- A 2024 systematic review of the literature confirms the results of past studies: the higher your exposure to ultraprocessed food, the higher your risk of adverse health outcomes, including 32 health parameters
- Exposure to ultraprocessed food had a dose-dependent response on metabolic, cancer, mental, respiratory, heart and gastrointestinal conditions, as well as declining cognition, obesity and premature death
- Recognizing the link between how you feel and ultraprocessed products may be challenging as one physician found when he experimentally increased his energy intake to 80% for four weeks and experienced multiple changes, including feeling 10 years older, which he didn’t attribute to his diet until he stopped eating it
- Americans eat more ultraprocessed products than any other country, and according to one survey, people would eat more and pay more if the products were “healthier” and promised benefits such as sleeping better, having more energy or improving brain function
- Data show 73% of the food at the grocery store is ultraprocessed. Don’t be fooled by lab-made, plant-based, pseudo-foodstuffs promoted by the industry as healthy. Change one ingredient at a time, and start with linoleic acid, one of the most destructive ingredients in your diet
(Mercola)—A 2024 systematic review1 of the literature confirmed what multiple studies have shown — the higher your intake of ultraprocessed food, the higher your risk of adverse health outcomes. To fully appreciate what the study says and your risk, it’s important to know exactly what ultraprocessed foods are.
There are often misunderstandings about which foods fall into processed and ultraprocessed categories. For example, when green beans are canned, they become processed food, but they are still a far cry from a bag of potato chips or a box of donuts — examples of ultraprocessed foods.
NOVA Classification
Several systems are used to classify food according to the level of processing. The NOVA classification is the most common, though there is some debate2 over the accuracy of how foods are classified by evaluators, even when information on the ingredients is available. The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports NOVA food categories this way:3
- NOVA1 — “Unprocessed or minimally processed foods,” primarily the edible parts of plants or animals that have been taken straight from nature or that have been minimally modified/preserved.
- NOVA2 — “Culinary ingredients,” such as salt, oil, sugar or starch, which are produced from NOVA1 foods.
- NOVA3 — “Processed foods,” such as freshly baked breads, canned vegetables or cured meats, obtained by combining NOVA1 and NOVA2 foods.
- NOVA4 — “Ultraprocessed foods,” such as ready-to-eat industrially formulated products “made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives, with little if any intact Group 1 food.”
From these categories, it’s evident that NOVA1 and NOVA2 foods are those that you buy from the produce aisle or raw meat section, bring home and cook in your kitchen. NOVA3 and NOVA4 are typically foodstuffs purchased in the center aisles at the grocery store or a convenience store.
These consumables typically have a long shelf life, don’t need refrigeration, cannot be reproduced at home and have more than five ingredients, some of which you may not be able to pronounce.
Ultraprocessed Foods Linked to Dozens of Health Problems
The 2024 analysis,4 which included 45 unique pooled analyses and 9,888,373 participants, found direct associations between 32 health parameters and exposure to ultraprocessed food. These health outcomes included metabolic, cancer, mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and all-cause mortality.
There was a direct association between the higher number of ultraprocessed foods and a higher incidence of heart disease-related mortality and Type 2 diabetes. Anxiety disorders were also highly correlated with ultraprocessed food intake, and the researchers found highly suggestive evidence that ultraprocessed foods increased all-cause mortality, Type 2 diabetes and depression.
The research was prepared by an international team from Ireland, France, Australia and the U.S. using the NOVA system. They wrote:
“These products are characterized as industrial formulations primarily composed of chemically modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance and durability, with minimal to no inclusion of whole foods.”
A 2022 paper5 noted that a food product is not simply the sum of the nutrients and that “Human diets are progressively incorporating larger quantities of industrially processed foods.” According to this recent study and others, this increasing exposure is contributing to rising rates of chronic disease and illness in the population. Just some of the other health conditions associated with ultraprocessed products include:
•Declining cognition — Research suggests that a daily intake of sweets and fatty snacks can change the way we “learn, remember and feel.”6 Research presented at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference7 showed that people who ate 20% of their diet from breakfast cereal, frozen food and soda had a 28% faster rate of cognitive decline and a 25% faster rate of decline in executive function.
