Introduction to Ultra-processed Foods (UPFs)
as if we needed one....
Introduction To Ultra-processed Foods (UPFs)
As if we needed an introduction to UPFs ; they literally have introduced themselves as they permeate our food supply whether we chose them or not.
If you grew up in the pre-90’s era you remember them coming on the scene as if it was yesterday…. Hostess treats, Kool-Aid, Hubba Bubba, Entenmann’s…. we started getting so far away from food looking like it does in nature.
Now, we are learning how to truly understand UPFs and the different degrees of processing.
We need to know this because we need to find a healthy balance between the unachievable (only eating unprocessed foods) and the harmful (eating predominately Ultra-processed foods).
And my personal interest and many of yours want to know how the degree of processing effects our gut. It is common knowledge that carrageenan and other emulsifiers and gums often used in UPFs impact the gut, yet how about other foods or processes.
Let’s first understand the way processed foods are classified.
The Nova Food Classification System
NOVA is a food classification system that grew out of the research of Carlos Augusto Monteiro. His early research in the late 1970s focused malnutrition but in the mid-1990s, Monteiro observed a significant shift in Brazil’s dietary landscape marked by a rise in obesity rates among populations in poverty in Brazil but not in affluent Brazil subsets. There was a link established between UPFs consumption and Obesity. This classification is now recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as tool for nutrition and public health research and policy development to classify foods by degrees of processing.
Here are a breakdown of the categories ( descriptions adapted from 1)
NOVA 1 - Unprocessed or minimally processed foods (fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, eggs, etc.). This is what it was likely like living off the land that predated the industrialization of foods.
NOVA 2 - These are processed culinary ingredients extracted from NOVA 1. Through various processes such as refining, grinding, and pressing NOVA 1 foods, we extract products such as salt, oils, butter, and honey. These aren’t really meant to be “consumed alone” ; they’re ingredients used in cooking. They are essentially extracted/purified substances used to prepare foods.
NOVA 3 - These are processed foods made by adding NOVA 2 ingredients (salt, sugar, oil) to NOVA 1 foods. For example, cured meats, canned vegetables, cheeses, freshly made breads, salted/roasted nuts. The key is these typically have 2-3 ingredients and the processing is relatively simple (canning, bottling, fermenting).
NOVA 4 - These are Ultra=processed foods characterized by industrial formulations typically with five or more ingredients, including substances rarely used in home cooking: industrial additives like emulsifiers (i.e. P-80 Carrageenan), preservatives, artificial colors/flavors, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, protein isolates (casein, whey, soy protein isolate). Your examples are spot-on: packaged snacks, sugary drinks, mass-produced breads, flavored yogurts, most breakfast cereals, instant noodles, chicken nuggets. Keep in mind the act of processing exposes us to other agents (like microplastics) 2
The main distinguishing factor for NOVA 4 is the presence of industrial ingredients and processes not found in home kitchens.
I have been exploring the following claims about Ultra processed Foods and the gut including:2
· Ultra-processed foods increase endotoxemia because they upregulate Zonulin and transport microbes across the lumen 3
· Ultra-processed foods reduce butyrate production and SCFA production because they lack fermentable prebiotic, dietary fiber, or resistant starch. 3,4
· Ultra-processed food consumption causes transcellular or intracellular permeability by its ability to upregulate Zonulin and damage epithelial tissue5
· Ultra-processed food consumption increases the exposure of the gut to microplastics thereby increasing mitochondrial toxicity and epithelial damage. 2
This matters because we need to understand how much the bloating, disrupted bowel function, leaky gut, pain, and overall gut dysfunction are due to UPFs or moderately processed food consumption (i.e., Nova levels 2 and 3)
The UPFs arrived on the scene right around the time the Obesity epidemic arrived…a coincidence?
I think not.
Now more than ever, we are establishing the connection between the gut and chronic illness, and we have to understand and go into these claims about UPFs further.
And ultimately use this to take action of getting back to eating the way our bodies were designed.
I hope to unpack these claims in future posts.
Where do you think UPF’s sneak into our diet the most? please share your thoughts. I am genuinely interested.
1. Rondinella D, Raoul PC, Valeriani E, et al. The Detrimental Impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on the Human Gut Microbiome and Gut Barrier. Nutrients. 2025;17(5):859. doi:10.3390/nu17050859
2. Yuan X, Gu J, Yu S, Li X, Zhao G. The carrier effect of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics in 4-methylimidazole and bovine serum albumin interactions. Int J Biol Macromol. 2025;334:149061. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.149061
3. Kasznár E, Bajzát D, Karoliny A, et al. Ultra-Processed Food Intake in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Case–Control Study. Nutrients. 2025;17(22). doi:10.3390/nu17223532
4. Godny L, Pfeffer-Gik T, Elial-Fatal S, Shakhman S, Dotan I. Nutritional composition of diets for inducing and maintaining remission in inflammatory bowel diseases: from bedside to plate. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2026;86:102587. doi:10.1016/j.coph.2025.102587
5.Wellens J, Vanderstappen J, Hoekx S, et al. Effect of Five Dietary Emulsifiers on Inflammation, Permeability, and the Gut Microbiome: A Placebo-controlled Randomized