¿Qué son los alimentos ultraprocesados? Una guía científica detallada

Jorge Carlos Fernández Francés El Sardinero
Jorge Carlos Fernández Francés El Sardinero

No puedes ir a las redes sociales o leer las noticias en estos días sin ver otra advertencia sobre cómo los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​nos van a matar.

Esto puede sonar exagerado, pero en realidad hay muchas investigaciones que relacionan los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​con numerosos problemas de salud y con la muerte prematura. El problema real con estas afirmaciones no es la falta de datos detrás de ellas. Es que puede ser muy difícil saber cuándo estos alimentos están en tu plato.

«Se sabe desde hace mucho tiempo que el consumo regular de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​aumenta el riesgo de varias enfermedades crónicas, incluidas las enfermedades cardiovasculares, ciertos tipos de cáncer, la obesidad y la diabetes tipo 2», dice Samantha Heller, RD , médica clínica senior. nutricionista en NYU Langone Health en la ciudad de Nueva York.

“La mala calidad nutricional de los alimentos ultra procesados; altos niveles de sodio, azúcar y grasas saturadas ; y el bajo contenido de fibra son una receta para la mala salud, física y cognitiva”, dice Heller.

¿Qué son los alimentos ultraprocesados?
Hace unos años, los científicos intentaron definir los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​en función del alcance y el propósito del procesamiento de alimentos. Idearon un sistema de clasificación llamado NOVA, ampliamente utilizado por investigadores de nutrición y salud pública y por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (PDF), que lidera los esfuerzos internacionales contra el hambre.

Bajo el sistema NOVA , existen cuatro categorías de alimentos:

Sin procesar o naturales: Alimentos que provienen directamente de plantas o animales y no se alteran en absoluto.
Mínimamente procesados: alimentos naturales que se han procesado ligeramente para limpiar o eliminar algunas partes no deseadas o no comestibles, pero que no incluyen ningún ingrediente agregado como aceite, azúcar, sal o grasa.
Procesados: alimentos que se fabrican con la adición de aceites, azúcares, sales y grasas, pero que se derivan de alimentos naturales o mínimamente procesados ​​y son reconocibles como estos alimentos.
Ultraprocesados: alimentos industriales elaborados casi en su totalidad con sustancias extraídas de alimentos como aceites, grasas, azúcares, almidones y proteínas, o sintetizados en laboratorios y fábricas con pocos o ningún ingrediente que provenga directamente de alimentos naturales de origen vegetal o animal.

Posibles efectos en la salud de comer alimentos ultraprocesados

Durante años, innumerables estudios han relacionado los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​con un mayor riesgo de diversos problemas de salud, como obesidad, diabetes tipo 2, enfermedades cardíacas, cáncer, demencia y una esperanza de vida más corta.

“Los riesgos para la salud de estos alimentos probablemente estén relacionados con los procesos específicos de cómo se elaboran estos alimentos, los ingredientes que contienen y el desplazamiento de alimentos más saludables sin procesar o mínimamente procesados”, dice Glenn.

La investigación vincula el consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​con:

Diabetes tipo 2 En un estudio de más de 100 000 adultos, cada aumento del 10 % en la proporción de calorías diarias provenientes de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​se asoció con un riesgo 15 % mayor de diabetes tipo 2.
Enfermedad cardíaca Otro estudio con más de 100.000 adultos vinculó cada aumento del 10 por ciento en la proporción de calorías diarias provenientes de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​con un riesgo 12 por ciento mayor de enfermedad cardiovascular. Un estudio separado encontró que cada porción adicional de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​se asociaba con un 9 % más de riesgo de morir por enfermedad cardiovascular.
Cáncer Cada aumento del 10 % en el consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​se vinculó con un riesgo 12 % mayor de todos los tipos de cáncer y un riesgo 11 % mayor de cáncer de mama en particular, en otro estudio con más de 100 000 participantes.
Demencia Un estudio con más de 70,000 adultos mayores de 55 años encontró que cada aumento del 10 % en el consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​se asoció con un riesgo 25 % mayor de demencia y un riesgo 14 % mayor de enfermedad de Alzheimer.
Muerte prematura Un estudio sobre los hábitos alimenticios y la longevidad encontró que las personas que consumían la mayor cantidad de alimentos ultraprocesados ​​tenían un 62 % más de probabilidades de morir prematuramente.
Si está tratando de perder peso, es posible que también desee evitar los alimentos ultraprocesados. En un ensayo clínico , las personas que recibieron alimentos ultraprocesados ​​consumieron alrededor de 500 calorías más cada día. Durante dos semanas, las personas que comieron alimentos ultraprocesados ​​aumentaron alrededor de 2 libras, mientras que las que comieron alimentos no procesados ​​perdieron alrededor de 2 libras.