•Obesity — A 2023 eight-week interventional study found a direct effect on neurobehavioral adaptation leading to an increased risk of overeating and weight gain.8 The senior study author, Dana M. Small, Ph.D. commented:9
“Adding one unhealthy snack per day to your diet changes the way your brain learns about rewards. More importantly, it does so in a way that could promote overeating. This means that even in individuals with no intrinsic or genetic risk for obesity, exposure to an unhealthy diet can produce that risk.”
A 2019 study10 compared global trends and sales of ultraprocessed food and drink and found that with an increased volume of sales per capita came a rise in population-level body mass index trajectories.
•Cancers — A 2023 study11 from the Imperial College London evaluated diets of 197,426 people over 10 years and found those who ate more ultraprocessed foods had a greater risk of developing any type of cancer, specifically ovarian and breast cancers.
Consumption was also associated with an increased risk of dying from cancer. Each 10% increase was linked with a 2% increase in incidence of diagnosis and a 6% increased risk of cancer mortality.
•Premature death — A 2022 study12 noted that consumption of ultraprocessed foods in Brazilian adults ranged from 13% to 21% of their total energy intake. Evaluation of data showed that 10.5% of all premature deaths could be attributed to the consumption of ultraprocessed food.
Based on information from the featured study if there is a dose-dependent response to consuming ultraprocessed food, it’s likely that eating more junk food would result in a higher percentage of premature deaths.
•More chronic diseases — A systematic review and meta-analysis of 43 observational studies13 found eating ultraprocessed food is also associated with an increased risk of wheezing, heart disease, frailty, irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia, in addition to many of the chronic illnesses already mentioned.
You May Not Be Feeling Your Age, You Might Be Feeling Your Food
Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, BBC television presenter of “What Are We Feeding Our Kids?”14 was curious about how ultraprocessed foods affect the body. Over one month, the 42-year-old increased his daily intake from 30% of ultraprocessed products to 80%, which mimicked how 20% of the U.K. population eats. By the end of four weeks, Tulleken experienced a myriad of changes, including:15
- Poor sleep
- Heartburn
- Anxiety
- Sluggishness
- Low libido
- Unhappy feelings
- Hemorrhoids (from constipation)
- Weight gain of 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds)
“I felt 10 years older, but I didn’t realize it was all [because of] the food until I stopped eating the diet,” Tulleken told the BBC.16 This is significant since the physician recognized that he had purposely changed his diet, and yet he did not recognize that feeling 10 years older after only four weeks was associated with the food he was eating.
What Country Eats More Ultraprocessed Foods
The featured study noted that the more ultraprocessed food consumed, the greater your risk of experiencing chronic disease and poor health. The study17 noted that the share of energy derived from ultraprocessed food had a significant range across countries. For example, the percentage of energy derived from ultraprocessed foods in Italy was 10%, South Korea 25%, Columbia 16% and Mexico 30%.
The authors noted the share of dietary energy from ultraprocessed products in Australia was 42% and the country with the highest share of dietary energy from ultraprocessed products was the U.S. at 58%. While this percentage of energy intake from ultraprocessed foods is disturbing enough, other data suggests it may be greater than 60%.18
Interestingly, a database of the food supply indicates that 73% of what is available to be purchased at the grocery store is ultraprocessed.19 These foods are 52% cheaper than healthier options, which is a significant consideration for many people as they have watched food prices rise out of control.
Coffee the Christian way: Promised Grounds
From 2021 to 2022, food prices rose 11%.20 In the year ending August 2022, food prices had risen 13.5%21 and in 2023 they rose another 5.8%.22 This is compared to a historical rise in food prices of 2% in prior years.
