Beans on toast are good for you! The leading nutrition agency warns that ultra-processed foods are unfairly maligned and can make a healthy diet (and fish fingers get them too!)

Highly processed foods have been demonized for decades, with dire warnings that they make us fat and increase our risk of cancer.

But leading nutritionists today argued that some are being unfairly mocked.

Baked beans, fish fingers and wholemeal bread can all be part of a healthy diet, according to the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF).

Tomato-based pasta sauces, whole grain breakfast cereals and fruit yogurts also got the all-clear and the “healthier processed food” label.

The BNF charity acknowledges they are a source of “essential nutrients” but also that they are “convenient and affordable”.

Nutritionists have listed which options can be “part of a healthy diet.” Baked beans, fish fingers and wholemeal bread all make the cut, according to the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF). Tomato-based pasta sauces, whole grains and fruit yogurt are also “healthier processed foods,” according to the charity.

Anything made edible with coloring agents, sweeteners, and preservatives automatically falls into the ultra-processed food category of the Nova classification system.

It was developed in 2009 by a Brazilian scientist to group foods in relation to the processes they go through.

It has since been used by hundreds of scientists to study the relationship between eating habits and disease.

Dozens of studies have warned of the risk of eating too many ultra-processed foods, including cookies, cakes, chips, ready meals, sausages, chips and soft drinks.

But some experts warned that the label is vague and paints “good” food as “unhealthy”.

Some countries such as France, Belgium and Brazil have used ultra-processed foods in official guidelines and advised people to eat less.

READ MORE: Revealed: The Everyday Food You’d Never Guess Is Loaded With Ultra-Processed Ingredients

For store-bought salads like the Caesar salad, “cooked chicken and dressings contain a lot of sugar, additives and seasonings to make the food tasty and keep it fresher longer.”

But the UK and US have so far avoided this, focusing instead on calories, salt and sugar and advising on eating fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

Now the BNF has released a position paper calling on the government not to include ultra-processed foods in national dietary guidelines.

She cautioned that there is “no agreed definition” of what foods fall into this category and is concerned about its “usefulness as a tool to identify healthier products”.

For example, foods such as whole-grain bread, whole-grain breakfast cereals and baked beans are also typically classified as ultra-processed, but “they can be a convenient and affordable source of some important nutrients,” according to the BNF.

Bridget Benelam, a BNF spokesperson, said: “For many of us, when we get home after a busy day, foods such as baked beans, wholemeal toast, fish fingers or ready-made pasta sauces are an affordable way to have a balanced meal to put. on the table Table. to get. quickly.

“It can be categorized as ultra-processed, but can still be part of a healthy diet.”

She added: “It’s great to be able to cook from scratch when you have the time, but I know as a working mum it’s often not an option for me.

“We need to make healthy eating easier and more affordable, not harder and more expensive.

Nutritionists divide foods into three groups based on the amount of processing they have undergone. Minimally processed foods such as apples are usually exactly as they occur in nature. Processed foods such as applesauce have undergone at least one processing stage that has changed their original form. In contrast, ultra-processed foods like apple gummies have gone through multiple stages of processing and are usually loaded with added fats, colors and preservatives.

“Choosing healthier processed foods is one way to help people incorporate healthy eating into their lives.”

The BNF also released the results of a poll asking more than 2,000 Britons about ultra-processed foods.

It found that nearly half of people (46 percent) had heard of this category and a third were trying to eliminate these foods from their diet.

Ready meals, vegetarian meat alternatives, store hamburgers, cereals with added sugar, and store-bought sausages were the foods most commonly recognized as ultra-processed, the results showed.

But fewer people categorized baked beans (nine percent), low-fat fruit yogurt (10 percent), ice cream (14 percent and sliced ​​bread (19 percent)) as ultra-processed.

The survey also found that most people agreed that cooking from scratch was better than using processed foods (68 percent).

But nearly half agreed that a healthy, balanced diet can include some processed foods, and that processed foods can be helpful in saving time on meal preparation.

It comes after TV doctor Chris van Tulleken shared the results of a month-long experiment in which 80 percent of his diet consisted of ultra-processed foods.

He shared that he gained 6 kg and was sore, tired, angry and like he was ten years old.

MRI scans showed that his brain was beginning to develop new pathways, mostly related to the use of addictive drugs rather than eating.

DR. van Tulleken: “Until recently, most scientists thought that food could not possibly be addictive.

“Yet I know from experience that I felt very strongly ‘addicted’ to certain types of ultra-processed foods (mainly takeaways).”

WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally whole grains, according to the NHS

• Eat at least 5 portions of different fruits and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruits and vegetables count

• Alkaline meals based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole grains

• 30 grams of fiber per day: This is equivalent to eating all of the following: 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole grain granola crackers, 2 thick slices of whole grain bread, and 1 large baked potato with the skin on

• Offer dairy products or milk alternatives (eg soy drinks) and choose lower-fat, lower-sugar options

• Eat beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish per week, one of which is fatty)

• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consume them in small amounts

• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water daily

• Adults should consume less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men per day

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide