Americans get over half their calories from ultra-processed foods like bread, sweets, and soda.
That's according to a new study, published in BMJ Open on March 9, that analyzed the diets of a representative sample of about 9,300 Americans.
The researchers found that 58% of the 2,079 calories people ate each day on average came from ultra-processed foods.
These are packaged foods like bread, cereal, salty snacks, and soda, many of which have additives like artificial flavors, sweeteners, and emulsifiers that you typically don't find in fresh or prepared foods.
The other 30% of calories came from unprocessed or minimally processed foods like vegetables and milk; 9% came from processed foods like ham and cheese; and 3% came from culinary ingredients like table sugar.
This startling reliance on ultra-processed foods is making us "overfed and undernourished," the researchers write, because those foods are often high in added sugars and low in nutrients. It's why people call them "empty calories."
Research has found that diets high in added sugars are associated with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, among other problems.
The researchers in this new study found that these ultra-processed foods account for 90% of the added sugars in Americans' diets.
The US government recommends people only get 10% of their calories per day from added sugars, but this is actually closer to 15% on average.
In the study, the only people who met the dietary guidelines for added sugars were those who got the smallest number of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods. Sugar is often hiding in all sorts of packaged foods.
The researchers concluded that if we cut down on ultra-processed foods, we could easily cut a lot of sugar from our diet. And this could decrease Americans' risk for all of the diseases that added sugars have been linked to.
We just have to put down the chips — and eat some unprocessed vegetables instead.
