- The USDA has devised an experimental, nutritionally complete, seven-day meal plan consisting almost entirely of ultra-processed foods.
- However, a range of ultra-processed foods have been extensively linked to chronic health issues.
- The diet scientists created also fell short in terms of meeting certain nutritional needs, such as vitamin D and E.
- The definition of what qualifies food as “ultra-processed” remains unresolved.
For the last 20 years, Americans have
There is evidence that these foods are linked to
Scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) involved in nutritional research were curious to know if a person could meet all the
The menu scored 86 out of 100 points on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) with 91% of the calories in the diet obtained from UPF. It missed just two nutritional targets: It was high in sodium and low in whole grains.
By comparison, the average American diet scores just 59 on the HEI.
The menu is not an actual recommended meal plan, but is instead an experiment and a demonstration of the flexibility of DGA recommendations.
To construct their menu in a way that aligned with current nutritional recommendations, the researchers adapted the MyPyramid menu.
The press release announcing the study highlights that current dietary recommendations are more focused on nutritional content than the degree or type of processing involved, and that further research is necessary.
The study is published in Science Direct.
One of the issues with assessing…
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