Hi ,
Let’s talk about a hot topic: ultra-processed foods.
You’ve probably seen posts saying things like:
“Anything in a packet is killing you.”
Feels a bit dramatic. So what does the science actually say, and what can you do in real life?
WHAT WE MEAN BY “ULTRA-PROCESSED”
This isn’t about “you cooked rice, therefore it’s processed”.
Ultra-processed usually means:
Fizzy and energy drinks
Packaged sweets, biscuits, crisps
Ready meals and instant noodles
Sweetened breakfast cereals and cereal bars
Cheap sliced bread and spreads with long ingredient lists
In countries like the UK and US, it’s common for over half of daily calories to come from these foods.
WHAT THE SCIENCE SAYS (SHORT VERSION)
When researchers look at people who eat a lot of ultra-processed food, they consistently find higher risks of:
Obesity
Type 2 diabetes
Heart and blood vessel disease
Depression and worse mental health
Dying earlier than people who eat less of them
A lot of this research is observational, which means:
It can’t prove that ultra-processed foods alone cause all the problems
But the pattern is strong enough that major health organisations now say the link is concerning
Diets high in ultra-processed foods are usually:
High in calories, sugar, salt and low-quality fats
Low in fibre, protein and whole foods
That combo makes it very easy to over-eat and hard to feel full.
So no, eating one packet of crisps will not ruin your life.
But living mostly on ultra-processed foods is not a great long-term plan.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS
You don’t have to be “perfect” and cook everything from scratch.
A more realistic goal:
Base most of your meals on simple ingredients (meat, fish, eggs, beans, veg, fruit, grains, yoghurt, nuts)
Keep the more ultra-processed foods as extras, not the base of your diet
A quick check that helps:
“If I look at my day, are most of my calories coming from real food,
or from packets and bottles?”
If the answer is “mostly packets”, you don’t need guilt – you just need a few upgrades.
PRACTICAL WIN: THE 3 SWAPS RULE
This week, don’t overhaul everything.
Just swap three daily things for less processed versions.
Pick any three:
Breakfast: sugary cereal → oats with milk, fruit and some nuts
Drink: juice or fizzy drink → water or sparkling water most of the day
Snack: crisps and sweets → nuts, fruit, yoghurt most of the time
Lunch base: instant noodles or pot meal → leftover rice/potatoes + frozen veg + a protein
Dessert: daily ice-cream → fruit and yoghurt most days, ice-cream sometimes
If you repeat those three swaps most days, your diet is already way less ultra-processed – without counting a single calorie.
You don’t need to be the person who “never touches anything from a packet”.
You just want the balance to shift back towards actual food.
BONUS: A SIMPLE LABEL HACK
When you do buy something in a packet, try this:
Look at the ingredients list, not just the calories
Ask: “Can I recognise most of these words as normal food?”
If the first few ingredients are sugar, syrup, white flour and oils, and the list is very long… that’s usually a sign it’s more ultra-processed
You don’t have to ditch it completely.
But it might be a food you have less often, not every day.
If you want to go deeper on this, Ultra-Processed People is worth a read. Chris van Tulleken explains how it’s not just about “eating less and moving more” – it’s about living in a food system where the cheapest, easiest options are often the ones that make it hardest to stop eating.
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Got questions about ultra-processed foods, food labels or how to clean things up without going extreme?
Reply to this email – I read every message personally.
See you next week,
Gabriel, Nutrition Hacks | gbMeals