According to Anahad O’Connor, our Eating Lab columnist, a wide variety of popular packaged foods such as breads, cereals, snack chips, and frozen meals undergo extensive processing techniques that involve refining, pounding, heating, melting, shaping, extruding, and adding numerous additives. As a result, these processed foods become easily digested by the human body even before consumption. Moreover, many of these foods are specifically engineered to bypass our natural satiety mechanisms, which can lead to overeating and weight gain, experts suggest.

To further illustrate this process, Aaron Steckelberg, senior graphics reporter, provides an informative visual demonstration in the article, showcasing the journey of a corn kernel transforming into an ultraprocessed chip. Although completely eliminating processed foods from our diets may be challenging, it is advisable to incorporate more whole and high-fiber foods into our meals. These include meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables, which provide greater nutritional value. Furthermore, if you do opt for packaged foods, it is recommended to carefully check the labels and choose options with the least number of ingredients.