Almost everything we eat is processed in some way: frozen peas, canned tomatoes and plain yogurt are processed, and they are perfectly healthy. The concern is mainly with ultra-processed foods: industrial products made largely from refined ingredients and additives, designed to be convenient and hard to stop eating.
Understanding the levels
Researchers often use the NOVA classification:
- Unprocessed or minimally processed: fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, eggs, milk, plain meat and fish, dried beans, grains, nuts.
- Processed culinary ingredients: oils, butter, sugar, salt, flour.
- Processed foods: simple combinations like canned vegetables, cheese, freshly baked bread, canned fish.
- Ultra-processed foods: soft drinks, packaged snacks, many breakfast cereals, instant noodles, chicken nuggets, mass-produced bread and pastries, many ready meals.
Observational studies link high intakes of ultra-processed foods to higher risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. A 2019 NIH study found that people ate about 500 more calories a day on an ultra-processed diet than on a minimally processed diet with similar nutrients available.
How to spot ultra-processed food
A long ingredient list with things you would not find in a home kitchen (high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, protein isolates, flavorings, emulsifiers, colorings) is a good clue.
Practical steps
- Start with drinks and snacks, the easiest to change: water instead of soda, fruit and nuts instead of chips and cookies.
- Shop the perimeter of the store more: produce, dairy, meat and fish. Then pick up staples like beans, grains and canned tomatoes.
- Cook simple meals from a few ingredients: an omelet, a stir-fry, a sheet pan dinner.
- Batch cook so that a homemade meal is as convenient as a frozen one.
- Upgrade one product at a time: bread with fewer ingredients, plain yogurt with fruit, oats instead of instant flavored packets.
- Make your own sauces and dressings, see the best ways to make homemade sauces.
Building meals around whole foods
A simple plate: half vegetables and fruit, a quarter whole grains or starchy vegetables, a quarter protein, plus a healthy fat. Whole foods bring fiber, vitamins and minerals, see the best ways to eat more fiber.
Be realistic
Convenience foods have their place. Frozen vegetables, canned beans and rotisserie chicken are processed, cheap and useful. Aim to make ultra-processed food the exception rather than the base of your diet, without trying to be perfect.
Eating less processed food is the most effective way to cut sugar and salt too, see how to eat less salt.