Despite mounting evidence that ultraprocessed products are unhealthy and increase your risk of chronic disease and premature death, one survey showed that American adults would eat more and pay more for ultraprocessed products if they had more nutritious ingredients.23 The survey was performed by Ayana Bio, a plant cell technology company, that will likely use this information in their marketing strategies.
For example, 74% of the adults asked said they would buy ultraprocessed products if they had health benefits, such as improving brain function, sleep or increasing energy; 67% said they would pay more if the foodstuffs contained nutritious ingredients and 68% said they would pay up to $3 more.
From this survey, it appears 84% of the younger generation and parents want more options to reduce the time they have to spend in the kitchen. Millennials, Gen Z adults and parents with children are also willing to pay more for an oxymoron — healthier ultraprocessed food.
Food Industry Pushes Back Against Change to Improve Health
Deseret News reported24 that the food industry is pushing back against mounting evidence that their products may cause problems. Industry groups claim processing food increases the shelf life, which reduces food waste and lower cost. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Food Technologists wrote that chemical additives are there to help ensure food security “when fresh foods may not be available or accessible.”
In November 2023,25 a Washington Post article suggested the nutritional guideline committee may be considering warning consumers against eating too many ultraprocessed products. According to the article, despite years of research, this is the first time the committee examined the science of the association between obesity and ultraprocessed products, including things like chicken nuggets, frozen dinners and potato chips.
The length of time it’s taken the committee to consider the association is a testimony to the strength of the food industry. If the committee’s primary concern was recognizing the link between nutrition and health, ultraprocessed products would have likely come under consideration years ago.
Fake Meat Is the Epitome of Ultraprocessed Food
The years of research detailing the health risks of consuming ultraprocessed products make it ironic that fake meat and lab-made, plant-based pseudo-foods are being passed off as healthy. It’s hard to imagine a food that’s more ultraprocessed than a lab-made burger. Dairy alternatives and plant-based or lab-grown meat are the very definition of ultraprocessed products as they’re made with heavily processed fats from industrial seed oils like soy and canola oil.
Beyond Burger steak meat patties contain 22 ingredients,26 among which are expeller pressed canola oil, pea protein isolate, cellulose from bamboo, modified food starch and methylcellulose. To morph these ingredients into a patty that resembles meat requires significant processing. And if the push to move away from whole food is “best,” why are ultraprocessed products trying to imitate whole food?
While the hype and marketing point you toward believing that these products are healthy, they are fake foods that are likely to cause the same health problems that are linked to other ultraprocessed foods that have many of the same ingredients. As researchers are connecting ultraprocessed products with chronic disease and early death, the World Economic Forum is vilifying whole food as unsustainable and environmentally destructive.
Instead, they push for a transition away from whole food to a highly unnatural, ultraprocessed diet. Their largest initiative is called FReSH,27 which aims to transform the food system by working with biotech and fake meat companies to replace whole foods with lab-created alternatives that are certain to be detrimental to human health.
Spring Clean Your Diet
As Americans consumed greater amounts of seed oils high in linoleic acid (LA), there was an increase in the concentration of LA in subcutaneous fat tissue, which correlates with an increase in the prevalence of asthma, obesity and diabetes.28
Eliminating ultraprocessed foods from your diet is essential to keeping your LA intake low, and vice versa, as the two go hand-in-hand.
If the thought of overhauling your diet to remove ultraprocessed products seems daunting, reframe it from a move of scarcity to one of abundance. By giving up these toxic junk foods, you’re gaining a place in your diet to add in whole foods, which — instead of taking away your health one meal at a time — will give your body the nutrients it needs to heal and stay well.
