Processed foods pose many health risks


Are there any serious health risks from consuming a lot of processed/fast food?

A 2013 study confirms what most of all have long realized:

According to a…report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.3 percent of daily calories consumed by adults in 2007 through 2010 came from fast food…


In the 20 to 39-year-old group — which had the highest percentages of fast food in terms of daily caloric consumption — obese individuals took in on average 18 percent of their daily calories from fast food.  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57570549/cdc-11-percent-of-adults-calories-come-from-fast-food/

So the obese, on average, get nearly 60% (18/11.3) more of their calories from ‘fast food’ than the non-obese.

Fast food probably contains, on average, more chemical additives than non-fast food, and certainly more than organic non-processed foods.  Chemical additives have been suspected to be a link to obesity as have fats and certain other items many Americans eat.

As far as chemicals, notice the following reports from 2012 and 2013 respectively:

Deepening the mystery surrounding the health effects of bisphenol A, a large new study has linked high levels of childhood and adolescentexposure to the industrial chemical to higher rates of obesity— in white children only…Compared with children and teens with the lowest apparent exposure to the ubiquitous chemical, those with the highest exposure were roughly 2.5 times more likely to be obese.


Bisphenol A is a chemical agent widely used to protect aluminum food cans from corrosion and to strengthen plastic bottles, toys and containers. In recent years, alarm has grown among consumer groups and public health officials amid mounting evidence that BPA readily accumulates in the body’s fat stores and can disrupt hormones that play crucial roles in sexual development, energy use and fat deposition.  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-bpa-obesity-20120919,0,3018132.story

19 August 2013


  • Urine levels of one type of chemical, used to soften plastic, were tied to a higher risk of insulin resistance among teenagers
  • Another study group linked bisphenol A, or BPA – used to line aluminum cans – to obesity and larger waists in young people
  • Researchers advise not washing plastic in a dishwasher and throwing it away once its old or etched

‘Clearly unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are the drivers of this epidemic … but increasingly environmental chemicals are being identified as possible contributors,’ Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician from New York University, said.

He and his colleagues analysed data from a nationally-representative health and nutrition survey conducted in 2003 to 2008, which included urine and blood tests for 766 adolescents aged 12 to 19.

They found urinary levels of one particular type of phthalate, known as Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), were closely tied to a teenager’s chance of having insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2397059/Are-chemicals-food-packaging-making-children-fat-Experts-warn-expand-waistlines-increase-risk-diabetes.html#ixzz2cQQ8e3kn

As the above report suggests, hormones do play a role in obesity, and chemicals in foods and/or food packaging may be a factor. It has long been known that low thyroid hormones and excessive estrogen can be factors in weight gain.

Some have speculated that processed foods, chlorinated water, and/or fluoridated water can contribute to low production of thyroid hormones.

As far as excessive estrogen goes, in the USA estrogen-like hormones have long been given to meat-animals in order to plump them up faster, and higher amounts of those type of hormones have been found in various meats (including poultry). Furthermore, it should be noted that animals that people eat are not 50:50 male to female animals. Almost all chickens are females (most males are killed shortly after birth as it takes more feed to add a pound to a male chicken than a female one). Additionally, with beef, people either eat the female cow or the castrated male (called a steer)–thus there is not the same natural hormonal balance in most meats that would tend to happen in nature, as opposed to modern farming techniques.

While many have felt that artificial sweetners were the answer to obesity, they are not. Actually, the problem of obesity has increased as artificial sweetners became more widely available. Furthermore, those sweetners have their own risks.

A 2013 study suggested that the artificial sweetners that many people tend to rely on are dangerous:



The AHA and American Diabetes Association said in July 2012 that artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners could be a good option to help people reduce calories and added sugars from their diets. In turn, you may even lose some pounds with these kinds of sweeteners — as long as you weren’t making up for it later in the day by eating more sweets, which some studies have showed.


“It is not uncommon for people to be given messages that artificially-sweetened products are healthy, will help them lose weight or will help prevent weight gain,” author Susan E. Swithers, a professor of behavioral neuroscience at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., said in a press release. “The data to support those claims are not very strong, and although it seems like common sense that diet sodas would not be as problematic as regular sodas, common sense is not always right.”…



Other evidence showed that consuming artificial sweeteners often leads to weight gain. The authors believed the artificial products confused the body’s ability to regulate calories based on tasting something sweet.

Another study revealed a link between diet soda drinking and weight gain over time. For each diet drink the subjects consumed per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years.  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57593133/artificial-sweeteners-could-lead-to-obesity-diabetes/

Background information from the research shows that people who regularly consume artificial sweetners show abnormal activation patterns in the pleasure centers of the brain in response to sweet taste. This suggests that these products may not satisfy desires related to sweet cravings. Animal studies previously conducted also showed that mice and rats given non-caloric sweetners have dampened psyiological responses to sweet taste. This desensitization can cause rodents to overindulge in calorie-rich, sweet-tasting food and gain weight.

Recent findings even suggest that artificial sweetners increase the risk for health problems to an extent similar to sugar products and may exacerbate the negative effects of sugar.

“These studies suggest that telling people to drink diet sodas could backfire as a public health message,” said Swithers, according to the release. “So the current public health message to limit the intake of sugars needs to be expanded to limit intake of all sweeteners, not just sugars.”  http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/8065/20130710/artificial-sweeteners-really-healthier-sugar.htm

It has been my experience that artificial sweeteners are not healthy.  The more people eat of them, generally speaking, the less they tend to eat real foods such as fruits and vegetables.

Oddly, years ago, the USA banned cyclamates (a type of artificial sweetener) because it was considered carcinogenic (could cause cancer), but allowed saccharin (another artificial sweetener). About the same time, Canada banned saccharin as a carcinogen, but allowed cyclamates. Neither sweetner is natural and people should avoid both of them in my opinion.

The Bible warns about obesity, getting fat, and excessive eating.

But it also warns about eating things that are not really food:

2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Refined processed “breads,” artificial sweeteners, chemical additives, and some other items commonly associated with junk foods could be consistent with that warning.

People should try to eat real, not artificial, foods.

Some prophetic articles of possibly related interest may include:

Obesity, processed foods, and the Bible Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned?

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