The 5-day ultra-processed food challenge

What are ultra-processed foods?

Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, are commonly defined as products that you typically couldn’t prepare in your own kitchen. They contain ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, protein isolates, emulsifiers, and artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners. Think chicken nuggets, hot dogs, flavored yogurts, sodas and many breakfast cereals, packaged breads and snacks.

We don’t know exactly when ultra-processed foods started dominating our diets. They’ve been a part of the American food supply for decades, but they probably saw a boom in the 1980s and 1990s, when tobacco companies bought up several major food companies. Products made by these companies were more likely to contain combinations of fats, sugars, carbohydrates or sodium that made it difficult to stop eating them, the research suggests. And over time, our consumption has gradually increased.

Today, ultra-processed foods make up the majority of what we eat: nearly 60% of the calories consumed by adults in the United States and almost 70% of the calories consumed by children and adolescents.

How do ultra-processed foods affect our health?

Scientists are still learning a lot about ultra-processed foods, but public health experts are increasingly warning that they could contribute to poor health.

Researchers have linked ultra-processed foods to 32 health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, certain gastrointestinal conditions and certain types of cancer. Studies have also found links between ultra-processed foods and depression and anxiety.

But it’s not clear whether all ultra-processed foods are harmful to us. A recent study, for example, suggests that some products, like flavored yogurt and cereal, are not. It’s also unclear whether ultra-processed foods directly cause poor health or whether it’s due to other aspects of people’s lives.

It may take decades for researchers to understand exactly why UPFs are linked to negative health outcomes. Still, most experts agree that there is enough evidence to suggest that we should eat fewer ultra-processed foods.

But we have families to feed and overwhelming supermarket choices to contend with. So where to start?

The Well Challenge Day 1: How often do you buy ultra-processed foods? Let’s find out.

Today we’re going to help you understand how often ultra-processed foods end up in your shopping cart when you go to the market. You don’t have to leave your seat for this one.

We have designed a digital game in which you will go “shopping” to learn more about ultra-processed foods in stores.

Then stay tuned for more UPF challenges throughout the week.