texturizers, and other additives, with little if any intact whole food."
That's the definition from a BMJ study of the effects of UPF on all-cause mortality (not good).
This can easily be ascribed to folks that are poorer, working longer and harder jobs, without the time to make healthier meals for themselves (eating freezer meals or cheaper processed foods) die earlier than richer folks.
So its not what they eat. Its just that they're poor. So they lack healthcare and have higher stress lives.
Rich people, who have healthcare and more stability (thus lesser stress lives) tend to eat higher quality food. But its not the food that causes them to live longer, its the healthcare and lower stress.
See attached for the key points. Notice the last point on limitations by the study. The researchers SPECIFICALLY warned not to make the assumptions that the article writers (and that terribly false headline) made.
Highly processed foods, generally made with refined ingredients, usually contain things that I avoid — e.g.:
a. high levels of salt.
b. refined sugars
c. emulsifiers (which continue their emulsification in the digestive tract.
d. preservatives, food coloring, artificial flavorings (cured meats are especially bad).
Highly processed foods are almost always grossly deficient in dietary fiber, vital for the gut microbiome.
@Leisureguy@vegancooking@wfpb - Oh I agree. That wasn't my point though. My point was that the conclusions that the article derived from the study were not the conclusions the study presented.
@tinker@vegancooking@wfpb I'm an apartment dweller with no allotment so gardening opportunities are limited. However, my daughter gave me a small indoor garden (places for 8 plants). This past winter I used it to grow red shiso, green shiso, and purple basil. When I passed by, I would pick a leaf or two to eat. (I knew no pesticides were involved.) Ultimately I harvested all and included it in a soup. https://leisureguy.ca/2024/04/07/green-soup/
@Leisureguy@vegancooking@wfpb - Cheers! I've made growing indoors as cheaply and easily as possible a priority. None of my hydroponics use pumps or aerators. Just buckets of inexpensive nutrient water.
Check out my pinned posts it you think this would be of interest to you and your groups. I'm pushing for post-scarcity food and a vegan (whole food as you mentioned?) diet is one amazing way to realize that.