Your Body on Processed Food

Why you should say “no thanks” to foods made with ingredients you can’t pronounce.

March 2023

We’re not going to lie: Potato chips are delicious. OK, maybe they’re not the healthiest choice, but the fact that they have “potato” in their name means you’re still eating a vegetable, right? Wrong. The truth is, packaged snacks like chips, soda, and candy are what are known as highly processed foods. These are foods that have been chemically altered with artificial colors, flavors, and additives. These things help the food stay fresh longer and give them intense flavor, but all that convenience and taste has a cost. Highly processed foods contain unhealthy levels of sugar, salt, and fat. Eating too many of them can cause health problems, including increasing your risk of developing tooth decay, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. They can also mess with your mood. When you think about all those negative effects, that bag of chips probably sounds a lot less appetizing. Read on to learn how processed foods affect your body, mind, and mood.

Chew on This

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a bag of chips or packaged cookies from time to time. But according to one study, more than half the calories in the American diet come from processed foods. You can reduce the amount of processed food in your diet by making sure most of the foods you eat are made from fresh and natural ingredients like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Brain

Eating processed snacks triggers the release of dopamine, a feel-good chemical. You may start craving more of the snack in order to get more dopamine.

Stomach

Your body digests processed foods much faster than natural foods. That means you burn fewer calories digesting them, which can lead to obesity. It also means you’ll get hungry again faster after eating packaged snacks.