There is good evidence that the high rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are caused by the low quality processed foods that are commonly consumed by Westerners. Processed foods include a wide variety of products, but most commonly, processed starches and processed meats are present in processed foods. The main problem with processing foods is that the original food matrix of the product is lost and this can be particularly damaging in the case of starches. Processing of cereal grains for example breaks down the cell walls of the grains and this has a detrimental effect on the rate that the starch is absorbed from the grain. In addition, the refining of cereal grains results in the removal of much of the fibre and micronutrients, required for the correct digestion and absorption of the starch. The addition of salt, sugar and other additives to processed foods including meats also produces a detrimental effect on physiological function which can result in the development of disease.
Studies have investigated the quantity of processed food consumed by Westerners as part of large scale nutrition surveys. For example, in one study1, researchers investigated the amount of processed foods consumed by US households between 2000 and 2013. From the households sampled in the study, almost three quarters of the total food purchases came from what the authors determined to be modestly processed (~16 %) to highly processed (61 %) foods (including soft drinks). However, the trend for consuming processed foods remained stable throughout the 2000 to 2012 period. This stability may represent saturation of the diet with this type of food. In another classification, the authors found that 68 % of energy was supplied by ready to eat foods, and 15 % of energy was supplied by ready to heat foods. Analysis of the foods showed that more than 10 % of energy was provided by saturated fat, more than 15 % from sugar, and sodium levels were above the recommended 2400 mg per 2000 kcal.
Therefore these results suggest that in the United States of America, a significant proportion of the energy for a large number of households is made up of processed foods. These poor food choices likely cause directly the high rates of western lifestyle disease that are found amongst such populations. They also cast into light the association between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease that is observed in many epidemiological studies. Clearly from these results it can be seen that a high intake of saturated fatty acids are associated with poor quality diets. In other words those that eat poor quality diets also eat high amounts of saturated fat. It is the poor quality diet that likely increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, not the presence of the saturated fat. Such diets are also rich in sugar, a known causative factor for the metabolic syndrome, the present of which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease significantly. Processed diets containing processed foods therefore should be avoided if health is a priority.
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