EFFECTS OF PROCESSED FOOD ON OUR HEALTH
Introduction
Processed foods are any food altered during processing to make it more convenient, shelf-stable, or flavorful. Processed foods range from minimally processed where the natural state is preserved to heavily or ultra-processed containing chemically altered artificial flavors, additives, and other ingredients. Processed foods are associated with potential risks to human health. These risks include obesity, increased cancer incidences, lacking nutritional value, excessive sugar, sodium, and fat.
Thesis statement
Processed foods harm our health because they result in obesity and obesity-related conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
General-purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how the consumption of processed foods is linked to poor human health.
Specific purpose
The specific purpose of this paper is to detail how consumption of processed foods is associated with obesity, low nutritional content, and increased incidence of cancer.
Consumption of a significant quantity of processed foods is directly related to the increased incidence of obesity. Processed foods, including pastries, ice cream, cookies, candy, processed meat, soft drinks, and breakfast cereals tend to be energy-dense and high in saturated trans-fat, added sugar and sodium (Poti et al., 2018). The consumption of such foods facilitates excess energy intake as they contain high energy density. Many of these processed foods are high in refined carbohydrates that can alter insulin response and promote the shuttling of excess nutrients away from oxidation toward storage in adipose tissue (Ramos-Lopez et al., 2018). Obesity stems from the accumulation of stored carbohydrates in adipose tissue. Continued exposure to high amounts of carbohydrates significantly increases nutrients contained in adipose tissue. The resultant effect is increase in size to continue accommodating more nutrients. According to the Centers for Disease and Health Control, more than one-third of the American population is obese. Such trends are worry sum as being overweight is accompanied by other health concerns such as the increased probability of developing heart disease and type 2 (García-Jiménez et al., 2016). Regulating the amount of processed food intake is ideal toward avoiding conditions that are more prone once a person is obese.
Processed foods are deficient in essential nutrients when compared to whole, unprocessed foods. During the processing exercise, synthetic vitamins and minerals are sometimes added to compensate for what was lost (Cornwell et al., 2018). Essential nutrients such as vitamins, various trace nutrients, and oxidants may be lacking in these foods. When foods containing synthetic nutrients are taken in proportionately higher quantities, water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C and B are flushed out of the body in urine. Consuming lots of processed foods deprives the body of essential nutrients and trace elements ( Ozola et al., 2017). Processed foods have low fiber content, especially soluble, fermentable fiber that helps with the treatment of constipation.
Studies have demonstrated a correlation between the consumption of highly processed foods and higher cancer risks. Processed foods contain hydrogenated oils, modified starches emulsifiers, sweeteners, texturizers, etc. These additives have pronounced side effects, including being cancerous (Fiolet et al., 2018). Due to added sugars and sweeteners, these foods tend to be addictive. Studies have shown that continued exposure to these foods is associated with certain types of cancer, such as breast and colorectal.
Conclusion
Processed foods are altered during processing to make it more convenient, shelf-stable, or flavorful. These foods are associated with adverse health impacts on human beings. Provision of low nutritional, depriving the essential body elements, causing obesity and resulting in certain types of cancer.
References
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