#ultraprocessed-foods

#ultraprocessed-foods

Starbucks has declared itself all in on protein. Beginning this month, customers can order Protein Lattes and Protein Matchas, or add Protein Cold Foam to their cold brews and Frappuccinos, turning a daily caffeine ritual into something resembling a workout supplement. This isn't simply about menu items. It signals how deeply the protein craze has embedded itself into American culture. Across the grocery aisle, protein has become the nutrient of the moment, highlighted with the same zeal once reserved for fat-free labels.

Ultraprocessed foods are pervasive in the modern food system. It's estimated that around 60% to 70% of an average American adult's daily calories consist of these products. While convenient and tasty, chronic consumption eventually wrecks your health, and the first place that's affected is your gut. Eating ultraprocessed foods weakens your intestinal lining, allowing harmful bacteria to thrive and creating systemic inflammation. Moreover, your gut's balance shifts dramatically, crowding out beneficial microbes that normally keep your gut healthy

More than half of the calories American adults eat now come from ultraprocessed foods. From breakfast cereals to plant-based burgers and low-fat yogurt, ultraprocessed products dominate grocery aisles and dinner plates. They're cheap, convenient, and often heavily marketed as healthy. But the truth is, these industrial creations are quietly dismantling your body's ability to regulate blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes is no longer a condition that only affects older adults.

Participants on the non-processed food regimen burned more fat, had lower systolic blood pressure, and lower levels of glycated hemoglobin compared to the processed one.

In our study, we found that hundreds of serum and urine metabolites were correlated with percentage energy from ultraprocessed food intake.

Molecules in blood and urine reveal energy consumption from ultraprocessed foods, aiding understanding of their impact on health, crucial for nearly 60% of U.S. diets.

The research led by Erikka Loftfield discovered biological markers in blood and urine that can indicate how much energy a person consumes from ultraprocessed foods, offering new insights into the food-health relationship.

The study led by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation shows a clear association between the rise in ultraprocessed food consumption and increased premature deaths across multiple countries.