The Foods Engineered To Keep You From Your Goals

Intro

There is a lot of research happening recently about ultra processed foods, hyper palatable foods and their negative impact on health outcomes. While all foods are made up of the same basic macronutrients, some foods come with extra costs. As an athlete, the highest priority should be on making sure that you are eating the correct balance of macronutrients and that those macronutrients are supportive of your goals. We are going to look at the two families of foods (and spoiler alert – they are often actually the same foods), and see how they could be impacting your goals. Then we will talk about alternatives.

I want to say, I am not demonizing any particular kind of food. At the end of the day, I am a firm believer that weight is lost, maintained, or gained by the balance of calories. Muscle and fat are lost, maintained, or gained by the balance of macronutrients that make up those calories. But ultra processed foods and hyper palatable foods have additional impacts on our bodies that make them more difficult for some to balance into their diet and have negative outcomes long term beyond your body fat percentage.

Ultra Processed Foods

Many of the foods we eat go through some level of processing. Butter, cheese, and yogurt are all made by processing milk. Bread and pasta are made by processing wheat. And on and on. Unless it was picked from a plant or killed and sent to the store – there is likely some processing happening. Ultra processed foods are foods that undergo a more radical level of change. This processing often involves adding fats, salts, and preservatives. Even the fats themselves are often processed. Hydrogenated oils and trans-fats are vegetable oils that have been processed with hydrogen to make them solid at room temperature. Think the difference between Crisco and Canola Oil. This is important for food manufacturing because it keeps foods “fresh” for longer. But we are learning that oils that stay solid at room temperature often stay solid in the body. When these fats move through your circulatory system, they bump into the walls of your veins and arteries causing damage and inflammation. Over time that inflammation can cause cardiovascular disease and lead to issues like high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. The extra salts and fats make low quality foods taste better. But high sodium diets have also been linked to high blood pressure, which can impact performance in the short term, and your health in the long term.

Hyper Palatable Foods

As I mentioned above, adding extra fats and salts to foods makes them taste better. One of the secrets of high end restaurant cooking is that it has about double the fat and salt that you’d add if you were making it at home. The same thing is true of many ultra processed foods. Our bodies are primed by thousands of years of evolution to seek nutrient density. In the past, when food wasn’t purchased at the store, it was vital to store energy as fat in the body and be able to utilize it when food was scarce. But, this has made our bodies ill-adapted for a world where Twinkies are available at every corner mart and gas station. We crave energy sources. By engineering the balance of salts, fats, and sugars in food, it is possible to make them nearly irresistible. These foods are hyper palatable. The danger here is simply overeating. Have you ever opened a bag of chips with the intention of just having one or two and before you know it half of the bag is gone? Then you’ve been a victim of hyper palatability. Have you ever wondered why corn syrup is in so many things? Corn syrup itself isn’t bad. It’s a simple carbohydrate, no different to your body than honey or agave nectar. The danger is twofold 1) it is in foods that you don’t anticipate having added sugar. The added sugar unnecessarily inflates the carbohydrate value of the food. 2) Combining sugar and salts can have the effect of short circuiting your brain and allowing you to eat more food in order to feel satiety. If you are closely tracking macros – that means very unsatisfying meals. If you aren’t tracking macros – that means overeating.

Choosing Better Alternatives

The first thing to do is check labels. Check calories and check protein, carbohydrate, and fat levels. Check sodium levels as well. Make sure your foods actually fit your macros. Avoid sodium bombs. Simply checking a label or doing a quick internet search can help you decide the best option. And – it’s important to realize it’s not always the one you might expect.

One of my favorite examples is a McDonald’s Breakfast Sandwich. Let’s compare the Egg McMuffin to a Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich. McDonald’s has been the demonized by the media for years, mostly rightly so, for offering low quality, highly processed, and palatable foods. In recent years some hospitals have gone as far as ending contracts with McDonald’s to get them out of food courts. But is Starbucks any better?

	Egg McMuffin	Starbucks Ham Swiss and Egg	Homemade
Calories	310	450	371
Protein	17	22	25
Carbs	30	42	24
Fat	13	21	18
Sodium	770 mg	880 mg	550mg
Cost	$3.99	$4.95	$1.54

And the winner is….McDonald’s? The only area where a homemade ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich edges it out is in cost. The Starbucks Ham, Swiss, and Egg sandwich is by far the worst option in terms of healthfulness and cost.

It’s not always possible to cook every meal. Processed foods and even ultra processed foods are unavoidable for the average person. But, whenever possible make the most informed choice. Understand your own food goals and make sure that the food you choose fits into those goals. You may choose the doughnut if your carb and fat goals allow it, but understand that you may come out feeling hungry later in the day. Small decisions add up and can make a big impact over the weeks and years of our nutrition journeys. Working now to improve the quality of your diet can vastly improve your athletic and health outcomes. It is also possible to make homemade alternatives to many, if not all ultra processed and hyper palatable foods. Making something homemade gives you the opportunity to control the macronutrients, add extra proteins, and create alternatives that contain less processed and whole food ingredients.

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