We’ve all heard the message: Five or more ingredients — and some you can’t even pronounce — that’s not so great!

Think of ultra-processed foods as more chemistry experiment than consumable. Some of the additives are preservatives, others enhance flavor.

Dr Naomi Parrella is a obesity medicine specialist at Rush.

“It’s when industry comes in and adds certain chemicals or flavors or other things that it becomes ultra processed,” she said. “That’s the stuff you can’t make in the kitchen. You can’t make certain snack foods in the kitchen. You can’t make certain energy carbonated beverages in the kitchens. And so those are things that are ultra processed.”

Parrella says the body takes in what we eat as a signal. Veggies, fruit, meat, dairy and eggs are recognizable. Ultra-processed items are not.  

“It’s the foods that your body finds foreign, that it has to figure out,” Parrella said. “It may have to upregulate the immune system. It may spike your insulin, which causes you to want more and not be able to burn fat and start gaining weight around your belly. It creates a disruption in the hormones of the body.”

Perhaps even more powerful, some additives target the same part of the brain that’s triggered with addictive substances.

“It’s about the money right? How can I get more sales? How can I get more people to buy this?” Parrella said. “Well, if there is a chemical way to induce people to do that, it’s brilliant for industry but not brilliant for humans and not the right thing to do.”

Transfats are well known to be unhealthy. But when it comes to oils, Parrella said there’s controversy, particularly with seed oils like canola, safflower and vegetable.

“Those oils are extracted under unnatural conditions; very high pressure, high temperature often,” she said. “And so those oils can be harmful to the human body and we don’t even understand completely.”

What doctors do understand is the link between diet and overall health.

“If additional health problems start occurring or you start feeling less energetic or you’re not sleeping well or your guts not feeling good, there might be a reason for that and it might be related to ultra processed foods,” Parrella said. “If you can moderate and pay attention to ultra processed foods you will make a difference.”

More research is showing that eating too many ultra-processed foods may also have an impact on our mental health.