Expert reveals one type of processed food that's actually 'really good for you' and explains why

Updated 15:09 6 Nov 2024 GMTPublished 15:07 6 Nov 2024 GMT

The professor hoped his explanation would improve declining health

A professor has explained some of the different processed foods and highlighted ones that can actually be beneficial for the body compared to its raw counterpart.

While we might have more food options than ever, it is becoming increasingly difficult to know what is actually going to help your body or hinder it.

Professor Tim Spector, a nutritional scientist and professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, has shared a video on his social media page hoping to break things down.

In an Instagram video he posted on November 6, Spector highlighted a few products available over in the UK and some of the benefits and drawbacks of the processed ones.

Are canned foods ultra-processed?

He said: "In the UK we eat more ultra-processed food than any other country in Europe ... we need to know exactly what we're eating and a great example is tomatoes. They contain lots of polyphenols, particularly one you may have heard of, called lycopene.

"Having them on their own would be classed as unprocessed, or category one on the NOVA scale."

Showing some tinned tomatoes and he revealed that in some cases they can be more beneficial for a person than simply eating raw tomato.

He continued: "Then you've got these other ones which you might be worried about because they can come in tins or cans, this is category three. Nothing to be worried about.

“Virtually all of these are really good for you and sometimes might actually have more nutrients than in the raw state.”

He did close by pointing out the ultra-processed foods, a tin and some sachets of tomato soup. He said: “Then there's category four: ultra-processed foods, which are those that contain extra chemicals and extracts from foods that you wouldn't find in your kitchen cupboard.”

Spector closed the video hoping it will help shed light on the different food categories and inform people to make good decisions for their overall health.

In the caption he highlighted some worrying trends regarding food over in the UK.

He said: “Research has shown that the rise of UPFs (Ultra-processed foods) in our diets is impacting our health and the health of our gut microbiome). The challenge lies in identifying these foods—without knowing what’s ultra-processed, assessing whether our choices support or hinder our health becomes difficult."