Ultra-processed foods have become common in modern diets. Still, research is increasingly showing that these foods can have a detrimental effect on health, including the digestive system.
In this article, we explain what foods are classed as ultra-processed and explore their effects on gut health.
What are ultra-processed foods?
According to the NOVA food classification system, food is divided into four categories based on how much it has been processed during production. These include:
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
These foods have no added ingredients or are only slightly altered from their natural state. They include nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and fish.
Processed ingredients
These foods cannot be eaten independently and are typically added to other foods. They include salt, oil, and sugar.
Processed foods
These foods are typically a combination of the above categories to create food that is different from its natural state. This can include foods that have gone through methods such as being heated, tinned, cooked, frozen, dried, and had preservatives, nutrients, flavours, salts, sugars, or fats added.
Foods that fall in this group can include jam, pickles, tinned fruit, homemade bread, and flour.
Ultra-processed foods
These foods typically include an ingredient not found in the kitchen and many additives, such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and artificial colours and flavours.
This group includes foods such as sweetened drinks, crisps, packaged cakes and biscuits, ice cream, sweets, chocolate, many ready meals, and packaged meat pastries.
Why are ultra-processed foods bad for my health?
Primarily, these foods are considered to be unhealthy because they are often high in calories, salt, sugar, and saturated fats. They also lack the key nutrients you need to function and keep your body healthy.
This can contribute to health concerns such as weight gain and an increased risk of developing conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.
It hasn’t been definitively concluded whether eating ultra-processed food or consuming a high amount of ultra-processed food is causing the issue. However, cutting down on foods high in salt, sugar, fat, and oil is always better for your general health.
Negative effects on the digestive system
Recent research has increasingly found that ultra-processed foods are connected to chronic inflammation and disruption to your gut microbiome.
Chronic inflammation can cause adverse effects on your digestive system, such as constipation, diarrhoea, or acid reflux. Chronic inflammation is also linked to a disruption of the gut’s healthy balance of the microbiome.
An unbalanced gut microbiome (dysbiosis) can be detrimental to your digestive system, as it can put you at risk of developing issues such as:
- Bacterial infections, like H. pylori
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
- Inflammatory bowel diseases, like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
To learn more about the importance of your gut microbiome, read our blog here.
Ways to improve your diet
Although the ultimate solution would be to completely cut ultra-processed foods out from our diets, this is not always possible if you have limited time and budget to prepare food. Also, the research is not conclusive about whether we should exclude ultra-processed foods entirely.
Maintaining a balanced diet with low amounts of ultra-processed foods and high amounts of minimally processed foods is the best solution to reducing your risk of digestive issues and maintaining a healthy gut.
To spot ultra-processed foods, many supermarkets have a traffic light system to indicate which products have higher amounts of salt, sugar, fat, and saturates. Avoiding items with lots of red labels and opting for those with more green ones can help balance your intake of these nutrients.
Also, it’s important to remember that not all ultra-processed foods are equal. Choosing ultra-processed items with more nutritional benefits, such as wholegrain bread and cereals, is a better alternative than picking foods such as crisps, sweets, or pizzas.
At Digestive Health UK, we collaborate with some of the industry’s top dieticians to help you implement a tailored diet that meets your needs.
We offer private consultations and can help you manage your diet going forward. Contact us today to learn more.
