超加工食品如何影响你的肠道

You may want to think twice about fueling up on convenience foods. 这是为什么.

Do you eat a lot of food out of a box, bag or package? Is it hard to tell what the ingredients are in the food you eat just by looking at it? If so, you may be eating ultra-processed foods. 在美国.S., these foods are estimated to make up well over 50% of most Americans' diets. Here is some insight into what ultra-processed foods may do to your gut 和 your health.

什么是超加工食品?

Ultra-processed foods are products made with ingredients that are much different from foods found in nature. Although they may start with natural ingredients like corn or wheat, during processing they are stripped of nutrients, 加热, 粉, 挤压成型. The food is also packed with flavorings 和 additives to make it very palatable 和 to increase shelf life.

Most ultra-processed foods have little or no fiber or healthy nutrients 和 are engineered to make you want to keep eating them. You can usually tell if a food is ultra-processed by looking at the food label. 它将包含一长串成分, many of which may be unfamiliar 和 sound more like chemicals than real food. 饼干之类的产品, 饼干, 芯片, 麦片, frozen meals 和 sugary beverages are just some examples of products made using this process. Even if a product is marketed as healthy, it may be ultra-processed 和 not as healthy as you think.

How do ultra-processed foods affect your gut?

The processing that occurs to create these foods makes them easily absorbed by the body. 事实上, 就好像食物被预先消化了一样, causing it to effortlessly run through your digestive system. Most ultra-processed foods contain refined grains, with no beneficial fiber. They may also be filled with sugar, salt, fat 和 additives. Since the body doesn't have to do much to digest the food, 肠道很容易吸收像糖这样的东西, which can cause spikes in blood glucose levels when digested quickly. 另外, the digestive tract may not signal to our brain that we are satisfied after eating these foods. This may cause us to overeat 和 gain weight.

How do ultra-processed foods affect your health?

Because ultra-processed foods often contain little nutritional value 和 are absorbed so quickly by our digestive system, they may increase the risk of a variety of health problems. 一项研究 showed that people who ate the most ultra-processed foods had a 31 percent higher mortality rate than those who ate the least amount of these foods. Eating a large quantity of ultra-processed foods may increase the risk of obesity, 2型糖尿病, 心血管疾病和痴呆, 在其他健康状况中.

Why do Americans eat so many ultra-processed foods?

Ultra-processed foods are not only convenient, but they're also usually economical 和 tasty. For people on the go, these foods are easy to grab 和 require no preparation. 与此形成鲜明对比的是, 如果你吃的大多是未经加工的食物, 比如水果, 蔬菜, 全谷物和瘦肉蛋白, time is needed to prepare the food before eating.

Ultra-processed foods are also infused with flavorings 和 additives that are designed to make you want to keep eating them. That means it can be hard to pass them by or to stop eating a food once you start. 以薯片为例. It's rare that you're going to gorge yourself on a bunch of baked potatoes. But open a bag of potato 芯片 和 it can be hard to stop at a single serving size. Ultra-processed foods are specifically designed to feed common cravings 和 bypass the mechanisms that tell your brain you've had enough 和 are satisfied.