Not all processed foods are a risk to our health. Some tricks can help us choose the best

Not all processed and ultraprocessed foods They affect the same way To our health. Although the damages of this type of food have been contrasted on numerous occasions, many experts remember that terms such as “processed” and “ultraprocessed” are nothing more than broad categories that can be orientative but sometimes hide a more complex reality. What is an ultraprocess? The first issue we should consider is the question of what is an ultraprocess food? There is no universal response, but the answer is relatively intuitive and we can guide ourselves by the definitions made by experts in the field. An example of this is the so -called nova classification, FAO employeethe United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The first category in this classification (Nova1) is reserved for unprocessed or minimally processed foods. The fruit or raw vegetable would be examples of this type of food. A second category (Nova2) is reserved for processed culinary ingredients. This category refers to usual products such as oil, sugar, salt or butter, usually employed in the elaboration of dishes but not consumed alone. Processed and outrage. The two key categories in this context are that of the defendants (Nova3) and Ultraprocess (Nova4). The first of these categories includes foods with intermediate processing, such as legumes and canned fruit, sausages or some smoked foods. An article Posted last year In the magazine BMJ (British Medical Journal) he remembered that, although considering this category at a general level, we find evidence that the ultra -process consumption can be linked to a lower life expectancy, the relationship was more complex. Not all the same. We usually consider that Ultraprocessin general, they are less healthy, dense foods in calories and poor in other nutrients. However, even within this category we can find high diversity. An article Posted last year In the magazine BMJ (British Medical Journal) he remembered that, although considering this category at a general level, we find evidence that the ultra -process consumption can be linked to a lower life expectancy, the relationship was more complex. Three tips to choose better. In A recent article in The conversation, Clare Collins, an expert in nutrition and dietary at the University of Newcastle, in Australia, gave some clues about how we can choose processed foods, and even ultraprocessed, which less risk suppose for our health. The first of the tips is to take time to read the list of product ingredients. The expert recommends looking for those products with less additives and “ingredients that could be found in the kitchen of a house.” It should be remembered that sometimes additives lists hide common products that we do in our kitchens under names or codes, so we cannot assume that all additives are harmful, but the amount of these can give us a clue about the product’s elaboration process. Regarding the label, Collins also recommends looking at the additional information given by products labels. In Spain, for example, we would have the Code Nutriscore that, although it is far from being perfect, it can help us in our decision. Habit. The third and last Collins advice It is “to think about what we eat a product.” Consuming ultraprocessed occasionally will not put our well -being at risk, it is usually doing so when we incur a higher risk. That is why the expert recommends focusing our efforts on those products that we consume once or more per week. In Xataka | To the question of whether ultraprocessed foods are as bad as they have told us, science still has no clear answer Image | Famingjia inventor

Eating processed red meat increases dementia risk, study reveals

Although the dementia It is a disease more common in older adults or the elderly, hundreds of thousands of people are diagnosed with early dementia each year. Several factors could point to having increased risk of suffering from this disease, among which something so common in diet like red meat. The largest and most robust dementia study to date was conducted in 2023, analyzing data collected on 356,052 people under the age of 65 in the UK. The results, published by the magazine JAMA Neurology and collected by the portal ScienceAlertpointed to a series of factors, among which were elements related to the lifestyle and health. Among these factors, stood out a low socioeconomic level, social isolation, hearing impairmentstrokes, diabetes, as well as vitamin deficiency or excessive alcohol consumption. Now, new research published this January 15 in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, Neurologyemphasizes diet, particularly processed red meat, such as sausages, bologna or bacon, as a factor that multiplies the risk of developing dementia throughout life. An observational study The research, carried out jointly by the hospital network Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in the United States, concludes that Higher consumption of red meat, particularly processed red meat, is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia and poorer cognition. The researchers, led by Yuhan Li, of the Harvard University Department of Epidemiologyindicate that their objective was to examine the association between red meat intake and multiple cognitive outcomes, since previous studies had shown inconsistent associations between these two parameters. However, they detail that the research is solely observational, so a direct cause and effect relationship cannot be established. All in all, a total of 133,771 people were measured in this study over 43 years, with an average age of 49 years at the beginning of the study. Of the initial group, 11,173 people developed dementia. Swap red meat for nuts The results indicate that participants with an intake of processed red meat greater than 25% per day (approximately two slices of bacon, one and a half of bologna or a hot dog), compared to those who consumed only 10% per day, had 13% increased risk of dementia. The researchers point out that replacing red meat processed by a diet rich in nuts and legumes It was associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia in the patients analyzed. Experts, however, point out that we must also consider clinical, demographic and lifestyle factors, such as socioeconomic level and family history of dementia to assess all the results. They also insist that more research would be needed to evaluate, for example, how general these findings are in populations of diverse ethnic origins. Connect diet and brain health For Dong Wang, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital network in Boston and one of the lead authors of the study, “dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing the risks of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabeteswhile cognitive health is analyzed less frequently, despite being linked to these diseases,” according to a note. “We hope our results encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health,” he adds. The study defines processed red meat as bacon, hot dogs, sausages, salami, bologna and other processed meat products. While the unprocessed was set as beef, pork, lamb and hamburger. Keep reading:

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