Obesity has become an epidemic problem in most of the developed nations and it leads to most of the health complications, including premature death, heart diseases, liver disorders, diabetes, hormonal imbalances, arthritis etc. One of the major causes of obesity is junk and processed food, which falls under the category of convenience food. 

Convenience foods, to state in simple terms, is typically a meal, pre-processed in a commercial unit, to reduce the further preparation by the consumer. These basically include frozen foods, ready to eat products, canned foods, ready to cook etc. Convenience foods are very popular in this busy era mainly due to the following advantages. 

• Quick and easy to prepare 

• Conserves time 

• Storage friendly 

• Available for cheaper prices in comparison with the healthy food. 

Why does convenience foods cause obesity? 

The basic reasons why convenience foods are directly related to obesity are: 

Ingredients – These processed foods contain large proportions of fats, sugars and carbs and very little amounts of vitamins and minerals. This contributes to unhealthy calories from food, leading to weight gain and obesity. The fats and sugar present in them are mostly hydrogenated/saturated fats and refined sugar respectively, which leads to storage of fats in the body by creating the oxidative stress and leading to cholesterol accumulation. 

Portion sizes – Increased portion sizes can directly impact your weight. The fast food being high glycaemic, digests very fast, because of which the person tends to eat the food in large quantities. This leads to enormous amounts of unhealthy/ empty calories leading to abnormal weight gain. 

Cheaper prices – Main reason why people opt for convenience foods are because it is cheaper. When compared to a meal made from organic, healthy ingredients, the processed food comes at a lot cheaper price attracting the people towards it. This leads to the obesity in lower middle classes. 

Convenience – the processed food can easily be stored, cooked with less efforts and saves time. 

How do they contribute to obesity? 

Food and insulin 

The processed food mostly contains fats and sugar in higher amounts with negligible amounts of protein and fibre. 

The very high amount of carbohydrates present in these processed foods are converted into sugar. Insulin produced by pancreas plays a major role in transporting sugar to all the body cells for energy. Your body uses sugar as per the requirement and stores the excess sugar in order to bring back the blood sugar levels to normal. 

This process is effectively carried out by your body under the influence of insulin, to reduce the sugar spikes in the blood. When there is a continuous intake of carb loaded foods, which triggers the sugar spikes more frequently than often. The prominent frequency of these sugar spikes falters the effectiveness of insulin which leads to the increase in the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance. 

Food and LDL cholesterol 

Trans fat, the unhealthy fat is commonly created during food processing. However, lesser the levels of trans fats in the food, they are still unhealthy, this leads to lowering the HDL levels and increasing the LDL cholesterol levels, which increases the potential risk of weight gain, heart diseases, type 2 diabetes. 

Sodium and processed food 

Along with fats and sugar, sodium i.e., salt is also present in the processed food in excess quantity. The sodium rich foods make you feel swollen, and bloated after consumption. It is also related to elevated blood pressure levels and stress on heart. 

A clinical research centre conducted a 2-week study on individuals, who were on a processed food diet. The results showed an average weight gain of 0.9 kgs. Most of the weight gained was in the form of fat.  Whereas participants, who were on a unprocessed food diet, showcased a weight loss of 0.9 kgs. There was also a significant increase in gut hormone which supresses the hunger hormone ghrelin in unprocessed group. 

Know about healthier ways to consume convenience foods: 

• International food information council states that processing can be a simple process of freezing or drying to preserve nutrients or a complex pre-preparation of a frozen meal. 

• Minimally processed foods like cut vegetables, pre-prepared salads, roasted nuts retain most of their nutrients along with physical and nutritional attributes.  

• Also, the foods that are processed to preserve the freshness, while enhancing the nutrients like frozen vegetables, are healthier and contains retained nutrients. 

• Other processed foods with fortified minerals and nutrients like yoghurt, ready to eat multi grain cereal, vitamin D fortified orange juice are few other healthier options. 

Real problem foods 

• However, heavily processed foods prone more concern to the health of an individual. They include meals high in sugars, salt and unhealthy fats. 

• They are often called as ultra-processed foods, which are loaded with sugar, fats, salt, oils, with flavouring substances, colours, additives and stabilizers. 

• Sodium is usually loaded to increase the shelf life of the product; sugar is for taste and fats i.e., trans fats and saturated fat to improve the mouth feel. 

• Few examples under this category include – chips, cookies, cakes, pizza’s, sweetened beverages and processed meats like sausages etc. 

How to reduce the intake of processed foods: 

• Take it slow – if you are used to processed food, try taking the baby steps in the transformation to unprocessed foods.  

• Include fresh fruits and vegetables in every meal. 

• Replace those sodas with fruit infused water or carbonated water as the first step. 

• To add an extra flavour to foods, try herbs instead of salt. 

• Replace the “white” with brown or whole grain i.e. replace white rice with brown rice, white paste to whole-wheat pasta etc. 

• Avoid processed meats like bacon, ham, sausages etc. 

• Plan your meals ahead. Portioning food for the week in your free times, helps you eat healthy. 

• You can replace the salty chips with carrot or celery sticks which adds the crunch with good amounts of fibre. 

•  Make your own version of healthy sauces, salad dressings etc. 

• Make your own frozen meals – batch cooking on a weekend and freezing them for the week day. 

• Eat it if it comes from a plant (plants directly). Avoid if its “made in a plant (processed in industries)” 

References: 

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/27/health/processed-food-eat-less-drayer/index.html 

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/27/health/processed-food-eat-less-drayer/index.html 

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/carbohydrates-and-blood-sugar/ 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325194.php#6 

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/link-between-processed-foods-and-obesity 

https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20190516/diets-high-in-processed-foods-a-recipe-for-obesity 

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Obesity-and-Fast-Food.aspx 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5787353/ 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224220/