Discovering the truth about the impact of ultra-processed foods on our brains can be like navigating a maze of conflicting information. In a recent article published by The Wall Street Journal, the spotlight was once again cast on this controversial topic.
food addiction
This past week, Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health hosted a webinar on the putative dangers of ultra-processed foods (UPF). Let me share my recap.
By now, you have probably seen the headlines asserting that some 13% of Americans have a food addiction to “highly-processed foods.” That number is a result of a poll – not an objective study – but this spotlight provides an opportunity to discuss what we know – and don’t know – about food addiction.
One of our loyal readers brought a recent Newsweek cover story to our attention. It is titled, Americans Are Addicted to 'Ultra-Processed' Foods, and It's Killing Us. In addition to cherry-picking words to favor “natural” over “ultra-processed,” whatever that means, the article raises but does not resolve or necessarily clarify some crucial issues. Are our foods addictive, like fentanyl? What does processed and ultra-processed really mean to our health? What does “the science” reveal or not fully comprehend? It is time to take a deeper dive.
Are "ultra-processed" foods addictive? Some scientists say yes, pointing to experiments with sugar-craving rats and the difficulty many people have losing weight and keeping it off. Taken in isolation, these observations lend themselves to a food addiction model, but there's actually little evidence to support the theory.