The food we eat affects us in many ways. A recent study from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School found a link between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and an increase in the risk of depression. Ali Rogin speaks with Olivia Okereke, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who worked on the study, to learn more.
Here’s a description of the NOVA classification system. At the bottom it says Group 4 foods (UPF) contain one or more of these ingredients:
"Bulking agent
Anti-bulking agent"
🤔
Emulsifiers? Egg yolks are emulsifiers, but I guess the chicken is on the hook for the processing.
I recommend you read the details in the link rather than thinking adding eggs makes something ultra-processed. And which bulking agents and anti-bulking agents do you think wouldn’t qualify?
That’s any food that comes in a box or a bag.
So if you can’t afford to shop at the farmers market every other day and buy locally raised and slaughtered meat, you’re more likely to get depressed.
Great use of time and money there. 👍
Are you not able to buy vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, beans and so on in your local supermarket?
This is a false choice, ultra-processed foods vs farmers’ market produce. Almost any grocery store is going to have produce available for probably cheaper than ultra-processed foods. Bulk carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, and more are less expensive per meal than the foods you’re talking about, as are beans, pasta, rice, and more
Lactose? Whey? So raw milk straight from the udder is ultra processed?
Please, everyone read the link before thinking one of these ingredients makes something an UPF. No, whey and lactose don’t make milk ultra processed. Whey and lactose being extracted from milk and then added to something else make something ultra-processed
You should clarify that in your comment then, because you only listed the one criteria and that makes people think it’s the only criteria.
I posted a link to the full description of the NOVA criteria. You think I should have copy/pasted the entire page for you? When you read the ingredients on a milk jug, you will notice is doesn’t say “lactose” or “whey.”
There is more difference between those ingredients than commonalities.
Color, sugar and whey are being treated the same?
The entire definition of “processed food” is stupid and useless. Which ingredients are the ones causing problems? Because I guarantee you that a little bit of lemon or vinegar used as a “preservative” isn’t going to impact one’s diet as badly as 1/2lb of sugar in soda.
If you think the list above equates a little bit of vinegar to half a pound of sugar, you definitely didn’t read the article I linked about the NOVA classification system
Oh, I did. It was as empty as the calories in junk food.
They basically created arbitrary rules that put foods in whatever categories they wanted them to be in.
The ingredients for those groups are way too diverse to be helpful. And it’s not really about the ingredients since “natural” foods don’t get dinged for having ingredients which others do
It’s useless.