Recently a research has been done on ultra-processed food. It was told that people eat ultra-processed food more because of emotional distress and addiction rather than as a hobby.

If your mouth starts watering on seeing ultra-processed food like pizza-burger, chips-namkeen, biscuits-cookies, French fries, then the reason for this is not the pleasure derived from eating them. Actually, people eat ultra-processed food repeatedly to overcome unnecessary addiction and their emotional distress. This was revealed in a study recently published in the Food Science and Nutrition Journal. This study was done on eating ultra-processed food i.e. UPF, food addiction, eating things for happiness and mood. 

How are ultra processed foods prepared?

According to the changing lifestyle, food processing has increased a lot, and new technologies have contributed a lot in increasing it. However, the amount of food processing and its purpose directly affects the health of common people. This is the reason why Nova Classification System has divided food items into four categories. One of these categories is UPF i.e. ultra processed food, which contains a lot of additives and undergoes intensive industrial processing. This is the reason why their natural structure also gets damaged. 

How are ultra processed foods good for health?

It is worth noting that anti-humectants, flavour enhancers and emulsifiers are usually used to prepare UPF, which reduces the cost of making them and increases the shelf life. The important thing is that the income from UPF, aggressive advertisements, changing lifestyle have increased their consumption to a great extent. However, due to less nutrients and more fat, UPF is proving to be dangerous for people's health. 

This is how a study was done on UPF

In this online study, the researchers focused on UPF consumption, food addiction, mood and hedonic hunger. Let us tell you that hedonic hunger means eating things only for taste-pleasure and emotional satisfaction instead of eating according to the body's needs. This survey was conducted on people aged 18 to 65 years in Ankara, Turkey from September 2024 to January 2025. The important thing is that people with incomplete answers, psychiatric disorders and eating disorders were not given place in this survey. 

These techniques were used in the study

The food habits of the people included in the survey were assessed using the Highly Processed Food Consumption Screening Questionnaire. Whereas, hedonic hunger was assessed through the Power of Food Scale (PFS). Apart from this, food addiction was examined with the help of Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). Also, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to know the emotional status of the people included in the survey. 

This thing came out in the study

This study included 3,997 adults, whose average age was 31.7 years. Of these, 63 percent were women and 52.9 percent were unemployed. The average body mass index (BMI) of all these people was 24.5 kg/m². 55 percent of the people included in the study were of normal weight, while 11.7 percent were obese. Apart from this, 27.5 percent people were overweight and 5.6 percent people were underweight. The average scores of all these people on sQ-HPF, PFS, and YFAS parameters were 5.1, 2.8, and 2.9 respectively. 

The average scores for stress, depression, and anxiety on the DASS-21 were 5.9, 5.6, and 5.0, respectively. More than 55% of people had low UPF intake, while about 45% consumed a lot of ultra-processed food. The survey revealed that the average age of those who ate ultra-processed food was 28.8 years, while the average age of those who ate less UPF was 34.1 years. The important thing was that ultra-processed food is consumed more by people living alone and unmarried people. It also came to light that people consume them not according to their body's needs, but according to their mood.

Disclaimer: Some of the information given in the news is based on media reports. Before implementing any suggestion, please consult the concerned expert. 

PC:ABPNews