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(CNN) – Nowadays, many people have heard that diets packed with super positive foods aren’t good for us. They are associated with many diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and more depressioncognitive decline and stroke – they even appear to increase the chances of early death.
According to the super positive food NOVA Food Classification Systemfoods made from ingredients that are not normally found in supermarkets and kitchens (such as specific individual nutrients, flavor enhancers, colors, additives, stabilizers, etc.). They may also be created using industrial manufacturing processes (extrusion, molding, pretreatment, etc.) that are not available to home chefs.
But anyone who munches on a bag of cheese puffs, heats frozen pizza for dinner, stuffs cookies in a child’s lunch bag, or beats up a refreshing soda, these foods are delicious and convenient I know that is. So are they It’s cheaper in most cases It is less resistant to resist than making a dish from scratch (thanks to the formulation of excess paratage), and even harder to avoid: Up to 70% of US food supply It consists of ultra-processed foods.
But many questions remain: are they all bad? And exactly what can make them unhealthy. That’s why researchers are asking if some of these chemicals, additives and flavorings are somehow harmful. Or do some of these ingredients interact with our bodies through our microbiota or immune system, unleashing the effects on downstream health that we don’t yet understand? Or do super positive foods You can gain weight to us, Which of the following is set in order for obesity-related conditions, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease?
Researchers like Dr. Kevin Hall, section chief for National Diabetes and Gastrointestinal Diseases and Kidney Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health), are trying to find it.
Hall and his team wrote A groundbreaking research published in 2019 Therefore, people who eat ultra-highly processed foods are more likely to eat than people who eat similar minimal diets (matching the calories, sugar, fat, fiber and macronutrients offered) per day. I ate it at an average of 500 calories.
Now, Hall and his team are doing new trials to try to understand the mechanisms that drive people to over-reach calories. He has two theories.
“One thing is their energy density. So the number of calories you get in each gram of food you’re eating,” says CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell, who told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chasing Life. I recently talked about it on a podcast. Tyrrell visited Hall’s lab to meet one of the participants in his new trial. This, like the first trial, will live at the NIH for about four weeks, eating a meal made up of a variety of processed foods.
“This is the case with ultra-highly processed foods. Much more energy density More than minimal processed foods,” Tyrrell said. “And (Hall) says, really, that’s because they take a lot of water out of them so they don’t rot. They’re more stable.
“And I’ve heard the term “point of bliss” by other things (Hall) hypotheses are their overly paratagistic nature or “the point of bliss.” So this combination of the right level of salt, sugar, fat and carbohydrates means you don’t want to stop eating food. ”
Hall’s new trial will study 36 people each for a month, circulating the diet of four. “One is treated to a minimum. One is super positive – very similar to the first test: high hyperparatager, high energy concentration,” explained Tyrrell. “And the other two meals… they are super positive, but they differ in how harsh they are, and how energy density they are.
“And what we’re trying to see is that you can eat a meal consisting mainly of ultra-highly processed foods, but that doesn’t promote overeating. What if it’s not overly paradoxical?”
Not everyone sees ultra-processed food as a problem.
“It either tries to classify food as unhealthy just because it is processed, or demonizes food by ignoring its complete nutrient content, misleading consumers and exacerbating health disparities.” Saragaro, Senior Vice President of Product Policy for the Consumer Brands Association, said in an email. statement. CBA is the industry association representing US manufacturers of consumer packaged products, including food and drinks.
“Companies adhere to strict evidence-based safety standards established by the FDA to provide safe, affordable, convenient products that consumers rely on every day,” Garo said. I did. She also said there is currently no agreed scientific definition of ultra-highly processed foods.
Dr. Terra Fazzino, an associate professor of psychology and associate director of the Coffin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment at the University of Kansas, knows one or two things about ultra-highly processed foods and excessive paratagism. Masu. She developed the system Measures excess parathatability of various foods. She also collaborated with Hall and two of his NIH colleagues. Research in 2023 This revealed that excess food, energy-dense foods, and feeding rates all consume more calories in four different diets.
“Excessively paradite foods contain combinations of nutrients associated with seasoning potential (fat, sugar, sodium, starchy carbohydrates).
Fazzino says excess food activates neural circuits that reward opioid receptors and dopamine in the brain, making them continue to eat and look for more.
