Eating highly processed foods such as sweets, crisps and packaged foods may pose a risk to your health, and scientists are calling for some action from the government as they could raise your risk of heart attack or stroke.
People living on ready meals have been found to suffer more with cardiovascular disease. Ultra processed foods are not the sorts of foods that could be made in a normal kitchen, they are packed with preservatives and sweeteners and they make up more than half of all foods sold in the UK.
Spanish research showed that people eating processed foods 4 times per day had a 62% chance of dying earlier than those on a mainly unprocessed diet. Processed foods may make people feel less full and more hungry, and so raise the rates of obesity. Industrial ready meals are high in salt and processed fat and also contain chemicals that may harden the arteries.
More taxes on processed foods may help people to cut down, which may not be popular but could have an impact on our health. A French study found that a diet high in processed foods increased cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease and slow blood supply to the brain.
A good argument again for sticking to fresh foods and in particular A Mediterranean diet .