
Forget Cake – Let Them Eat Whole Foods
The sincerity and passion of Dariush Mozaffarian is easy to recognize and admire. His deep belief in the opportunity for good food to make us healthier is familiar. It echoes the impassioned pitch of a politician before Senate hearings this week. Too many Americans have too many “diet-related” diseases. Time’s a wastin’! Let them all eat whole foods and things will surely get better, says Mozaffarian in a new JAMA viewpoint:
“If we were a hale and hearty populace, enjoying and thriving on the fruits of the earth, it would be reasonable to wait for more research. But when 3 of 4 adults have overweight or obesity, 1 of 2 adults and 1 of 4 teenagers have diabetes or prediabetes, and only 7% of adults are metabolically healthy, we face a national nutrition crisis requiring urgent action. Diet-related diseases further drive enormous burdens of health care spending, lost productivity, military unpreparedness, reduced economic competitiveness, and health disparities—with the latter well highlighted in the DGAC report.
“Based on the current evidence and high levels of consumption, it is time to recommend that people in the U.S. eat fewer UPFs.”
Cutting fat out of our diets didn’t do the trick. Shouting from the mountaintops that sugar is poison did nothing to turn the tide on obesity and diabetes. But maybe this time will be different. Maybe telling people to stop eating affordable, convenient foods that make up 73% of the food supply will bring a radical transformation to population health. Like magic.
Broken Plate Report
This is not just a U.S. problem. Released this week, The Broken Plate 2025 report details the problems with UK food systems. Their description is concise:
“Too many people in the UK lack the financial means to access decent food. Much of the food readily available and marketed to us is damaging our health and the planet.”
Yes, we agree that there is a large problem with the quality of the food people can access, afford, and consume. But the problem is far more complex than sugar, salt, and fat.
Ready, Fire, Aim for Nutrition Policy
The current fixation on ultra-processed foods as the cause – rather than a symptom – seems likely to lead us to another dead end that “seemed like a good idea at the time.” People are consuming cheap and convenient foods not because they have been duped by the food industry. It is because too many of us suffer from economic disparities that leave us few alternatives. We live lives that are too stressed to enjoy carefully prepared and nourishing meals. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals contribute to metabolic issues and influence our appetites – as does an environment that keeps us sedentary.
In short, simply “recommending that people eat fewer UPFs” is a smug and facile answer for a problem that goes much deeper than people eating too many chips.
Click here for Mozaffarian’s viewpoint in JAMA and here for a thoughtful exploration of ultra-processed foods and the limits of our knowledge about their health effects.
Whole Raspberry, photograph by Ivar Leidus, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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February 1, 2025
February 03, 2025 at 6:02 pm, Neva Cochran said:
I recently said that ultra-processed foods have become the new high fructose corn syrup. Both maligned by many with little knowledge of the facts.
You (again) hit the nail on the head with, “People are consuming cheap and convenient foods not because they have been duped by the food industry. It is because too many of us suffer from economic disparities that leave us few alternatives. We live lives that are too stressed to enjoy carefully prepared and nourishing meals.”
I often wonder if those espousing these ideas about UPFs live in a universe where there are no single mothers and/or dads with two jobs and 3 kids struggling with time and money to purchase food yet expected to cook a meal from scratch when they are exhausted and need to help kids with homework, get them ready for bed, clean the house and try to find 10 minutes for themselves. I applaud parents who can open a can of Spaghettios, heat it up in the microwave, sprinkle it with canned, grated Parmesan and serve it on a plate with a side of canned green beans, slice of bread and a glass of milk. Or even more industrious, they brown a package of ground beef to add to a box of Hamburger Helper and serve it with baby carrots and a glass of chocolate (gasp!!) milk. And maybe a packaged cookie for dessert! These meals may contain UPFs, but they are far from non-nutritious.