- 1, 4 The BMJ, 2024; 384:e077310
- 2, 5 European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2022; 76
- 3 European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2022; 76 Introduction para 2
- 6 Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2024, line 4 (Archived)
- 7 Alzheimer’s Association, August 3, 2022
- 8 Cell Metabolism 2023;35(4) summary last line
- 9 Yale School of Medicine, March 22, 2023
- 10 Obesity Reviews, 2019; 20(Suppl 2) Abstract
- 11 Imperial, February 1, 2023, para 5, 6
- 12 American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2022; doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2022.08.013
- 13 Obesity Reviews, 2021;22(3)
- 14, 15, 16 BBC Food, What happened when I ate ultra-processed food for a month?
- 17 The BMJ, 2024; 384:e077310 Intro para 1
- 18 Frontiers in Nutrition, 2019; 6 2nd line
- 19 Food Tank, Database Indicates U.S. Food Supply Is 73 Percent Ultra-Processed, para 2
- 20 GAO, April 11, 2023
- 21 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 15, 2022
- 22 USDA Economic Research Service, Food Price Outlook 2024
- 23 PR Newswire, October 16, 2023
- 24 Deseret News, March 12, 2024, last subhead
- 25 The Washington Post, November 7, 2023 (Archived)
- 26 Business Insider, June 7, 2019
- 27 Eat Forum, FReSH
- 28 BMJ Open Heart, 2018;5:e000898
Five Things New “Preppers” Forget When Getting Ready for Bad Times Ahead
The preparedness community is growing faster than it has in decades. Even during peak times such as Y2K, the economic downturn of 2008, and Covid, the vast majority of Americans made sure they had plenty of toilet paper but didn’t really stockpile anything else.
Things have changed. There’s a growing anxiety in this presidential election year that has prompted more Americans to get prepared for crazy events in the future. Some of it is being driven by fearmongers, but there are valid concerns with the economy, food supply, pharmaceuticals, the energy grid, and mass rioting that have pushed average Americans into “prepper” mode.
There are degrees of preparedness. One does not have to be a full-blown “doomsday prepper” living off-grid in a secure Montana bunker in order to be ahead of the curve. In many ways, preparedness isn’t about being able to perfectly handle every conceivable situation. It’s about being less dependent on government for as long as possible. Those who have proper “preps” will not be waiting for FEMA to distribute emergency supplies to the desperate masses.
Below are five things people new to preparedness (and sometimes even those with experience) often forget as they get ready. All five are common sense notions that do not rely on doomsday in order to be useful. It may be nice to own a tank during the apocalypse but there’s not much you can do with it until things get really crazy. The recommendations below can have places in the lives of average Americans whether doomsday comes or not.
Note: The information provided by this publication or any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice.
Secured Wealth
Whether in the bank or held in a retirement account, most Americans feel that their life’s savings is relatively secure. At least they did until the last couple of years when de-banking, geopolitical turmoil, and the threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies reared their ugly heads.
It behooves Americans to diversify their holdings. If there’s a triggering event or series of events that cripple the financial systems or devalue the U.S. Dollar, wealth can evaporate quickly. To hedge against potential turmoil, many Americans are looking in two directions: Crypto and physical precious metals.
There are huge advantages to cryptocurrencies, but there are also inherent risks because “virtual” money can become challenging to spend. Add in the push by central banks and governments to regulate or even replace cryptocurrencies with their own versions they control and the risks amplify. There’s nothing wrong with cryptocurrencies today but things can change rapidly.
As for physical precious metals, many Americans pay cash to keep plenty on hand in their safe. Rolling over or transferring retirement accounts into self-directed IRAs is also a popular option, but there are caveats. It can often take weeks or even months to get the gold and silver shipped if the owner chooses to close their account. This is why Genesis Gold Group stands out. Their relationship with the depositories allows for rapid closure and shipping, often in less than 10 days from the time the account holder makes their move. This can come in handy if things appear to be heading south.
Lots of Potable Water
One of the biggest shocks that hit new preppers is understanding how much potable water they need in order to survive. Experts claim one gallon of water per person per day is necessary. Even the most conservative estimates put it at over half-a-gallon. That means that for a family of four, they’ll need around 120 gallons of water to survive for a month if the taps turn off and the stores empty out.
