Imposter Foods and How to Unmask Them
What to Eat Instead
You might think of these items in the picture as food, but they are not! If we accept the typical dictionary definition of food as something our body uses for growth, repair, and other vital actions, these products are not food, but imposters. At best, these malnutrition munchies have almost no value to your body’s biology, but at worst, when consumed regularly, they will cause considerable damage and dysfunction. This metabolic dysfunction will lead in the future to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, dementia, or other chronic diseases.
This article will tell you why, how to avoid these ultra-processed foods to prevent chronic disease, and what to eat instead.
Toxic Technology
Technology is a wonderful thing that can add value and richness to our lives but can also be used for destruction and death (pollution, the atom bomb, etc.). Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference; appearances can be deceiving.
This is the case with processed food. The thousands of packages of food on grocery shelves are attractive, convenient, inexpensive, and seem to offer positive benefits: tasty, satisfying, even nutritious and healthy food. None of the statements and ads made by the manufacturers do anything to dispel these claims made by the imposters.
Behind the curtain of each of these claims is a wizard with toxic technology creating enticing and very profitable, artificial, food-like substances that are neither nutritious nor healthy but deadly. The research on ultra-processed food is very conclusive: higher consumption of these foods leads to poorer nutrition and a higher likelihood of obesity, cancer, and many other chronic health conditions. Processed food causes millions of deaths a year worldwide.
But if you read package labels, and have read my last two posts, you already have some understanding of this problem. Almost all ultra-processed foods contain toxic refined sugar (70%) or Franken-wheat, and many contain both! But there is even more to the story.
Different Levels of Deadly
Not all processed foods are equally toxic. We can divide foods into:
Unprocessed – the healthy real foods our bodies critically need to thrive, mostly sold in the produce area or dairy case, and often not sold in a package: fresh, whole fruits, vegetables, greens, herbs, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, fresh or frozen meat, eggs, water, etc.
Minimally processed – questionable foods that may have a place in your diet if chosen carefully to avoid added sugar or grains (especially wheat) or those highly glycemic (like juices): cheese, plain yogurt, sauerkraut, frozen berries, salted nuts, tomato paste, canned fish, tea, coffee, etc.
Ultra-processed – Food-like substances to avoid! Industrial formulations of processed and packaged ingredients, many not found in nature or toxic to our biology (such as sugar and grains). The list of examples is long because 73% of the items in a typical grocery store are ultra-processed: Snacks (chips, cookies, crackers), Desserts (pastries, candy, ice cream, cakes), Beverages (soft drinks, energy drinks), Frozen/Packaged Meals (TV dinners, pizza, packaged mixes, soups), Shelf Bread, Cereal, and Processed Meat (ham, lunchmeat, sausages, hot dogs). In addition, most fast food from a restaurant is ultra-processed.
Behind the Mask
Two primary factors make ultra-processed foods so damaging to our biology. First, they are foreign to our hunter-gatherer bodies that never evolved to use or benefit from these mass-created, artificial substances. God (or nature) did not design our bodies to that way. Second, they displace the critical phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and clean protein in the whole fresh fruits, vegetables, greens, and organic/wild meats that our bodies were designed to use to live vibrant, healthy lives (see my “Smartphone Hammer” post).
This diagram illustrates the manufacturing process for ultra-processed foods:
To paraphrase Dr. Robert Lustig, it is not just about what is in the food, but what has been done to it. The refining, cooking, grinding, and other processing steps exclude healthy ingredients that do not survive manufacturing well, such as eggs, fish, nutrients like healthy omega-3 fats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and anything else with fiber. Fiber is critical to the health of our microbiome, to be discussed in a future post. The result leaves our bodies malnourished and constipated, and the critical bacteria in our microbiome starved.
What is in the food also matters. A cocktail of problematic chemicals is often added to ultra-processed food (intentionally or otherwise):
Glyphosate and atrazine: These are herbicides you will not find on the label but come with any non-organic soy, wheat, or corn. Glyphosate is a probable carcinogen banned in Europe and contributes to leaky gut and inflammation. Atrazine can cause insulin resistance and diabetes.
Preservatives used in most ultra-processed foods to extend shelf life include:
Nitrates and nitrites can lead to digestive system cancer. Found in processed meats like bacon, salami, sausages, and hot dogs. Now regulated, but still in many foods.
Potassium bromates are recognized carcinogens banned in many countries but still found in bread and cracker products in the U.S.
BHA and BHT are standard preservatives for chips and some processed meats, probable carcinogens.
Sugar acts as a preservative in addition to providing sweetness and addiction.
Emulsifiers are used to prevent foods from separating, such as lecithin (in chocolate), polysorbate 80 (shortening), carboxymethylcellulose (salad dressing), and carrageenan (ice cream). These detergents can damage the intestinal protective layer and lead to intestinal disease, food allergies, or a leaky gut.
Natural or artificial flavors are terms often listed on labels, but what are they? These are undisclosed chemicals that usually include an emulsifier, a solvent, and a preservative, with potential problems like those described above.
Refined oils are often key ingredients in many processed foods, including soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, and most vegetable oils. These highly refined oils are inflammatory, poison our metabolism, and can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
God/evolution never designed our bodies to safely consume these ingredients, either.
Unmasking the Imposters
Grocery stores are mine fields, aren’t they? You must choose carefully to avoid ultra-processed food imposters, or you risk chronic disease. But what to do instead? Try these ideas:
Shop the fringes of the store for real foods (the produce area for whole fruits, vegetables, greens, and nuts, dairy case for eggs, etc.).
Eat more of these real foods instead of trying to replace the ultra-processed and fast-food items you used to eat.
If possible, prepare your own meals at home using real food ingredients.
Buy minimally processed foods (no added sugar, juice, or wheat).
Shop for the safe and truly healthy processed products that are becoming more available, especially in health food and natural food stores (e.g., Whole Foods), but always read labels.
If buying any ultra-processed food, select only those with little or no added sugar, few ingredients, no grains (especially wheat), no refined oils, no preservatives, and no emulsifiers (expect only one out of thirty or fewer items to meet these criteria).
Celebrate your successes and start planning your added healthy, vibrant decades of life!
Note: Based on the writings of Functional Medicine doctors and researchers, including Dr. Robert Lustig (Metabolical), Dr. Mark Hyman (Young Forever), and Dr. William Davis (Undoctored). For more information, see the posts and videos on www.LongerLifeSpan.substack.com.