Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become public enemy number one in nutrition debates. From dementia to obesity and an epidemic of “food addiction,” these factory-made products, including chips, ready meals, fizzy drinks, and packaged snacks, are blamed for a wide range of modern health problems. Some experts argue that they’re “specifically formulated and aggressively marketed to maximize consumption and corporate profits,” hijacking our brain’s reward systems to make us eat beyond our needs.
Ultra-processed foods might not be the real villain in our diets—here’s what our research found
