Lately, it seems like everyone is talking about the negative health effects of ultra-processed food. The only surprising thing about this conversation is how long it took for it to happen.
Most Americans now in our 20s through 50s grew up in a culture filled with colorfully flagrant products of ultra-processing—from the brightest Jello and Cheetos and Froot Loops to the whitest Wonder Bread. Kids of the ’80s craved their Hot Pockets and Capri-Suns, kids of the ’90s dreamed of Lunchables and Gushers. (Whether their parents allowed these items into the house was another story.) The ’00s saw the rise of incandescent-yellow Red Bull and countless technicolor energy drinks to follow.
It’s safe to say that nobody’s ever been under the illusion that neon carbonated beverages or day-glo cereals are nutritious. But only recently has it become crystal-clear just how outsized a role the food industry has played in the obesity epidemic. The problem isn’t just that industrially processed foods tend to be high in added sugar, sodium, saturated fat, and carbohydrates, yet simultaneously less filling than whole foods. There are even more insidious ways that faux foods can lead to weight gain, including how they starve our bodies of essential nutrients while hijacking the hormones that control hunger and satiety. And while industrially processed foods used to function mostly as treats or fun school lunches, they’ve gradually gobbled up more and more space in our pantry, fridge, and freezer—in part thanks to more and more ultra-processed foods being marketed as healthy. The result: Ultra-processed food (recently given its own acronym—UPF) now accounts for roughly 60 percent of calorie consumption among U.S. adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2025, ultra-processed foods have become so abundant and diverse that it can be confusing to figure out what does and doesn’t fall into that category. A quick primer: The term “ultra-processed foods” was first coined as part of the NOVA food classification system, developed by researchers in Brazil. This classification system sorts all the foods we eat into four groups, as follows:
Group 1 - Unprocessed Foods / Minimally Processed Foods
This group includes foods that have no added ingredients and are consumed in their natural state (or very close to it), like fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, nuts, legumes, eggs, and milk. Minimal processing includes typical home/restaurant food prep like cooking, baking, freezing, drying, and grinding.
Group 2 - Processed Culinary Ingredients
This group includes foods that are primarily used as basic ingredients to be added to other foods, like salt, sugar, butter, and oils.
Group 3 - Processed Foods
These foods are also relatively simple, typically combining two or three ingredients from food groups 1 and 2 using methods that could be achieved in a home kitchen—think canned produce and fish, cheese, jelly, pickles, and fresh-baked bread.
Group 4: Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods are more complex, their ingredient lists filled with additives commonly used in food manufacturing but rarely or never used in home cooking, like preservatives, synthetic vitamins, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, artificial colors and flavors, and a wide variety of sweeteners. Ultra-processed foods often contain little (if any) intact food from Group 1 of the Nova classification system. Instead, their formulations combine stripped-down food products, food derivatives, and additives. Another way to identify ultra-processed foods is that they tend to have a very long shelf life.
Most people realize that candy, packaged snacks, and soft drinks are ultra-processed foods, but other common examples of UPFs include cold cuts, breakfast cereals (even non-colorful ones), ice cream, instant soups, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, and ready-to-eat microwavable meals. The category even includes foods that many consider part of a healthy diet, like protein bars/shakes, turkey bacon, cheeses made with emulsifiers, industrially processed whole-wheat bread, and yogurts that use artificial flavors, sweeteners, and other additives.
The problem isn’t just the multitude of questionable additives found in many ultra-processed foods—it’s what’s NOT in many of these foods. “Because they’re often void of real nutrients, your body stays hungry—not for more calories, but for the nutrients it actually needs to run your biological functions,” says licensed nutritionist Linda Lin. “Your cells are starving for minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids, not just energy. So you keep eating, hoping to feel satisfied, but never truly getting there.”
At the same time, ultra-processed foods hijack hormones like leptin and ghrelin, throwing off your feelings of hunger and fullness so you don’t stop eating when you otherwise would. The lack of fiber in many of these foods also changes how our bodies process them. “Ultra-processed foods are digested super quickly, causing blood sugar spikes followed by crashes that lead to more cravings,” Lin says.
69 percent of Americans say that eating healthy foods is too expensive.
Industrially processed foods can also have negative health effects beyond increasing the risk of weight gain and obesity. Experts agree that consumption of ultra-processed foods is taking a wide-ranging toll on public health, with studies linking them to an array of chronic diseases and adverse health outcomes. That includes an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and even an increased risk of cancer.
Of course, many ultra-processed foods are convenient, tasty, and affordable. While it’s generally considered OK to enjoy them as a small part of a healthy diet, gradually reducing our intake of ultra-processed foods can begin a powerful shift in the direction of better health outcomes. "You don’t have to throw out your entire pantry overnight, just make one swap at a time,” says certified nutritionist and health coach Terry Tateossian. Instead of reaching for ready-to-eat convenience foods, aim for meals made of mostly whole foods from groups 1, 2, and 3, including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.
When it comes to packaged foods, scan food labels with an eye toward short ingredient lists. “A simple rule of thumb: If the ingredient list has more than five items, or includes things you can’t pronounce, it’s probably ultra-processed,” Tateossian says. She suggests shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, where the real food lives: produce, fish, unprocessed meat, eggs. “I also recommend batch-prepping protein a few times a week: Grill chicken, bake salmon, or roast tofu, so you always have something ready to build quick, nutrient-dense meals,” Tateossian says. “For snacks, keep it simple: plain Greek yogurt with berries, roasted edamame, or veggies with hummus. One of my favorite tips is to look for foods with single-ingredient labels: “broccoli,” “almonds,” “eggs.” When you start there and add one habit at a time, you naturally crowd out the ultra-processed foods without feeling deprived, and you’ll feel the difference in your energy, mood, and hormones within weeks."
While it can definitely be a challenge to cut back on ultra-processed foods, remember that each time you choose whole foods instead, you’re helping to regulate your metabolism and break free of products that are often intentionally designed to keep you stuck in an unhealthy cycle. “For decades, the food industry has studied brain chemistry, dopamine, and the exact combinations of salt, sugar, and fat that light up your reward centers and override your natural ‘off switch,’” Lin says. “It’s not a willpower issue—it’s biochemical. And once people understand that, they stop blaming themselves and start taking their power back.”
