Thread by @PhD_Leigh

It's happening now! #GreatDebates in #Nutrition on ultra-processed foods and the Dietary Guidelines. 🤓 #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Ultra processed foods are an emerging interest in #nutrition #science. They have been linked to numerous negative #health outcomes.

This #GreatDebate will attempt to tackle the role of ultra processed foods in health/disease, confounding, etc.
#Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Now for the "yes, ultra processed foods are problematic" side of the debate. #GreatDebateNutrition

What are ultra processed foods? The Nova classification system is the general consensus, which is based solely on the processing of the foods.

There are markers you can use to identify ultra processed foods

The amount of ultra processed foods in the diet have increased over time. 😱
#Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

What does the increasing prevalence of ultra processed foods do to the diet? Increased added sugar, decreased fiber. 👎👎 #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

30 cohort studies link ultra processed foods to numerous disease states even after adjusting for potential confounding. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Many meta analysis confirm this including for the very important all-cause mortality. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

The imbalance of dietary nutrients with the introduction of more ultra processed foods is part of the effect--mediators, not confounders. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

It's more than just nutrient imbalance in ultra processed foods. They are missing health promoting components (phytochemicals) and contain potentially harmful ones like additives.

Or should we recommend that discontinuation of ultra processed foods (like stopping smoking) before the exact mechanism is clear? #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

The rebuttal: Processing is really poorly defined, as are the ingredients. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

There's no threshold for these ingredients. How can we define the problem? #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Is ultra processing just a marker of a poor diet? Add that to the problematic classification and what are we really studying? #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

We might be able to explain the negative effects of ultra processed foods by traditional nutrition characteristics as well? #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

The debate is heating up now! #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Another #GreatDebateNutrition in the books. I love seeing my colleagues debate hot topics in a rigorous and collegial manner. Looking forward to the publication! #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline