Food Like Products as drivers of Chronic Disease

 

The Rise of "Food-Like Products"

 In modern societies, our diets have transformed dramatically from those of our ancestors. Whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, foraged plants, whole grains (after the agricultural revolution), and naturally raised or hunted meats were always the staples in human diets. Today, however, these natural foods have been replaced, to a large extent, by processed, industrially manufactured alternatives designed to mimic the taste, texture, and appearance of traditional foods. These are known as “food-like products.”

What Are "Food-Like Products"?

 "Food-like products" refer to highly processed foods created to resemble natural foods but not found in nature themselves. They are the norm nowadays. They are designed to provide convenience, flavour, and often an extended shelf life, appealing to the busy lifestyles of modern consumers. Examples include milk (milk sold to consumers does not come out of a cow as such), Milk substitutes (like almond and soy milk), processed meats (such as hot dogs and plant-based burgers), and various dairy substitutes (like margarine and cheese spreads). While they may look, feel, and sometimes taste like their natural counterparts, these products lack the fundamental characteristics and nutritional profile of whole foods.

Ingredients That Are Far from Nature

One of the defining traits of food-like products is their use of non-food ingredients—substances you wouldn’t find in a traditional kitchen but are common in laboratories. These include artificial Flavors, preservatives, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and sweeteners, all used to enhance flavour, colour, and texture or to increase shelf life - these products are just as difficult for nature to break down as they are for us. For instance, a typical plant-based burger may contain a long list of ingredients, including genetically modified soy protein, methylcellulose (a thickener), and artificial colouring to achieve the look and texture of real meat. These ingredients serve a functional purpose  but are not found in real foods.

Additionally, they are heavily dependent on several stable crops as ingredients - wheat, sunflower and canola oil, soy being prime examples. These staples are heavily processed prior to their inclusion and bear little resemblance to the naturally occurring versions of these foods used in traditional diets.

Nutritional Deprivation by Design

Food-like products are often nutritionally inferior to the foods they aim to replicate. Consider margarine, a popular butter substitute. Unlike butter, which contains fat-soluble vitamins and healthy fats in natural forms, margarine is made from hydrogenated oils and additives to replicate the texture and taste of butter. Similarly, processed meats and plant-based meat substitutes are often high in sodium and preservatives, lacking the naturally occurring nutrients and complex proteins found in whole cuts of meat. Even products like fruit-flavoured yogurts, while marketed as healthy, often contain more sugar than fruit and rely on artificial Flavors to simulate natural taste.

 In short, while food-like products may be easy and enjoyable to consume, they often lack the vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients we associate with their natural counterparts, leaving us vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies over time.

A Major Shift in the Modern Diet

 Food-like products now constitute a significant portion of the modern human diet. In many industrialized societies, a large percentage of calories consumed daily come from processed foods, with people encouraged to consume pre-packaged snacks, ready-to-eat meals, and artificially flavoured drinks over whole foods. This shift has led to an important decline in diet quality, as people consume fewer fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains, often opting instead for heavily processed alternatives. This decline in our diet’s parallels both the quantity and quality consumed.

The Link to Chronic Disease

A quick search will reveal an absence of appropriate literature supporting the mass replacement of food with food like products in the human diet. That experiment, I suspect, is occurring now in our home’s, schools and societies. The widespread consumption of food-like products is one of the driving forces behind the chronic disease epidemic. Diets high in processed foods and low in nutrient-dense whole foods contribute to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other long-term health issues. These conditions are often linked to diets high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, and artificial additives—exactly the components of many food-like products.

 Moreover, the artificial ingredients and excessive sodium in these products can strain organs and disrupt natural metabolic functions, contributing to insulin resistance, hypertension, and inflammatory responses. Over time, these conditions create a vicious cycle, leading to a higher risk of chronic diseases and reduced quality of life.

Reconnect with Real Food

 To combat the negative effects of food-like products, it is essential to reconnect with real, whole foods. Prioritizing unprocessed, natural ingredients can support long-term health, offering the body the full spectrum of nutrients it needs to function optimally. Eating a diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and minimally processed meats or fish provides not only better nutrition but also helps the body resist many of the adverse effects associated with heavily processed foods.

"Food-like products" have become a staple of modern diets, but their convenience comes at a cost. Packed with non-food ingredients and often stripped of their natural nutrients, these products can lead to nutrient deficiencies and contribute to chronic diseases. Where is the public health response? Public health authorities should insist upon appropriate labelling and published scientific showing the appropriateness of these substances in the human diet before becoming available on shelves. Failure to do so is a contributing factor to the chronic disease epidemic.

1. Monteiro, C. A., et al. (2019). "Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them." Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936-941. 

2. Fardet, A., & Rock, E. (2019). "Ultra-processed foods: A new holistic paradigm?" *Trends in Food Science & Technology, 93, 174-184.

3. Mozaffarian, D., & Ludwig, D. S. (2010). "Dietary guidelines in the 21st century—a time for food." JAMA, 304(6), 681-682.

   - Discusses the need for dietary guidelines that prioritize whole foods over processed options.

4. Srour, B., et al. (2019). "Association between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of mortality among middle-aged adults in France." JAMA Internal Medicine, 179(4), 490-498. 

5. Martínez Steele, E., et al. (2016). "Ultra-processed foods and added sugars in the US diet: Evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study." BMJ Open, 6(3), e009892. 

Copyright Dr Christopher Maclay 2024. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only, it does not constitute medical advice. Please consult with your health care practitioner for personalised medical advice.