The alarming truth about ultra-processed foods – and why you should stop eating them telegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from telegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It s not just burgers and hot dogs that count as ultra-processed food
Credit: Science Photo Library
What on earth is UPF? Ultra-processed foods, that’s what, and this latest entry to our modern abbreviated lexicon is likely to be sticking around for a while – much like that bag of salted caramel pretzels (just one example of a UPF) on my hips.
The reason is that health professionals now want us to differentiate between simply “processed” food and UPFs – foods that have been industrially altered to a high degree. Some are obvious, like a cheesy Wotsit, miraculously transformed from a grain of corn into a thumb-sized puff. But UPFs also include industrially produced bread, soy milk and other milk substitutes, breakfast cereals and baked beans.
The facts about food addiction
Dear Readers,
Many of us know someone who has struggled with an addiction. Perhaps they have tried to quit smoking or are addicted to drugs like heroin or methamphetamine. The American Psychiatric Association defines addiction as a complex condition, a brain disease manifested by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences. (1). Does substance addiction include food? Although food addiction is not included in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders), it is estimated that as many as 20 percent of Americans struggle with some type of food compulsion (2).
One may automatically assume that food addiction only affects overweight individuals; however, the scientific literature shows otherwise. While some individuals with obesity may display behaviors similar to individuals addicted to drugs [3], estimates suggest that only 24.9 percent of overweight/obese individuals report clinically-significant symptoms of food addiction
Leanne McCrate: Looking into food compulsion dailyindependent.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyindependent.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.