Ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, are everywhere in the American diet. They’re cheap, tasty, and easy to find.
In fact, they make up more than half of the calories eaten by adults in the U.S.—and even more for kids. But experts say they could be doing serious harm to our health.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, about 75% of the food available in the U.S. is considered ultra-processed. This means that even shopping carts filled with items like whole grain bread, strawberry yogurt, or breakfast cereal may be packed with UPFs—just like carts filled with chips, soda, or instant noodles.
What makes a food ultra-processed? These products often include ingredients that you wouldn’t normally find in a home kitchen, such as artificial colors, sweeteners, flavor enhancers, and emulsifiers.
They are made using machines and industrial methods that change them from natural foods—like fruits, vegetables, milk, or fish—into ready-to-eat items like cookies, hot dogs, energy drinks, and packaged meals.
Even some foods people might think of as healthy, like instant oatmeal or prepackaged whole grain bread, can fall into the UPF category. That’s because they go through so much processing that they lose their natural structure and become easier and faster to eat and digest.
Julia Wolfson, a professor at Johns Hopkins, says many of these foods are designed to be hard to resist. Food companies create and market them to taste good and to sell well. But this also makes people eat more than they should. Because UPFs are low in fiber and high in added sugars and fats, people don’t feel full as quickly and keep eating.
This quick digestion is another problem. Our bodies are meant to break down whole foods slowly. But the heavy processing of UPFs makes them “pre-digested,” which means the sugar and fat are absorbed too fast.
This causes spikes in blood sugar and disrupts the normal digestive process. Over time, this may harm the gut microbiome, the group of helpful bacteria in the intestines that helps keep us healthy.
Eating a lot of UPFs has been linked to many health problems. These include obesity, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, heart disease, and even cancer. However, not all UPFs are equally harmful. Some, like fortified breakfast cereals or canned baked beans, may still have useful nutrients, such as fiber and protein.
Wolfson says it’s important not to treat all UPFs the same. Instead, health experts and the government should offer better guidance to help people know which processed foods are worse and which ones might still be okay in moderation.
Still, reducing UPFs is hard for many people. These foods are cheap, easy to prepare, and last a long time on the shelf. On average, UPFs cost about 55 cents for 100 calories, while whole foods like fresh produce can cost almost three times as much. This makes it hard for families on a tight budget to choose healthier options.
To cut back on UPFs, people can try a few simple strategies: buy more whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables; cook at home instead of buying ready meals; read ingredient labels and choose products with fewer additives; drink water instead of soda; and choose whole grains like whole wheat bread instead of white bread.
When eating out, it’s better to go for meals that are steamed or broiled instead of fried or heavily processed.
Understanding the role UPFs play in our diet is the first step to making better food choices. By becoming more aware of what we eat and how it affects our health, we can take small steps toward a healthier future.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about why vitamin K is so important for older people, and this snack food may harm your heart rhythm.
For more health information, please see recent studies about vitamin that may protect you from type 2 diabetes, and results showing this common chemical in food may harm your blood pressure.
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