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| Last week we shared some new research on the health effects of ultra-processed foods, those packaged items that come with long lists of ingredients you can’t find in your kitchen. Even with evidence that people who eat ultra-processed foods tend to ingest more calories and gain body fat, it’s hard to resist these things when they’re ubiquitous, cheap, tasty, and require little prep.
Children in particular are drawn to foods like chicken fingers and frozen pizza. And according to a 2018 study, ultra-processed foods make up 67% of the average American kids’ diet. So senior science correspondent and busy mom Maria Godoy went on a fact-finding mission to learn how parents – or any of us – can replace ultra-processed foods with healthier alternatives.
One sneaky culprit is products we consider healthy – like flavored yogurt, which contains added sugars and other additives. Instead, opt for plain yogurt and add fresh fruit. Don’t want to stretch your grocery budget at a time when groceries are freakin’ expensive? Try Latin or Asian markets for lower prices on produce. Frozen or canned-in-water is fine too. Maria’s also got tips on finding less-processed alternatives, kid-friendly substitutions, and making it easier to cook at home.
Plus: 10 strategies to help busy parents get food on the table
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Ultra-processed foods are creations of the industrial age, and they represent part of a big shift in human diets in the last 200 years. The change in our diets – more fats, more sugars, less fiber – means a change in the diet of the bacteria that live in our guts and help us digest foods. Our guts are also lined with immune cells. And the interaction of an altered gut microbiome with the immune system may be a factor in the rise of allergies across the world, according to Theresa MacPhail, medical anthropologist and author of the new book Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World.
In the U.S., nut allergies in children, hospital admissions for asthma and prescriptions for EpiPens have all tripled in recent years. Where food allergies are concerned, MacPhail says allergists’ prior efforts to protect young children backfired: “We were, as just normal best practices, telling parents to not only avoid certain allergenic foods like peanuts, strawberries, eggs, milk when they were pregnant, but also to avoid giving them to their younger children until after the age of 3 — and it turns out that was exactly the wrong advice,” MacPhail says. The guidelines were changed after 2016, after an Israeli study found that children introduced to peanut paste as babies were much less likely to develop peanut allergies by age 5. Now physicians recommend feeding a tiny amount of peanut butter to babies without known risk factors as young as four months, and monitoring for reactions.
Early exposure has also been shown to be protective, MacPhail says, when it comes to allergies to animals and plants in our environment. Is there anything we can do as adults? Maybe start with taking fewer showers. Read more of Macphail's insights about allergies or listen to her interview on Fresh Air.
Also: Rising temperatures prolong pollen season and could worsen allergies |
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Face masks are now rare, testing requirements have been dropped, and with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, the U.S. health care system is returning to business-as-usual. But we’re still seeing thousands of deaths per day -- not from COVID, but from chronic, preventable diseases like complications from Type 2 diabetes and liver disease.
The pandemic was a wake-up call that for many Americans, the system is often stacked against their efforts to stay well. In our 2023 series, Living Better, we’re telling stories of communities and individuals who have bucked the trends by improving people's health outcomes and their lives. We’re sharing new ideas that deserve to be spread, and smart policies that deserve to be funded.
Learn more about the special series and explore our reporting thus far. |
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Todd Rosenberg/Community Music Inc. |
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We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots and follow us on Twitter at @NPRHealth.
All best,
Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors |
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