The food system is dominated by ultra-processed foods — a toxic, addictive cash cow. Peruse decades of research showing increased death, anxiety, depression, heart disease, diabetes, and more.
More than 200 references on the increased death and chronic disease from UPFs, junk food, fake food, fast food, energy drinks, and diet drinks.
Contents
Terminology
Foundational Facts
UPFs: “As Addictive as Cigarettes and Cocaine”
More than 200 References on Increased Death, Anxiety, Depression, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Other Adverse Events and Chronic Diseases
Food System: Corrupted & Severely Harmful
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Terminology
FOOD ADDITIVE — “Any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food”; its serves “a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport, or storage of” foods [source]
PRESERVED FOOD — A whole food that has undergone minimal and safe procedures to make it capable of being stored, such as in the traditional techniques of canning and pickling [source]
PROCESSED FOOD — While this term may refer to preserved foods, it typically refers to ultra-processed foods (UPFs)
ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD (UPF) / NOVA GROUP 4 — Food and drink products that “are industrially manufactured ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat formulations containing food additives and little or no whole foods” [source]; group 4 in the NOVA food classification system explained here
WHOLE FOOD / UNPROCESSED FOOD — Food for humans and animals provided by the Earth
Foundational Facts
Real Food is Whole Food, Provided by Nature
Food for humans and animals is provided by Nature, and has come to be called “whole” or “unprocessed” food.
For generations, these foods have been preserved using traditional methods such as canning, fermenting, and pickling.
The Food System Creates Products that Serve Industry, Not People
Industrially manufactured food and drink products are categorized as ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
These are ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat formulations made largely from refined ingredients, with additives and little or no whole foods.
Food additives are not normally consumed as food, but are nonetheless added to serve “a technological purpose” in the manufacture, processing, packaging, transport, or storage of UPFs. [Science Direct]
UPFs are “As Addictive as Alcohol and Tobacco, Especially in Children”
“Chemically engineered products provoke overeating and addiction.” [U.S. Right to Know and The Epoch Times]
“Junk food ‘brainwashes’ you so you’re wired to eat more… Researchers found participants who ate high-fat, high-sugar snacks experienced changes in neural encoded responses so they no longer preferred low-fat, low-sugar snacks and they subconsciously preferred a lot of fat and sugar. Data show bingeing on sugar for just six weeks can slow brain function, memory and learning.” [Dr. Joseph Mercola]
UPFs, Junk Food, Fast Food, and Energy & Diet Drinks Harm on a Massive Scale
A voluminous body of research spanning decades has examined the relationship between UPFs, junk food, fake food, fast food, energy drinks, and diet drinks, demonstrating their devastating effects on physical and mental health.
More than 200 references provided here. Excerpts below.
Manufactured, Ready-to-Eat or Ready-to-Heat Formulations; Industrially Manufactured Foods Have Additives, Contaminants, and a Highly Degraded Structure.
Ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat formulations containing food additives and little or no whole foods, in contrast to processed foods, which are whole foods preserved by traditional techniques such as canning or pickling…. Processing induces significant changes to the food matrix, for which ultra-processed foods may affect health outcomes differently than unrefined whole foods with similar nutritional composition. Notably, the highly degraded physical structure of ultra-processed foods may affect cardiometabolic health… and the gut microbiota composition and function. Food additives and… contaminants produced during processing may also play a role in risk of cardiovascular disease. Key biological pathways include altered serum lipid concentrations, modified gut microbiota and host–microbiota interactions, obesity, inflammation, oxidative stress, dysglycemia, insulin resistance, and hypertension.” – Published in Advances in Nutrition journal, Sep 2021
Detail on the Composition & Processing of Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed food and drink products… are industrial formulations typically with five or more and usually many ingredients... Ingredients only found in ultra-processed products include substances not commonly used in culinary preparations, and additives whose purpose is to imitate sensory qualities of [unprocessed] foods… or to disguise undesirable sensory qualities of the final product. [Unprocessed] foods are a small proportion of or are even absent from ultra-processed products. Substances only found in ultra-processed products include some directly extracted from foods, such as casein, lactose, whey, and gluten, and some derived from further processing of food constituents, such as hydrogenated or interesterified oils, hydrolysed proteins, soy protein isolate, maltodextrin, invert sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Classes of additive only found in ultra-processed products include dyes and other colours, colour stabilisers, flavours, flavour enhancers, non-sugar sweeteners, and processing aids such as carbonating, firming, bulking and anti-bulking, de-foaming, anti-caking and glazing agents, emulsifiers, sequestrants and humectants. Several industrial processes with no domestic equivalents are used in the manufacture of ultra-processed products, such as extrusion and moulding, and pre-processing for frying. The main purpose of industrial ultra-processing is to create products that are ready to eat, to drink or to heat, liable to replace both unprocessed or minimally processed foods that are naturally ready to consume, such as fruits and nuts, milk and water, and freshly prepared… meals. Common attributes of ultra-processed products are hyper-palatability, sophisticated and attractive packaging, multi-media and other aggressive marketing to children and adolescents, health claims, high profitability, and branding and ownership by transnational corporations. Examples of typical ultra-processed products are: carbonated drinks; sweet or savoury packaged snacks; ice-cream, chocolate, candies (confectionery); mass-produced packaged breads and buns; margarines and spreads; cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes, and cake mixes; breakfast ‘cereals’, ‘cereal’ and ‘energy’ bars; ‘energy’ drinks; milk drinks, ‘fruit’ yoghurts and ‘fruit’ drinks; cocoa drinks; meat and chicken extracts and ‘instant’ sauces; infant formulas, follow-on milks, other baby products; ‘health’ and ‘slimming’ products such as powdered or ‘fortified’ meal and dish substitutes; and many ready to heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes; poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, and powdered and packaged ‘instant’ soups, noodles and desserts. – NOVA Food Classification
UPFs: “As Addictive as Cigarettes and Cocaine”
As Addictive as Cigarettes and Cocaine: How Big Food Hooks Consumers on Junk Food; “A growing body of research suggests big food brands are not only aware their chemically engineered products provoke overeating and addiction — they capitalize on it to drive sales, consciously harming health, according to U.S. Right to Know.” — Children’s Health Defense
Junk food addiction is real, experts say — here are the signs of ‘ultra-processed food use disorder’ — New York Post
Some ultra-processed foods are as addictive as cigarettes and cocaine — U.S. Right to Know
Like cigarettes, junk food should come with a warning: ‘Can kill’ — The Guardian
Ultra-Processed Food as Addictive as Alcohol and Tobacco, Especially in Children — The Epoch Times
“Junk Food ‘Brainwashes’ You so You’re Wired to Eat More”
Did you know this food component rewires the brain, changes how you think and negatively affects memory and learning?… Researchers found participants who ate high-fat, high-sugar snacks experienced changes in neural encoded responses so they no longer preferred low-fat, low-sugar snacks and they subconsciously preferred a lot of fat and sugar. Data show bingeing on sugar for just six weeks can slow brain function, memory and learning. One study showed sugar affected the reward system in a “manner similar to that of drugs of abuse.” Eating junk food for one week can impair your appetite control; data also show the more sugar you eat, the lower your nutrient intake. Eliminating sugar is a quick and clear route to better health. Metabolic flexibility is a key to better health; it is also important to avoid industrial vegetable oils or seed oils, margarine, shortening and any fake butter and spreads. Instead, choose from a list of healthy fat foods that include olives, avocados and coconut oil.
More than 200 References on Increased Death, Anxiety, Depression, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Other Adverse Events and Chronic Diseases
References on Effects from UPFs, Junk Food, Fake Food, Fast Food, Energy Drinks, Diet Drinks
UPFs: No Health Benefits, Increase Chronic Disease & Mental Health Issues
High ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption is associated with an increased risk of a variety of chronic diseases and mental health disorders. At present, not a single study reported an association between UPF intake and a beneficial health outcome.
An Umbrella Review & Meta-Analyses of Observational Evidence, June 2024
Date — March 2024
Study — Twenty studies with 1,101,073 participants and 58,201 cardiovascular event cases followed for an average of 12 years published in The Lancet
Outcomes — “A positive linear relationship between UPF intake and cardiovascular event risk was identified”
Date — Feb 28, 2024
Study — Peer-reviewed meta-analysis of 14 studies published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)
Outcomes — “Greater exposure to ultra-processed food was associated with a higher risk of adverse health outcomes, especially cardiometabolic, common mental disorder, and mortality outcomes”
Study Finds Link Between Ultra-Processed Food and Potentially Fatal Heart Problems
Date — Feb 22, 2024
Publication — Martha Garci, About Lawsuits
Outcomes — “Consuming highly processed food, such as chips, pizza, soda, and French fries, increases a person’s risk of heart attack, stroke, and death, according to the findings of a new study.”
