Here’s a story about ultraprocessed food that may be of interest to anyone who eats it. Or sells it. An excerpt:
“Why do many people overeat chips, cereals, cakes, puddings and other ultraprocessed foods despite knowing those foods may not be healthy?
“According to emerging science, it may be due to manufacturing processes that ‘predigest’ raw food ingredients — creating ultraprocessed foods that bypass the body’s signals of fullness.
“You read that right: We are eating predigested food.
“What does ‘predigested’ mean? To manufacture cheap, delicious food that is packaged for convenience, basic food crops such as corn, wheat and potatoes are dissembled into their molecular parts — starchy flours, protein isolates, fats and oils — or what manufacturers call ‘slurries’ … Next, with the help of artificial colorings, flavorings and glue-like emulsifiers, those slurries are then heated, pounded, shaped or extruded into any food a manufacturer can dream up.
“Add in just the right ratio of sugar, salt and fat designed to tickle our taste buds, and an ultraprocessed food that’s nearly irresistible is born, said infectious disease specialist Dr. Chris van Tulleken, an associate professor at University College London.”
You can read the entire story here.
KC’s View:
Yuck.
If that isn’t an argument for fresh food, I don’t know what is.
That said…
I originally was attracted to this headline because I have some experience with pre-digested food. Or at least pre-chewed food.
When my daughter (now 29) was little and still sitting in a highchair at dinner, she would from time to time put food in her mouth, chew it up, and then take it out with her fingers and hold it out to me to eat. And nothing would delight her more than when I’d do it. (I can still hear her laughter. It would make my night.
The thing is, unlike pre-digested food, pre-chewed food is pretty disgusting to anyone not in on the joke. Which included Mrs. Content Guy and our two sons, who found that this ruined their appetites. Unlike pre-digested food, which apparently stimulates the appetite.
The post Worth Reading: “We Are Eating Predigested Food” appeared first on MNB.
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