When it comes to the dire effects of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) on health, the scientific evidence is “incontrovertible,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian at the Tufts Food Is Medicine Institute. He points to studies linking UPFs to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Alarmingly, around 60% of children’s calories come from UPFs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What’s less clear is which UPFs cause harm, why they do so and what the federal government should do about it.
Amid this debate, I decided to launch a bold experiment with my then 8-year-old daughter: We would try to stop eating all UPFs for one month. Could we do it? Would our bodies and brains notice a difference?
The results proved transformative. Removing UPFs dramatically altered my daughter’s eating habits. It changed mine even more. These effects persuaded my husband, who began the experiment as a skeptical observer, to wean himself off ultra-processed foods, too.
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As her enthusiasm for homemade meals climbed, I started to wonder: Do ultra-processed snacks undermine children’s hunger for whole foods?
“Absolutely,” says Ashley Gearhardt, a psychologist who studies compulsive eating at the University of Michigan. She explains that because ultra-processed snacks, such as crackers, granola bars and gummies (even organic ones), are packed with refined sugars or other carbohydrates, they prompt children to keep snacking.
“After you eat a big hit of crackers or pretzels, two hours later, you’re getting this blood-sugar crash, and you’re craving more snacks that contain refined carbohydrates,” Gearhardt says. “It’s hard to have the hunger for real food if you’ve already eaten so many energy-dense foods throughout the day.”
Read the full article on The Wall Street Journal.
