Not all food is the same.  Just because it is sold in the store, even the health store it could contain a lot of additional substances that the body does not recognize as a food molecule. These are called Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs). They are now being considered as one of the main contributing factors to obesity, chronic disease, inflammation, gut health issues and even death.

UPF’s are industrial formulations that are chemically adjusted substances taken from whole foods as well as additives that are used to increase the shelf-life along with improving the appearance, taste and texture.  Basically they are not really considered a food item as far as how our body deals with them. 

Once you start shopping down the middle aisles and you are purchasing anything in a package you run the risk of exposing your body to these UPFs, even items that we think of as healthy such as  yogurt contain some of these additives.

Our bodies are designed to break down and make use of real food and have not suddenly evolved over the past 20 years to adapt to dealing with the increased exposure to UPF’s.  Given that UPF’s are making up a more significant proportion of the daily intake of food in North America this is becoming a health crisis as seen with the dramatic rise of many of the chronic diseases that people are suffering from including younger people. 

If you shop the outer perimeter of a store and focus on fruits, vegetables and proteins along with other whole foods such as nuts, seeds and healthy fats then you are minimizing your exposure to these UPF’s 

But don’t worry there are ways you can still purchase items that come from a package and know you are making a better choice and minimizing your exposure to the UPFs. Certainly learning how to read labels on packaged goods will help you make the best choices in food but that can be a bit overwhelming to do so keep reading to hear about another way you can assess the quality of a food item that is packaged. 


Why Does This Matter?

Whenever we put anything in our body or products on our body, our body needs to deal with those products. This is the law of cause and effect.

When we eat that food item it will be broken down by our gut into the macros, of protein, carb and fat as well as all the natural biochemical components our bodies need to function at their best.  If this is a whole food item then the body recognizes the biochemical composition of the food item and will be able to use all of it’s components especially the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients. 

All these components are needed by our body so it supports our bodies ability to function well. This promotes health. 

Food is information. Food is medicine. Food is the most powerful regulator of the chemical signals in your body. In fact, the most important part of food may not be calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, or minerals, but the tens of thousands of medicinal compounds embedded in plants and even animal foods that regulate, modulate, and influence nearly every single one of the 37 billion chemical reactions that occur in our bodies every second.

LIkewise if the “food” we are eating contains a lot of additives and ingredients that our body does not recognize as real food it will have a significant negative impact on our health and well being.  

This is why one of the foundations in all of my weight loss programs is that people eat an anti-inflammatory whole food plan with minimal use of any additional products that come from a package.

I teach all my clients how to read labels and by labels I actually mean the ingredients not just the nutrition label in the square box giving you calories and grams of the macros.   This way  they are educated and understand what to look for and how to make the best decisions possible in their food choices especially if they do want to use some packaged food.  

As clients eliminate the packaged foods and UPFs and eat clean whole foods it is always amazing to see how quickly they notice improvements in their energy, sleep, gut health, joint pain, breathing in just a matter of a few days.  It can happen that quickly.

How To Make The Best Choices.

So how can you get started on eliminating UPFs from your daily intake of food?  It can seem overwhelming to get started and learn how to read a label.

Good News:  There is an app that will make it very easy for you to assess the quality of a packaged food item. 

This app is called Yuka. 

With this app you can scan any barcode into your phone while shopping and it will rank that food item based upon a number of criteria including additives.  It will also work for cosmetics and skin care items.  Even though we are not ingesting those cosmetics they are still being absorbed by our bodies through our skin and can still have a negative impact. 

Here is how Yuka breaks down their algorithm to score each item as taken directly from their website.

Yuka’s food product scores are based on three criteria:

• Nutritional quality is 60% of the score.

The calculation method is based on Nutri-Score, a science-based nutrition label adopted by 7 European countries that measures the nutritional balance of food products, taking into account calories, sugar, sodium, saturated fat, protein, fiber, fruits and vegetables.

The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), a WHO agency, supports this method, highlighting its effectiveness in guiding consumers towards healthier food choices as well as its scientific relevance.

Nutri-Scores are translated into Yuka ratings as shown in the correspondence table, available here.

• The presence of additives is 30% of the score.

Benchmarks are based on the latest scientific research. We take into account the recommendations of the EFSA, and the IARC, in addition to numerous independent studies.

Every additive is assigned a risk level based on various existing studies: risk-free (green dot), limited risk (yellow dot), moderate risk (orange dot), hazardous (red dot).

If an additive we consider to be hazardous is present, the maximum score for the product is set at 49/100. In this situation, this criterion can represent more than 30% of the score.

Information about the risks associated with each additive, as well as the corresponding scientific sources, are available in the application.

• The organic dimension is 10% of the score.

This is a bonus granted to products considered organic, i.e. those with an official national or international organic label. They avoid chemical pesticides which can pose a health risk.

Now you can get started and make informed decisions about your packaged food and cosmetics with just the click of your phone.

This will be a powerful step towards a healthier you. 

If you want to do an experiment then take my inflammation questionnaire and see your current score.

Then make a point of only eating whole foods and using Yuka to make sure any packaged goods you eat are ranked very high in their health score for 1 week. Then redo the inflammation questionnaire and see the positive impact in just one week. Imagine how great you will feel after several months of eating that way.