A Christian nutritionist’s view on ultra-processed foods

Are you drawn to fizzy drinks of all colours or ice-cream that doesn’t seem to melt? Emma Maitland-Carew looks at why ultra processed food is so damaging to our bodies and how we can recognise it.

I am often asked ‘What is the one thing would you recommend if I am interested in improving my diet and health?’ While there are so many simple things we can do which can make a big impact on improving our health and wellbeing, the first thing I would say is to eliminate ultra-processed foods (UPFs) from your diet.

Why do I identify UPF as one of the first things to change? Because for many people in the West today, almost 80% of their calories are in the form of ultra-processes food and UPFs can often hide behind ‘healthy’ labels and misleading descriptions.