STOP Eating These “Healthy” Foods?!

By Dr. Scott Olson, ND Posted October 7, 2022

Dear Living Well Daily Reader,

When you were younger, you probably didn’t while away your hours worrying about your health.

After all, you had “all the time in the world” to turn your habits around.

But nowadays, you spend much more time thinking about your own mortality.

And you try to make the best choices to decrease your risks and increase your longevity.

But it turns out that despite those efforts, there’s something (and you’re likely doing RIGHT NOW!) that could be silently sending your risk for colon cancer and cardiovascular disease right through the roof.

Some of those “healthy” foods you’re piling into your shopping cart are likely to blame.

Why? Because they’re actually ultra-processed junk foods in disguise!

You see, regardless of what the packaging says, highly processed foods speed up your biological clock faster than you can say, “Supersize those fries.”

Technically speaking, ultra-processed foods are made by breaking down whole foods into basic chemical constituents. From there, they’re altered and recombined with additives to form products that are quick to fix and easy to eat.

Some ultra-processed foods are obvious, like chips and soft drinks.

But others may SEEM healthy at first glance, like breakfast cereals, low-calorie or low-fat frozen meals, low-carb snacks, and granola bars.

It’s easy to get tricked into thinking those healthy-sounding claims like “whole grains,” “low calorie,” “low fat” are good for you.

But the truth is there’s often very little nutritional value in these highly-processed products. Instead, they’re full of sugar, artificial colors, and preservatives.

The biggest problem with ultra-processed foods is that they push minimally processed and freshly prepared meals to the side. We eat these fake foods instead because they’re easy to grab and, let’s face it, often delicious.

But that convenience comes at a steep price.

Two recent studies in the British Medical Journal illustrate the issue perfectly.

The first study found that men who ate the most ultra-processed foods had a 29 percent increased risk of developing colon cancer than men who ate very little.

Even more disturbing, when the researchers crunched the data to remove the role that the LACK of nutrients in these foods had their link to a higher risk for colon cancer remained.

In other words, there’s something else in the processing of these foods that causes harm besides their lack of essential nutrients.

I’d put my money on that something being vegetable oils. You’ll find plenty of them in almost every highly processed food on the shelf.

And vegetable oils send your inflammation skyrocketing.

The second study found an almost 20 percent increase in all-cause death and a 32 percent increase in death from heart disease in those eating the most processed foods.

Now, to be clear, eating at the occasional burger joint or munching on a bag of chips during the big game won’t kill you.

We all indulge from time to time. Especially when we are traveling or out with friends.

But eating ultra-processed foods regularly harms your health.

Most of the food you eat should be as close to how it shows up on the earth as possible. That way, it retains the majority of its nutritional value.

Any processing that takes place should happen in your own kitchen.

P.S. We don’t always eat what we should. We’re only human, after all. But when you DO indulge, this “nutrient knight” could SHIELD you from processed food damage. Best of all, it’s affordable AND easy to find. Click through for all the details.

Sources:

“Association of ultra-processed food consumption with colorectal cancer risk among men and women: results from three prospective US cohort studies,” BMJ 2022;378:e068921

“Joint association of food nutritional profile by Nutri-Score front-of-pack label and ultra-processed food intake with mortality: Moli-sani prospective cohort study,” BMJ 2022;378:e070688

Written By Dr. Scott Olson, ND

Nearly 25 years ago, failed mainstream medical treatments left Dr. Olson in constant pain – and his health in ruins. And that’s when he did something REVOLUTIONARY. He began his career in medicine – and dedicated his life to uncovering the true, underlying causes of disease.
Through his innovative medical practices in Tennessee and Colorado, Dr. Olson has helped cure countless seniors from across America of arthritis… heart disease… diabetes… and even cancer. All without risky prescription drugs or painful surgeries.

View More By Dr. Scott Olson, ND