Being near a fresh water source, whether it’s a river, lake, or well, is a best practice among experienced preppers. It’s necessary to have a water filter as well, even if the taps are still working. Many refuse to drink tap water even when there is no emergency. Berkey was our previous favorite but they’re under attack from regulators so the Alexapure systems are solid replacements.
For those in the city or away from fresh water sources, storage is the best option. This can be challenging because proper water storage containers take up a lot of room and are difficult to move if the need arises. For “bug in” situations, having a larger container that stores hundreds or even thousands of gallons is better than stacking 1-5 gallon containers. Unfortunately, they won’t be easily transportable and they can cost a lot to install.
Water is critical. If chaos erupts and water infrastructure is compromised, having a large backup supply can be lifesaving.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies
There are multiple threats specific to the medical supply chain. With Chinese and Indian imports accounting for over 90% of pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States, deteriorating relations could make it impossible to get the medicines and antibiotics many of us need.
Stocking up many prescription medications can be hard. Doctors generally do not like to prescribe large batches of drugs even if they are shelf-stable for extended periods of time. It is a best practice to ask your doctor if they can prescribe a larger amount. Today, some are sympathetic to concerns about pharmacies running out or becoming inaccessible. Tell them your concerns. It’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.
If your doctor is unwilling to help you stock up on medicines, then Jase Medical is a good alternative. Through telehealth, they can prescribe daily meds or antibiotics that are shipped to your door. As proponents of medical freedom, they empathize with those who want to have enough medical supplies on hand in case things go wrong.
Energy Sources
The vast majority of Americans are locked into the grid. This has proven to be a massive liability when the grid goes down. Unfortunately, there are no inexpensive remedies.
Those living off-grid had to either spend a lot of money or effort (or both) to get their alternative energy sources like solar set up. For those who do not want to go so far, it’s still a best practice to have backup power sources. Diesel generators and portable solar panels are the two most popular, and while they’re not inexpensive they are not out of reach of most Americans who are concerned about being without power for extended periods of time.
Natural gas is another necessity for many, but that’s far more challenging to replace. Having alternatives for heating and cooking that can be powered if gas and electric grids go down is important. Have a backup for items that require power such as manual can openers. If you’re stuck eating canned foods for a while and all you have is an electric opener, you’ll have problems.
Don’t Forget the Protein
When most think about “prepping,” they think about their food supply. More Americans are turning to gardening and homesteading as ways to produce their own food. Others are working with local farmers and ranchers to purchase directly from the sources. This is a good idea whether doomsday comes or not, but it’s particularly important if the food supply chain is broken.
Most grocery stores have about one to two weeks worth of food, as do most American households. Grocers rely heavily on truckers to receive their ongoing shipments. In a crisis, the current process can fail. It behooves Americans for multiple reasons to localize their food purchases as much as possible.
Long-term storage is another popular option. Canned foods, MREs, and freeze dried meals are selling out quickly even as prices rise. But one component that is conspicuously absent in shelf-stable food is high-quality protein. Most survival food companies offer low quality “protein buckets” or cans of meat, but they are often barely edible.
Prepper All-Naturals offers premium cuts of steak that have been cooked sous vide and freeze dried to give them a 25-year shelf life. They offer Ribeye, NY Strip, and Tenderloin among others.
Having buckets of beans and rice is a good start, but keeping a solid supply of high-quality protein isn’t just healthier. It can help a family maintain normalcy through crises.
Prepare Without Fear
With all the challenges we face as Americans today, it can be emotionally draining. Citizens are scared and there’s nothing irrational about their concerns. Being prepared and making lifestyle changes to secure necessities can go a long way toward overcoming the fears that plague us. We should hope and pray for the best but prepare for the worst. And if the worst does come, then knowing we did what we could to be ready for it will help us face those challenges with confidence.
