Health – Separating fact from fear

If you’ve been following nutrition news lately, you’ve probably heard a lot about ultra-processed foods. Depending on who you listen to, they are either responsible for many of our modern health problems or something we should avoid completely. It’s no wonder people are feeling confused.

As a dietitian, one of the biggest challenges I see is people becoming increasingly anxious about food. Every week there seems to be a new food to avoid, a new diet to follow, or a new headline telling us we’re eating the wrong thing.

While there is growing research linking diets high in ultra-processed foods with poorer health outcomes, it’s important to remember that most of this research shows a correlation, not necessarily causation.

In other words, people who eat more ultra-processed foods may be more likely to experience poorer health outcomes, but that doesn’t automatically mean the foods themselves are the direct cause. One possible explanation is that diets high in ultra-processed foods may displace foods that provide important nutrients such as fruit, vegetables, legumes, wholegrains and nuts. The question may not simply be, “Are ultra-processed foods causing harm?” but also, “What foods are they replacing?”

As with many areas of nutrition, the reality is likely more nuanced than the headlines suggest.

Processing itself is not always a bad thing. It can improve food safety, reduce waste, extend shelf life and make food more affordable and accessible. This is particularly important during a cost-of-living crisis when many families are simply doing their best to put food on the table. Not everyone has the time, money, energy or capacity to prepare meals from scratch every day.

It’s also important to recognise that convenience foods can play a valuable role for many disabled and neurodivergent people. For some, ready-made meals, packaged snacks, fortified cereals, frozen foods or familiar branded products may make the difference between meeting their nutritional needs and not eating enough at all.

What concerns me most is when conversations about nutrition create fear and guilt.

I’ve spoken to parents who feel they are failing because their child’s lunchbox contains packaged foods. I’ve met people who have become increasingly anxious about foods they once enjoyed. For some people, focusing on what to avoid can actually make their relationship with food worse, not better.

Food doesn’t need to be homemade to be nourishing. Rather than focusing on what to cut out, consider what you could add in:

• Add a piece of fruit to breakfast or a snack.
• Include an extra vegetable with dinner, whether fresh, frozen or canned.
• Add beans, lentils or chickpeas to soups, curries, casseroles or mince dishes.
• Pair convenience foods with foods that add nourishment and satisfaction.
• Keep easy staples on hand such as frozen vegetables, canned beans, tinned fish and wholegrain bread.
• Look for opportunities to add variety across the week rather than aiming for perfection at every meal.
• Consider whether barriers such as time, cost, energy levels, sensory preferences or cooking confidence are making it difficult to eat well, and look for realistic solutions that work for you.

The conversation about ultra-processed foods is likely to continue as more research emerges. In the meantime, rather than worrying about whether a food falls into a particular category, it may be more helpful to focus on the bigger picture. What foods could we add more of? What barriers make eating well difficult? And how can we support ourselves and others to access nourishing food in a way that feels realistic, sustainable and achievable?

Because ultimately, food is not just about nutrients. It is also about culture, connection, enjoyment, accessibility and nourishing ourselves in the realities of everyday life.