No obstante, una limitación notada en muchos de los estudios hasta la fecha sobre alimentos ultraprocesados ​​es que no fueron ensayos clínicos diseñados para probar que comer estos productos causa directamente enfermedades específicas o aumento de peso, o envía a las personas a una tumba prematura.

Otra limitación es que gran parte de la investigación se basa en sistemas como NOVA para definir los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​en función de cómo se fabrican, y no de los nutrientes que podrían contener, según las limitaciones señaladas en muchos de los estudios.

«La categoría de ultraprocesado está relacionada con la mala salud, pero es una categoría muy amplia», dice Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH , asesor principal del rector y decano de políticas de la Facultad de Ciencias y Políticas de Nutrición Friedman de la Universidad de Tufts en Bostón.

“Un cereal para el desayuno con toneladas de granos integrales y miel es ultraprocesado, pero también lo es uno con toneladas de azúcar”, dice el Dr. Mozaffarian.

Cómo identificar los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​en la tienda de comestibles
Los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​suelen ser productos preenvasados ​​y, a menudo, contienen mucho sodio, azúcares añadidos y grasas saturadas. Si es adulto, trate de obtener menos del 10 por ciento de sus calorías diarias de azúcares agregados y grasas saturadas, o no más de 200 calorías de una dieta diaria de 2000 calorías y limite la ingesta diaria de sodio a menos de 2300 miligramos, según a las Guías Alimentarias de EE.UU.

Centrarse en estos elementos es una forma buena, aunque imperfecta, de identificar los alimentos ultraprocesados, dice Glenn.

“Los consumidores pueden examinar la etiqueta y consultar la lista de ingredientes para tener una idea de si un producto está ultraprocesado o no”, dice Glenn. “Los ingredientes se enumeran por peso en la lista de ingredientes, por lo que si ve muchos ingredientes que normalmente no usaría en la cocina al comienzo de la lista, entonces el alimento se considera ultraprocesado”.

Busque palabras como: aislados, jarabe de maíz con alto contenido de fructosa , maltodextrina o aceites hidrogenados, cerca del comienzo de la lista de ingredientes. Si los ve, es probable que la comida sea ultraprocesada, dice Glenn. Los aditivos en la etiqueta, como colorantes y edulcorantes, también son un buen indicador de que está comprando alimentos ultraprocesados.

Más allá de esto, Mozaffarian dice que hay otras cosas que buscar en las etiquetas y tratar de evitar:

Azúcar y almidón refinados Use una regla de 10:1 cuando mire la cantidad de carbohidratos y fibra que ve en la etiqueta. Desea tener al menos 1 gramo de fibra por cada 10 gramos de carbohidratos.
Sodio Elija productos con la menor cantidad de sodio en la etiqueta.
Grasa saturada La grasa total que figura en la etiqueta debe ser mucho mayor que la cantidad de grasa saturada. Esto significa que está obteniendo productos elaborados con grasas más saludables.
Vida útil Antes de recoger un producto alimenticio, verifique la fecha de vencimiento; no debe estar muy lejos. Los productos que no caducan por muchos meses, o más, tienen que ser procesados ​​intensamente para prolongar su vida útil.

Consejos para elegir alternativas más saludables a los alimentos ultraprocesados
A veces, evitar los alimentos ultraprocesados ​​es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo. El costo y la conveniencia son factores importantes, dice Glenn. Los alimentos no procesados ​​pueden no estar disponibles o ser inasequibles para muchos compradores.

Y buscar alimentos etiquetados como orgánicos, completamente naturales o de origen vegetal no necesariamente lo ayudará a evitar los productos ultraprocesados, señala Mozaffarian.

Aquí hay algunas formas en que aún puede obtener alternativas más saludables a los alimentos ultraprocesados:

Compra alimentos procesados ​​con menos azúcar, sal y grasa: Esto te ayudará a evitar algunos ingredientes que son responsables de los problemas de salud, dice Mozaffarian.
Obtenga alimentos procesados ​​con mejores ingredientes: piense en pasta integral o cereal de trigo triturado en lugar de pasta de grano refinado «regular» o cereales azucarados que parecen postre, dice Heller.
Abastecerse de alimentos básicos más saludables: Tenga a mano productos como frijoles secos o enlatados bajos en sodio o sin sodio, granos integrales como la quinua o el arroz integral, mantequilla de maní o almendras sin azúcar o sin azúcar y baja o sin sodio, mezclar sin dulces (con moderación) y verduras congeladas, dice Heller. Esto puede hacer que sea más fácil preparar rápidamente una comida más saludable.
Cocine más comidas en casa: preparar sus propias comidas a partir de alimentos integrales le permite controlar la cantidad de azúcares, grasas y sales agregadas, dice Heller.
Haz tus propios bocadillos: en lugar de comprar cosas como mezclas de frutos secos azucarados o barras de granola, toma el control de la lista de ingredientes combinando cosas como frutas secas y nueces con granos integrales, en lugar de obtener las versiones preenvasadas de bocadillos, dice Glenn.

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