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For some consumers, eating donuts is an obsessive habit. <\/p>\n
“I can’t even be near donuts…any kind of donut, because I’d eat a dozen by myself. I’m type 2 diabetic, so that could kill me…but for some reason I can’t stop eating donuts.” <\/p>\n
The American diet contains too many processed foods, and “there is growing concern about their health effects,” said AMA President Bobby Mukamala, M.D., who participated in an AMA webinar with nutrition experts to explore the pathogenesis of these foods and why it is difficult for patients to avoid overconsumption. <\/p>\n\n <\/promo-embed>\nIn 2025, the AMA House of Representatives directed the AMA to promote public awareness of the health risks of ultra-processed foods. Furthermore, new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030<\/em>advises consumers to avoid highly processed, ready-to-eat products. Nevertheless, this is a topic that continues to baffle health experts. <\/p>\nMost people know what ultra-processed foods are, but what does this term actually mean?<\/p>\n
Is all the processing wrong? “What do we know about these products and how they affect our health?” asked Dr. Mukamala, an otolaryngologist and board-certified in lifestyle medicine. <\/p>\n
The webinar \u201cUnderstanding Processed Foods\u201d is available on-demand on the AMA Ed Hub\u2122. The AMA has designated this blended living and permanent material for up to 1 product. AMA PRA Category 1 Credit<\/em>\u2122. <\/p>\nThis is the second of four AMA Ed Hub \u201cHealthy Eating and Eating Patterns\u201d webinars, all hosted by Dr. Mukamala. The last episode to air is “Reducing the Risk of Chronic Disease Through Diet,” June 23 at 2pm CDT. Learn more and register today.<\/p>\n\n <\/promo-embed>\nWhy broad classification doesn’t work<\/h2>\n
Concern about ultra-processed foods is growing in both research and public health policy, but David Ludwig, MD, said the category may be too broad and imprecise to serve as a useful basis for nutritional guidance.<\/p>\n
The term “ultra-processed food” is so imprecise that even the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t know what it means, Dr. Ludwig said. He is a pediatric endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and professor of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. <\/p>\n
Observational studies have shown that ultra-processed foods are associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, cognitive decline, mental and behavioral disorders, and all-cause mortality. However, he said the quality of this evidence was rated as low to very low, citing concerns about confusion and inconsistencies.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ludwig also challenged Brazil’s Nova classification system, which divides food into several categories. Cooking ingredients such as butter, olive oil, salt, and sugar. A combination of Group 1 and Group 2, and ultra-processed foods. <\/p>\n
Nova’s platform focuses on whether ingredients and additives are traditionally used in home cooking, rather than health effects. That could lead to what he described as “pointless distinctions,” allowing sugary homemade cornflakes while rejecting some high-fiber packaged cereals, or favoring homemade white bread over some commercial whole-grain breads.<\/p>\n
Rather than relying on broad ultra-processing labels, Dr. Ludwig called for a more nuanced approach that assesses how specific types of processing, particularly carbohydrate refining and the effects of certain additives, affect health. The new dietary guidelines may be controversial, but one thing is true. “They don’t use the term ultra-processed. They use the term highly processed, especially when it relates to carbohydrates,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n
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Related articles<\/h4>\n
Key points for patients regarding the new U.S. dietary guidelines<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/promo-embed>\n
Consumers should prioritize certain foods<\/h2>\n
Other webinar speakers talked about making informed food choices, going beyond definitions.<\/p>\n
Rather than broadly avoiding foods labeled as ultra-processed, consumers should prioritize whole plant foods and avoid processed meats and sugary drinks, said Neil Bernard, M.D., adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine and chairman of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Care. <\/p>\n
For example sugar. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. “Sugar is your body’s favorite fuel,” he said, noting that the modest amounts added to foods are different from the sugar found in beverages. His bigger concern was soda and similar drinks, which consume large amounts of sugar quickly and can lead to weight gain and diabetes risk. High-fat diets can quickly impair insulin sensitivity, and excess sodium contributes to high blood pressure and stroke risk.<\/p>\n
Dr Barnard singled out processed meat as a particular concern, saying these were “actually the biggest link between ultra-processed foods as a category and health risks such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease”.<\/p>\n
Consumers should check package labels to determine the total fat and saturated fat content of the foods they purchase, he advised.<\/p>\n
How food is processed makes a difference<\/h2>\n
Dr. Barnard also challenged the idea that all packaged or industrially processed foods are inherently problematic. Based on cohort studies, she noted that some foods classified as ultra-processed, such as certain breakfast cereals, yogurt, and plant-based meat substitutes, are associated with neutral or favorable health outcomes, while processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages consistently show harm.<\/p>\n
Using soy milk as an example, he questioned the simple distinction between “natural” and “processed” and argued that some plant-based alternatives can improve low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation compared to animal-based alternatives.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ludwig pointed out that not all processing has the same health effects. “Processed carbohydrates are consistently unhealthy,” he said, pointing to refined grains and rapidly digested carbohydrates as major concerns. However, it cites the effects of processed fats and proteins such as olive oil, peanut butter, and tofu, which may have “little difference in metabolic effects” compared to less processed versions.<\/p>\n\n <\/promo-embed>\nWhen processing leads to addiction<\/h2>\n
But some ultra-processed foods can lead to addictive eating patterns, says Ashley Gearhart, Ph.D., a professor of psychology in clinical sciences at the University of Michigan. <\/p>\n
Dr. Gearhart, who studies how food advertising promotes infant eating behavior and food preferences, said these products engage the brain’s reward system in a way similar to addiction. He said, based on machine learning research, “high glycemic load” is a strong predictor of what foods people consume in an addictive manner, while fat can amplify the reward when combined with refined carbohydrates.<\/p>\n
This combination differs from minimally processed foods. That’s because industrial processing “disrupts the food matrix,” increasing absorption, weakening satiety signals, and enabling “flavor engineering” designed to enhance reward. “They’re pulling every lever at their disposal,” she said of the food industry, describing a system focused on maximizing craving and consumption.<\/p>\n
Sensory engineering, product formulation and ubiquity are some of the factors that make some ultra-processed foods attractive, she said, comparing aspects of their design to strategies once used by the tobacco industry.<\/p>\n
Such foods are not designed to be consumed in moderation, she added. Instead, it creates a trigger-driven desire associated with bright, colorful, heavily promoted logos and catchy jingles. This causes a cycle of loss of control, repeated overconsumption despite negative effects, and temporary relief followed by renewed cravings. <\/p>\n
The Yale Food Addiction Scale, a tool Gearhart helped develop, can identify people who may need additional support to manage cravings and related behaviors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a systematic solution to identify harm engineering by companies that have essentially figured out how to hack our limbic systems for overwhelming corporate profits,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#ultraprocessed #foods #bad #careful #counseling #patients<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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