We're at war. Democracy is crumbling. People are dying. But we still have to care about why research on ultra-processed foods is complete garbage. So here is a thread about why that is. Start with this WSJ piece. (gift link) 🧵 wsj.com
www.wsj.com
The new study uses data from an old study designed to look at arterial blocking, called MESA. MESA was not designed to study ultra-processed foods. The diet data was collected between 2000 and 2012, which means it is at least 14 years old. jacc.org
Not only is the diet info old, it contains zero information about the level of processing. The researchers took the questionnaire and basically guessed at which foods are ultra-processed and which aren't. Here's their list. Take a second to read it, and then I have a question for you.
Here's my question - how many of those foods did you already know are not great for you? Most of them, right? This study just basically flags crappy food and concludes that people who eat a lot of crappy food have bad outcomes. Does that surprise you? Yeah, me neither. And this study is OBSERVATIONAL, which means it can't tell us if the ultra-processed food caused the health problems. Could people who eat a lot of crap food have other unhealthy habits? The study even says it can't draw causal conclusions. But look at the WSJ headline.
But you can forgive the WSJ for drawing causal conclusions because the paper does it too. Right after it says you can't draw causal conclusions, here you go! The only reason that we should change policy to try to cut UPF consumption is if it's CAUSAL.
Ultra-processed food is mostly bad, but it's bad because it's crap, not because it's ultra-processed. Your homemade muffin/pie/pudding/donut/pizza/ice cream is just as bad as the UPF one, because it's the fat, sugar, salt, and calories that are the problem. washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com
Think about it for a sec. You're Big Food, and you have this great tool called processing. What do you use it for? To crank out food PEOPLE WILL BUY. And what food is that? FOOD PEOPLE LIKE. You can try to make better instant lentil soup but NOBODY WANTS THAT. So, yeah, UPFs are crap. So here's the thing. All of these are true: 1. Limit your UPF consumption because most UPFs are crap. 2. It's not the processing that makes them crap. It's the garden-variety stuff like sugar, fat, and calories that make them crap. 3. Research on UPFs is also crap. Thanks for listening.