A dietician who ate nothing but ultra processed foods for a month has revealed the staggering effect it had on her body.
The experiment saw her eat a combination of pre-packaged food, frozen meals and takeaways.
Jessica Wilson took part in the challenge after ultra processed foods (UPFs) were demonized and described as ‘the new cigarettes’.
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But speaking to the Daily Mail, Wilson revealed that they ‘can be part of a healthy diet and policymakers need to change the conversation’.
During the experiment, around 80% of Wilson’s diet came from UPFs while the other 20% consisted of fruit, veg, eggs, nuts and seeds.
And incredibly, the diet had some surprising effects.
Around a fortnight into the experiment, Wilson reported that she was experiencing a range of health benefits.
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She said that she was less hungry and fatigued, needed less caffeine and was less ‘grumpy’ after work.
By the end of the challenge, she said there were differences to her physique and had toned up.
Wilson said: “I don’t use a belt daily but I do use a waist leash to walk my dog and that leash got looser and I needed to tighten it.
“So my weight did not change but I had an improvement in body composition.”
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Wilson also said that the classification system for food can be ‘very confusing’.
She went on to say: “If we look at the Nova classifications for foods, what is supposed to distinguish a category 4: ultra-processed food from a category 3: processed food, it is not always clear. Let’s take additives.
“Additives are often the buzz word for what makes something unhealthy... I think celebrity doctor Dr Mark Hyman called them ‘body snatchers’.
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“Egg lecithin is often used as an additive and there can be beneficial properties to it.
“Xantham gum is often an additive in gluten-free foods that most of us would not demonize.
“Additionally, baby formula is listed as a category 4 ultra-processed food, and has additives for increasing shelf life and food safety.
“I have yet to see the science that says that for babies it is healthier having nothing to eat rather than formula, yet as adults, we are shamed and called out for eating certain foods.”
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The food expert continued to say that there is a ‘lack of conclusive and comprehensive science and a lot of that comes from a lacking clear definition of an ultra-processed food’.
And according to Wilson’s experiment, UPFs aren’t all bad after all!