Most Americans get more than half of their calories for ultra-processed foods, super-resatted foods and energy dense, usually full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, according to a new federal report.
Nutritional research has been demonstrating for years that ultra -processed foods are a large part of the US diet, especially for children and adolescents.
However, for the first time, North -American Centers for the control and prevention of diseases have confirmed those high levels of consumption, using dietary data collected from August 2021 to August 2023.
The report occurs in the midst of increasing scrutiny of these foods by the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blames them from causing chronic diseases.
“We poison ourselves and come mainly from these ultra -processed foods,” Kennedy told Fox News earlier this year.
Generally, about 55% of the total calories consumed by the 1-year-old Americans and more came from ultra-processed foods during this period, according to the report. For adults, ultra -processed foods accounted for approximately 53% of the total calories consumed, but for children until the age of 18, it was almost 62%.
The main sources included burgers and sandwiches, sweet oven, salty snacks, pizza and sweetened drinks.
Toddlers consumed less calories for ultra -processed food than older children, found the report.
60 -year -old adults consumed less calories from these sources than younger adults. Low revenue adults consumed more processed foods than those with higher income.
The results were not surprising, said co -author Anne Williams, a CDC nutrition expert.
What surprised was that the consumption of ultra -processed foods seemed to sink slightly over the last decade. Among adults, the total calories of these sources fell approximately 56% in 2013-2014 and almost 66% for children during the period 2017-2018.
Williams said he could not speculate on the reason for decrease or if less processed food consumption increased.
But Andrea Deierlein, a nutrition expert at New York University who did not participate in research, suggested that there may be a greater awareness of the possible damage to ultra-processed foods.
“People are trying, at least in some towns, to reduce their intake of these foods,” he said.
Concerning the health effects of ultra -processed food has been growing for years, but it is difficult to find solutions.
Many studies have linked them to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but have not been able to show that food directly causes these chronic health problems.
A small but influential study found that even when diets were combined with calories, sugar, fats, fiber and micronutrients, people consumed more calories and gained more weight when they ate ultra processed foods than when they ate minimally processed foods.
Research published this week in Nature Magazine found that participants in a clinical trial lost twice as much weight when they ate minimally processed foods, such as pasta, chicken, fruits and vegetables, which ultra -processed foods, even those that coincide with nutritional components and considered healthy, such as heat frozen foods, protein bars and battles.
Part of the problem is simply defining ultra processed foods.
The new CDC report used the most common definition based on the four -level new system developed by Brazilian researchers, which classifies food according to the amount of processing they suffer.
These foods are usually “hyperpalable, energy dense, low dietary fiber and contain few or no entire foods, while highly salt, with high quantities of salt, sweetener and unhealthy fats,” said the CDC’s report.
North -Americans recently said that there are concerns about whether the current definitions “precisely capture” the range of foods that can affect health.
The Food and Drug Administration of the United States and the Department of Agriculture recently published a request for information to develop a new uniform definition of ultra -processed foods for the food supply products in the United States.
In the meantime, Americans should try to reduce ultra-processed food in their daily diets, said Deierlein.
For example, instead of instantaneous oatmeal that can contain added sugar, sodium, artificial and preservative colors, use flat supply with honey or maple syrup.
Read food packages and nutritional information, suggested.
“I think there are less processed options for many foods,” he said.
#North #Americans #calories #super #tasty #unhealthy #foods #CDC
Image Source : nypost.com