Health&Beauty A TRICKY PROCESS

With the increase in ultra-processed foods on supermarket shelves, Dr Tanja Harrison, nutrition lecturer at the University of Chester, examines the pros and cons for our health

Have you walked round your supermarket recently and wondered about the vast array of products on offer? So many brands, so much choice to make our mealtimes exciting, with labels claiming to be a healthy choice or high in this or low in that. At the same time, we’re told processed foods are bad for us and we need to be cooking more from scratch.

As with many things in life, getting to the truth is far from straightforward. Nearly all of the foods we’re sold have undergone some form of processing – it is the extent that differs. One of the systems introduced in an attempt to classify processed foods is NOVA, which groups foods into four categories, from the lowest: unprocessed or minimally processed (for example, cow’s milk that has been pasteurised, put into cartons and needs refrigeration) to the highest: ultra-processed foods or

UPFs such as soft drinks, sweet and savoury packaged snacks, reconstituted meat products and pre-prepared frozen dishes.

The latter have a particularly bad rep as they undergo a range of processes to even come into existence, and tend to be high in salt, sugar and fat. If you look at the ingredients list, chances are that you will also find a long list of things you’ve not heard of before, for example, substances that ensure that the food has a long shelf-life.

Finding the balance

Many UPFs are also classed as ‘hyper-palatable’, which means that we run the risk of eating big portions of them, thus increasing our calorie intake. Research has shown that people who eat a lot of such foods do indeed eat more than those whose diets contain fewer of those foods. You could argue that, from a health perspective, the problem doesn’t lie with the food itself – if eaten rarely and as a treat – but fact is that most of us do consume a considerable amount of them on a daily

With weather on our minds, we look at some of the misconceptions around how we handle the cold…

Feeling cold means you have a low body temperature.

Myth. Our perception of coldness can be influenced by several factors, including environmental conditions, individual sensitivity and even our state of mind. However, our bodies work to maintain a constant internal temperature of around 37°C, regardless of conditions.

Cold fingers and toes are a sign of poor circulation.

Not really. While it is true that conditions like poor circulation can cause cold extremities, basis and this might not be healthy.

A recent statement by the British Nutrition Foundation tried to find some balance in the argument. The pressures of daily living (including food costs) make it hard to always cook from scratch and some foods classed as UPF (bread, baked beans, lower sugar wholegrain breakfast cereals) can make an important contribution to a healthy diet. The trick, as always, is to read the labels and beware high levels of salt, sugar and fat. The traffic light labelling can help here. Even looking for a better alternative is a start. Perhaps use an afternoon to cook portions of a favourite dish and freeze them. there’s more at play. Our bodies have a natural mechanism to prioritise vital organs and maintain a stable core temperature. During cold conditions, blood flow may be temporarily redirected away from the extremities to ensure the warmth of vital organs. So in many ways, if your body does this a lot it may be due to an extremely efficient circulatory system!

Cold drinks lower your temperature. This is actually one with some truth to it. When you drink cold water, your body absorbs its coolness. However, consuming hot fluids on a hot day can help cool you down too. This is due to a phenomenon known as ‘heat-induced vasodilation’. The hot liquid causes your body to sweat, and as the sweat evaporates it cools you.