For many years the term “the silent killer” was used in the medical field to refer to high blood pressure, because most people who have high blood pressure suffer no symptoms and yet it can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Now an article from Florida Atlantic University asks, “Could ultra-processed foods be the new ‘silent’ killer?” The article was just published in The American Journal of Medicine .
Nutritional surveys of the ingredients of the foods in the average American’s diet uncovers the fact that there are hundreds of new ingredients never encountered in earlier times in human history by people eating naturally derived foods. Unhealthy ingredients may now account for “nearly 60 percent of the average adult’s diet and nearly 70 percent of children’s diets in the United States”. This may be a part of the ever increasing incidence of chronic diseases now being diagnosed in the American population at ages that were seen very infrequently before. They conclude that the intake of ultra processed foods may be the new “silent killer”, as high blood pressure was considered to be in previous decades.”
They point out that what the public sees through the food industry and their advertisements, and the entertainment and sports industries, promote poor health of the public. Dr Sherling opines, “those of us practicing medicine in the U.S. today find ourselves in an ignominious and unique position — we are the first cohort of health care professionals to have presided over a decline in life expectancy in 100 years”. She is an associate program director for the Internal Medicine Residency program at the Florida Atlantic Schmidt College of Medicine. “Our life expectancy is lower than other economically comparable countries- … we can see a tracking of this increase along with increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods in their diets.”
Work is being done to try and come up with standards to allow for a more clear definition of what constitutes an ultra processed food. Despite the lack of a clear definition, the American College of Cardiology does ask patients to “choose minimally processed foods instead of ultra-processed foods” while they recognize,…”there is no commonly accepted definition for ultra-processed foods.”
There is a NOVA classification system, which separates foods into four categories — whole foods, traditionally processed foods (such as bread and yogurt made with few ingredients), culinary ingredients (butter, oil, salt etc),- and ultra-processed foods- foods that are industrially made and have ingredients not found in typical household kitchens.
WHY ARE ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS HARMFUL ?
Among many plausible reasons which explain why ultra-processed foods may be harmful is that they contain emulsifiers and other items the human gastrointestinal tract does not digest. Remaining in the colon as undigested material they can act as a food source for the microbiome creating the overgrowth of harmful bacteria that may promote disease.
Dr Sherling says. “Additives, such as maltodextrin, may promote a mucous layer that is friendly to certain species of bacteria that are found in greater abundance in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. When the mucous layer is not properly maintained, the epithelial cell layer may become vulnerable to injury, as has been shown in feeding studies using carrageenan in humans and other studies in mice models, using polysorbate-80 and cellulose gum, triggering immunologic responses in the host.”
The article reminds us that there has been a significant marked an increase in colorectal cancer in the U.S., particularly among young adults. With the greater degree of ultra-processed foods by the younger generations this may well be a contributor to this problem. Dr Sherling says “additives, such as maltodextrin, may promote a mucous layer that is friendly to certain species of bacteria that are found in greater abundance in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. When the mucous layer is not properly maintained, the epithelial cell layer may become vulnerable to injury, as has been shown in feeding studies using carrageenan in humans and other studies in mice models, using polysorbate-80 and cellulose gum, triggering immunologic responses in the host.”
Charles H. Hennekens, is a co-author, of the article. He says, we believe it is incumbent upon all health care professionals to discuss the benefits of increasing consumption of whole foods and reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods with their patients.”
Just as the dangers of tobacco became increasingly recognized decades ago, it took many years before public health officials acted upon that knowledge in an attempt to enhance public health. It may take quite a long time before the dangers of ultra processed prompt policy change to discourage the use of these products, however their damage to the public’s health will eventually require such action.
Another source of information regarding optimal nutrition is Timothy Harlan, MD of Tulane University who says, ” Poor-quality foods, like trans fats, cause inflammation — and aging is basically a chronic inflammatory state. Can you look older because you’re eating crap? Absolutely.!