“The problem with foods in the past is that they are particularly powerful fortifiers due to the combination of nutrients,” she said. “They may be sharp and rewarding to consume for now, and they also have a very strong motivational drive for us to continue to search and consume these foods. You can do it.”
Fazzino’s study found that past foods fall into three categories: “One group has increased fat and sodium. The second group has increased fat and sugar. The third group has increased starchy carbohydrates and sodium.” she said.
“A excess of fat and sodium parathytic foods are many of our diet-based items, something we eat regularly,” she explained. “It’s meat-based dishes, mixed dishes like meat and mashed potatoes, that’s what it is.
“The fat and sugar (group) are really sweets, desserts,” she said. “Starchy carbohydrate and sodium overparatable foods are a lot of our snacks. So, like pretzels (and most US-produced crackers, perhaps not so much of a problem or so obvious. You might see it.
Fazzino said our bodies have not evolved to handle these foods. Whole Foods, found in nature, “activates our brain reward neurocircuits, and that’s the survival process,” she said. “Diet is basically a …enhanced-based process and it needs to be fun to make sure we survive.”
Hyperparate’s food is designed to hit bliss points with a magical combination of fat, sugar, sodium and starchy carbohydrates, which she said, hijacks the process.
“It creates something like this euphoria that isn’t generally from Whole Foods,” she explained. “And the problem with that is that it has fundamental neurobiological consequences. It’s already over-activated the neural circuits of brain rewards that occur in whole foods.”
That’s why it’s so easy to seduce those foods in excess. “They can eat us too much at the moment, but then there’s also this kind of feedback loop, which is really a strong reinforcement and how the whole base food and the basic food should not do. It can drive our actions.”
Unfortunately, these foods are at the heart of the US food supply and are growing. One of Fazzino’s research Compared to 1988, we found that in 2018 the prevalence of ultraextensive, ultrafolic acid and high energy density foods was all significantly higher.
There is also ample overlap between the three categories. “If you look at the food supply over time, by the time we arrive in 2018, you’ll see that most of the ultra-positive foods are overly parato,” she said.
What can you do to manage the amount of superparath food you consume? Fazzino has these 5 tips.
Be aware of how your food is affecting you when you are eating it.
Fazzino proposed this experiment: If you’re eating a bag of potato chips, will your brain tell you, get the next one, get the next one? Or, when you almost complete your bag, does your body say you want more?
“In contrast, when you eat an apple, none of that extra thing happens,” she said. “It’s going to be fun and you’ll stop once you’re full.”
Fazzino says add your meal to your diet and add food that is occurring in nature.
He said that whole foods that occur naturally usually have “one nutrient associated with a tasteful nutrient,” such as sugar from the whole apple.
These whole foods also contain “full nutrients such as fiber, water, and protein that slow down absorption and digestion into our system.” Outside.
Pay attention to the amount of salt in the food.
“One of the truly robust commonalities we found in this study is that when combined with either fatty or starchy carbohydrates, the presence of sodium as a nutrient. The opioid system of the brain.”
We are often told to reduce overall sodium for heart health, she said, but salt is less likely to contribute to excess paratagicity as fat and sugar are. Not known.
There is no magic sodium count or threshold value used to determine whether the amount of salt in a particular food contributes to excess paratage. However, Fazzino recommends looking for low-sodium options, for example, in cracker aisles or frozen dinner sections.
Fazzino also encouraged Homecook to keep sodium in mind, as many ingredients add salt. (Note any butter, cheese and sausage bits that you might add to your omelette.)
“She shine a light on what you’re adding,” she said. “It helps to avoid the overly paratagistic part.”
Fazzino recommends away from properties that promote food labels such as “diet”, “fat reduction” and “lean.”
“As we found in our food system analysis, many diet foods are harsh,” she said. Without Bliss Point Engineering, those foods wouldn’t be that appealing, she pointed out.
And when one important component decreases, the other important component often increases. For example, these foods are sold because they are low in fat, but they may be adding sugar, she said.
Understand that your deck is stacked against you
Note that hyperparate foods are designed to seduce you.
“They are designed to be difficult to resist and to stop eating Fazzino. “And that’s not the individual’s fault.”
Ultimately, Fazzino said systemic changes could be needed to meaningfully address the prevalence of these foods in food supply.
We hope these five tips will help you learn more about past foods. Listen to the entire episode here. And next week, join the Chasing Life podcast and meet a doctor who has found himself on the other side of his stethoscope after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to him before and after the surgery.