Emulsifiers mess up the microbiome
Date — Feb 23, 2024 and Feb 13, 2024
Publications — Children’s Health Defense and PLOS Medicine “Results from the French prospective NutriNet-Santé cohort”
Outcomes — “French researchers reported that emulsifiers added to improve the texture and shelf-life of processed foods wreak havoc on the gut microbiome, leading to inflammation and possibly cancer. Their investigation included 92,000 adults enrolled in the French NutriNet-Santé study and followed for an average of 6.7 years… During the study period, 2,604 cancer cases occurred… Higher intakes of mono- and diglyceride emulsifiers were associated with a higher risk for all cancers… Carrageenan emulsifiers were associated with additional breast cancer risk.”
Processed Foods Linked to ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Human Blood: Study
Date — Feb 22, 2024 and Feb 4, 2024
Publications — The Epoch Times and Environment International
Outcomes — “Researchers analyzed food consumption data from 727 young adults and determined that higher intake of items such as processed meats, tea, and food prepared outside the home was associated with increased PFAS levels in the body… PFAS [forever chemicals] have been linked to multiple adverse health issues including cancers and negative effects on immune function and reproduction.”
An Attempt to Hold industry Accountable and Raise Awareness for Their Horrific Tactics
A lawsuit alleges that ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), engineered to be addictive like cigarettes, caused a teenager to develop serious health problems like fatty liver disease and Type 2 diabetes. UPFs are defined as ‘industrially produced edible substances’ that lack essential nutrients and are loaded with refined ingredients, added sugars and unhealthy fats like linoleic acid. These foods disrupt metabolism, gut health and cellular function, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and chronic inflammation. The lawsuit claims that Big Food took a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook, using similar tactics to engineer addiction and aggressively market UPFs to children. Protect your health by avoiding ultraprocessed foods, learning to read food labels, cooking more often, making healthier food swaps and practicing mindful eating.” - Dr. Joseph Mercola, Feb 1, 2025
Continue…
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Food System: Corrupted & Severely Harmful
Corrupt System Protects Industry, Harms People — The organizations entrusted to serve humanity have served industry instead, allowing it to dominate the food system with unnatural food products that cause serious health issues, chronic disease, anxiety and depression, suicidal thoughts in children, and death.
Ultra-processed “Food”: A Toxic, Addictive Cash Cow (you’re here) — Processed foods, junk food, fake food, fast food, energy drinks, and diet drinks have led to devastating outcomes in physical and mental health.
Seed Oils, Vegetable Oils, LA, PUFAs — Industrial seed oils (often labeled “vegetable oils”) are a major component of the food industry. Replacing natural fats with these manufactured concoctions was never proven to lower the risk of heart disease or death. In fact, it showed the opposite. And now we know seed oils cause chronic disease.
Pesticides, Dyes, Forever Chemicals, etc. — The industrialized food system is characterized by toxic contamination, including phthalates, microplastics, heavy metals, glyphosate and other pesticides, synthetic dyes, and hundreds of additional chemicals including “forever chemicals” and other endocrine-disruptors.
Apeel — Apeel is a chemical formulation that may be put on organics and cannot be washed off. It has mono- and diglycerides, which cause inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and hardening of arteries.
Industrial Agriculture, “Big Ag”, Factory Farming — Mechanization of agriculture has increased the use of poisons, and devastated the health of food and communities. Industrial agriculture is at the root of many of humanity’s crises. Factory farms are continuing to get bigger and bigger.
Genetically Engineered / GMO “Foods” — Genetic modification is the alteration of an organism’s genome. GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are often used by industrial agriculture to create “frankenfoods” that will survive the use of toxic pesticides that devastate human health, soils, and biodiversity.
Solutions — Solutions to the problems created by a corrupted food system include: 1) Prioritizing food security, reclaiming food sovereignty and de-centralizing systems, 2) Developing localized food networks and family & community gardens, 3) Healing soil, 4) Supporting regenerative farming, and 5) Rewilding dead, dying, and imbalanced spaces.
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