People who eat a lot of ultra-processed food from a factory are 24 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. So it’s better not to eat it, but how do you do that and what are the benefits? “Some products look healthy, but aren’t.”
Eva Kestemont (33) put it to the test. The Flemish journalist decided, together with nine others, not to eat factory food for a month. “We wanted to find out if we would feel better, or if we would look different.”
Ultra-processed foods
The experiment led to the book Improved recipe – why you eat too much ultra-processed food and how to do it differently. Kestemont hopes it will start a conversation, but the book also serves as a compass in a world where most food is ‘ultra-processed’.
This is food and drink that is made or processed in a factory. In addition to too many sugars, saturated fats and salt, it often also contains all kinds of artificial ingredients such as binders, flavorings and colorings.
What seems healthy is not
“40 to 80 percent of the food in the supermarket consists of ultra-processed food,” Kestemont explains. “These are also many products that seem healthy at first glance. Such as a bowl of hummus, muesli bars or yogurt with certain flavorings.”
Kestemont therefore believes it is important that the subject becomes more open to discussion. “In this way, people become more aware of what ultra-processed food means and what it does to your body.”
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Make a lot yourself
During her experiment with not eating ultra-processed food, Kestemont hardly visited the supermarket anymore. “If you don’t want to eat ultra-processed foods, you have to skip a lot of the food from the grocery store.”
“You have to think a lot more about your food and make a lot of it yourself,” she says. “I also got a lot of my fresh food from craft shops, markets and delicatessen shops. For example, if I felt like having a soft drink, I made my own syrup.”
Ultra-processed is easy
Kestemont realizes that this is a barrier for many people. Ultra-processed food is tasty and cheap food that requires little preparation time. A solution for people who are busy and don’t have time to spend long hours in the kitchen.
“Understandable, but it is a real problem,” she says. “Because in the end it will make you sick.”
Health risks
“Ultra-processed food contains certain substances that increase the risk of diseases such as obesity, cancer and dementia.”
“Foods high in saturated fats can cause cholesterol levels to rise. Furthermore, foods with too high a sodium content cause high blood pressure. These factors increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.”
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Changes after the experiment
What Kestemont noticed most when she stopped eating ultra-processed foods for a month was that she lost body fat, especially around her stomach. “That was quite remarkable, because we ate and drank what we wanted. The only difference was that this food was made by ourselves or traditionally. It is not that we were structurally hungry.”
“Another interesting aspect was the remarkable decrease in mercury levels in all participants.” There was also a test participant who regularly suffered from severe migraine attacks before the experiment. During the experiment it turned out that this test participant hardly suffered from this anymore, says Kestemont.
Policy measures
In the month that Kestemont ate only unprocessed food, her health improved enormously. And she wishes everyone that healthy feeling. “That is why there must be better resources for people who are not well off financially.” This group relatively often chooses ultra-processed food because it is cheap and easy.
“At the moment we only see nutrition as an individual responsibility, but there is also a task for the government,” Kestemont concludes. “Healthy and fresh food must become affordable for everyone. Abolishing VAT on fruit and vegetables would be a step in the right direction.”
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2023-09-18 06:00:01
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